Fake It Till You Make It
Here we delve a little deeper into one of founder of Hayo'u Method Katie Brindle's favourite mind/body exercises – laughter qigong.
Aside from being incredibly funny and joyous and the surprise hit of her qigong sessions, it has multiple healing benefits:
1 - Improves your immune system. Negative thoughts manifest into chemical reactions that can affect your body by bringing more stress into your system and decreasing your immunity. By contrast, positive thoughts can actually release neuropeptides that help fight stress and potentially more-serious illnesses.
2 - Relieves pain. Laughter may ease pain by causing the body to produce endorphins, its own natural painkillers.
3 - Improves your mood. . Laughter can help lessen your depression and anxiety and may make you feel happier.
4 - Boosts Lymphatic drainage: Belly laughter causes your diaphragm to act as a pump for your lymphatic circulation.
5 - Stimulates the organs. Laughter enhances your intake of oxygen-rich air, stimulates your heart, lungs and muscles, and increases the endorphins that are released by your brain.
6 - Deactivates your stress response. Laughter immediately relaxes you – your blood pressure drops, and your heart rate slows.
7 - Soothes tension. Laughter can also stimulate circulation and aid muscle relaxation, both of which can help reduce some of the physical symptoms of stress
In one of Katie's favourite books, the Eight Immortal Healers, Master Mantak Chia says:
‘The act of laughing, whether natural or artificially induced, causes the production and release of literally hundreds of different chemicals that assist in healing the body and releasing stress…’
There’s an old saying from Khalil Gibran
‘The deeper that sadness carves its way into your being, the more joy it can contain’ You might be feeling a little like, ‘Don’t be ridiculous! What do we have to laugh about right now?’ All I can say is, the times when we feel like laughing least? Those are the times that we need it most. What’s more, the body cannot differentiate between real and fake laughter. So you really can ‘Fake it ‘til you make it’.
Lots of Katie Brindle's morning qigong class have reported that they start crying when they do laughter qigong. This is totally natural and actually quite common, as they are both emotional releases. Keep with it, you may cry for a week, but eventually you will laugh! It all needs to come out…
Laughter is SO good for you - and she is becoming quite renowned for how much FUN the feeds are and how enjoyable they are as a result. Join @Katie_Brindle on Instagram 8am Weekdays (9am Weekends) for her live Qigong classes.
"Laughter qigong really does seem to be the most popular part of my daily Qigong sessions – and it feels really lovely to know that we are all giggling along together. Kids love it, cats hate it - and neighbours are generally just bewildered. Join me for some much needed laughter and feel the difference for yourself!" Katie Brindle.
