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March 2011 Happiness Hotline

Happy Happy March,Thank you to everyone who responded so positively to last month’s Happiness Hotline story.  John was overwhelmed to think that his ‘little anecdote’ could touch so many hearts.  He sends his best wishes to all of you. Since our last newsletter so much has happened on our planet.  More and more I’m being asked into communities to share the how’s and why’s of the physical, psychological and social importance of smiling and laughter, and to bring in a little ‘laughter for the sake of laughter’.  As one client put it, to ‘give people permission to laugh’.  Humour, laughter and smiling are wonderful coping tools.    Often people approach me after a workshop to share a story, ask me to go into greater depth about something shared in the workshop or simply to talk.  Laughter is a great icebreaker and a great way to get groups talking.  After a session at a community group a few weeks ago a wonderful gentleman named Bill handed me what I thought was a business card.  On one side it had the word ‘Smile’ and a picture of a smiley face. On the other it had this saying: This is my "depressed stance."  When you're depressed, it makes a lot of difference how you stand.  The worst thing you can do is straighten up and hold your head high because then you'll start to feel better.  If you're going to get any joy out of being depressed, you've got to stand like this.  ~ Charlie Brown (Charles Schulz) He then slumped his shoulders, put on a frowning face and gave me wink that make me smile! While the workshops are as varied as the clients, I always include discussion on how both posture and facial expression are clinically proven to have profound effect on mood, emotion, health and well-being.  Bill told me, that while he fully appreciated the seriousness of depression, having been hounded by the ‘black dog’ as he called it for many years, he just loved this quote so much he had to share it.   One of the most popular exercises in all my workshops is our ’10 second stress buster’ (aka ‘6 steps to a more relaxed you’), and, inspired by Bill’s wonderful card, I thought I would share it as our happiness hint of the month. 
  1. Stop what ever you’re doing for just a few seconds 
  2. Roll your head forward gently, lowering your chin towards your chest as you exhale
  3. Stop your thoughts and think only about the way your body is at this moment
  4. Take a slow deep breath in through your nose and slowly lift your head, roll your shoulders up and back, straightening the spine, and smile (It can be a gentle smile or a big grin, it’s up to you, but it must include all the muscles of the face, especially the ones around the eyes for you to get the full stress busting effect of this exercise)
  5. Gently sigh the breath out (Leaving the shoulders back, the back straight, the chin up and the smile in place)
  6. Repeat if necessary
You might like to try changing step 5 (the gentle breath out) to what has become known as the ‘drama queen or drama king’ breath.  Instead of gently releasing the breath, sigh it out loudly and proudly as you throw the arms back, being, well….. a real drama queen or drama king. Thank you to the group in western Sydney (you know who you are) for this great, fun and very effective idea.  For those of you who weren’t at the West Sydney Laughter Party session, we were all wearing tiara’s and feather boas and the gentle breath out seemed simply to gentle! The best thing about the 10 second stress buster is that you can practice it just about anywhere, and it might not even take 10 seconds. In other news: Don’t forget that March 25 is the Make a Wish Foundation’s ‘LAUGH FOR KIDS’ day.   If you’re in Melbourne on March 25 PLEASE join me and the entire Melbourne Laugh for Kids team at Federation Square – 12 – 12.40pm for all the fun. The laugh for 1 minute will be at 12.30pm. I’m catching a 6am flight back from Tamworth just to be there! And if you’re in Sydney on the day join the Laugh for Kids team at Wynyard Park (just behind Wynyard Station) - 12 – 12.40pm, also with a laugh for 1 minute at 12.30pm. You can check out the Laugh for Kids website, and find out how you can help, at http://www.everydayhero.com.au/event/laughforkids Plus, yes there is always more -  a few weeks ago I had the pleasure of being the Laugh Coach for the filming of the Laugh for Kids commercial.  I didn’t make it into the ad (possibly a good thing) but I was right there on location, helping with the laughter.  If you haven’t caught the add on TV yet you can watch it here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsAgGXLD4LY Have a brilliant rest of March.  Most of my month has involved touring and laughing in outback NSW.  I’ll be finishing the month in New York and starting April at the annual conference of the Association of Applied and Therapeutic Humour in Orlando, Florida.  Disneyworld here I come! You can check out the AATH conference details at http://www.aath.org/conference.htm  They have some of the most amazing speakers! As a direct result of my travels and meetings in the USA our next Happiness Hotline will be packed with the latest goings ons in the laughter and humour world. 

Keep smiling, it really is good for your health.

Bronwyn Roberts
aka 'the Laughter Lady'
Chief Happiness Officer
Let's Laugh
bronwyn@letslaugh.com.au
www.letslaugh.com.au0421 335 197

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