It’s true! Laughter is the best medicine. It is a natural trigger for healthy physical and emotional changes in our bodies. Medical science supports the fact that laugher boosts mood, strengthens the immune system, diminishes the effects of stress that we face every day. Nothing works faster, a good, genuine, hearty laugh can make you feel better in seconds.
A smile is infectious, but lacks the benefits of a good, side-splitting laugh! It draws people together, strengthens social and professional connections. It counteracts anger and lightens your burdens. Laughter is infectious.
And the best news, laughter is free and easy to use!
Did you know, children laugh easily and frequently, but as we get older, we become more serious, laugh less and no longer feel the wonderful freedom of laughing at anything and everything that amuses us. As we get older, we become more self-conscious and, therefore, less spontaneous.
Did you know that a good hearty laugh leaves you feeling lighter for up to 40 minutes after?
I would like to share what happened at one of my laughter coaching sessions that I hosted before (oh yes, have to say that word again) COVID…ho-hum!
My group consisted of 30 members of staff, from middle management and team leaders to the rest of the staff. The group was diverse and one would think that I needed to tailor the event to address the different cultures that would be attending. Wrong! Laughter is laughter is laughter…no matter who you are.
Laughter crosses all language barriers, as well as emotional barriers. Incredibly powerful muti!
So for my gig, this is what I came up with. As mentioned earlier, children laugh so frequently that I wanted to align my Coaching session with the same result. Getting these 30 people to let their hair down and laugh.
Two important criteria:
- Everybody needed to bring a large towel or yoga mat.
- Everybody had to do what I told them. No exclusions.
So as my ‘group’ filed into the waiting area, they had no idea what was in store for them. Once everybody had arrived and the house rules were set i.e 1. and 2. above, we were ready for the great reveille!
I took them through to the party room. This immediately drew some laughter as they looked at the scene in front of them. They were not only attending a children’s party, they WERE the children.
The tables were set with popcorn, crisps, suckers, fizz pops, streamers, balloons, party crackers and party packs… the works! In order to warm them up, we started with a general Happy Birthday song to everybody and then they were instructed to behave as though they were a child again.
Streamers started flying across the room, crackers were being pulled, balloons getting popped and laughter was evident. The Pinata was dangling from the ceiling and people started to unwind pretty quickly.
Once I saw that most of the group were comfortable, I asked them to come to the centre of the room with their mat/towel and to wait for the party games to begin. The exercises that followed were all prescribed techniques that induce laughter.
As one exercise followed another, the laughter grew. Everybody felt the freedom of being a little kid again. No judgement… just a genuine feeling of happiness and wellbeing. The Pinata was smashed to pulp, exploding with yet more goodies that flew all over the place, inducing another outburst of laughter.
I was not exempt, by the way, and I too was rolling on the ground from time to time. It was really satisfying to see how management and team leaders threw off their inhibitions and joined in the revelry like everybody else. They came together as a group and played together as a group.
It was a hoot! And as the time rolled to a close, we finished off with a huge birthday cake that was inspired by the cake company for kids. Everybody had their paper plate, piece of cake, fruit juice and cold drinks.
They were very sorry to leave. The comments that I received after the event were the most uplifting and rewarding to read. They truly felt like kids, acted like kids but most important of all, they laughed like kids! There was a noticeable improvement in staff morale and better relationships between management/team leaders and staff.
This warm and happy feeling was an experience that was so unfamiliar to them, that it brought such an awareness of the importance of finding ways to bring happiness back into their homes and places of work.
On following up a few weeks later, most reported an upswing in the atmosphere at both work and home. The company reported that staff were a lot happier. Barriers had been crossed and colleagues were connecting more authentically.
Production was up, absenteeism was down and a small committee was formed to continue the trend of bringing laughter back into the office.
All in all, a good day’s work. Keep the child in you alive.