Blog: Make Change Fun And Easy

Laughter Yoga: A Powerful Tool For Wellness. With Anjana Lala & Samia Bano

Laughter Yoga: A Powerful Tool For Wellness.

August 23, 202444 min read

Laughter Yoga: A Powerful Tool For Wellness.
With Anjana Lala & Samia Bano

Want to learn a #funandeasy way to overcome life's seriousness and foster #deephealing?

Listen now to this interview with Anjana Lala, Mid-life Designer Coach, to learn about the power of #LaughterYoga, a transformative practice that reconnects you with your natural laughter, bringing joy, relaxation, and healing into your life.

Discover strategies for maintaining positivity and a sense of humor, even in challenging situations. This episode offers practical advice on how to navigate tough times with resilience and laughter as your guiding forces. After all, #laughteristhebestmedicine! :D

ABOUT ANJANA:
Anjana Lala is the #1Coach for women 47+. She helps you design your life, measured, tailored just for you. Your right-size amazing life.

Learn more and connect with Anjana at: https://artofhappiness.institute/

To Book your Free HAPPINESS 101 EXPLORATION CALL with Samia, click: https://my.timetrade.com/book/JX9XJ

#pathtowellness #thebestmedicine #giftoflaughter #MidlifeRejuvenation #EmpowerWomen #Changemakers #HealingThroughLaughter #RediscoverJoy #StressRelief #PersonalGrowth #WomenEmpowerment #LaughThroughChallenges #StayPositive #JoyfulCommunity #PositiveConnections #HealingLaughter #EmotionalWellbeing #CulturalConnection #InclusiveLaughter #UniversalLanguage

Here's the audio version of this episode:

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SAMIA: Hello, Salaam, Shalom, Namaste, Sat Sri Akal, Aloha, Holah, Ciao, Bonjour, Buna, Mabuhay, and Dzień Dobry! It's really, really good to be with you again. And I know you'll be so happy you've joined us also because we have a very cool guest with us today. And it's Anjana Lala, who is a Midlife Designer Coach. I think that is so cool. Welcome, Anjana…

ANJANA: Hello, everybody. Hello, Samia... Thanks for having me on your show and having this wonderful conversations with you… I look forward to it. 

SAMIA: Yes, me too. Anjana, please tell us more about who you are and what you do.

ANJANA: I wear many hats, but today my hat is about my happy place. And I'm from Johannesburg, South Africa. We are one of the sunniest countries in the world. We are blessed with brilliant weather. We got like ten months of summer, two months of winter. So you can see that we're very blessed. I am a Midlife Designer Coach for women over 47, helping them design their right size life, all measured and tailored to perfectly suit them and fit them well. And in this process, the woman becomes the rejuvenated woman. Whatever that looks like for you, whatever that feels like for you. So that is what I do. And one of my... one of the part of the process that I like to use of this is in the rejuvenation, is how to be happy, how to find your happy place. And now, since we hit midlife, I am on a mission to help, inspire, educate, guide one woman at a time. And my wish, my mission is big… and my vision is big… is that each woman that I touch, I inspire, educate, guide on whichever way possible that she pays it forward to another woman, creating a ripple effect of happiness, empowerment… uplift women all over the world. And yeah, so my vision and mission is quite bold and quite big.

SAMIA: I love it. I love it. You're a true changeMaker, speaking to a community of changemakers. So we welcome your vision and we, you know… it's just so wonderful, you know, when you connect with other changemakers with big, bold visions and, you know, you find that you're less alone in the world… you know, like, you're not the only one out there trying to create massive, positive change. And it's really wonderful. Yeah. It makes change more fun and easy.

ANJANA: Yes. And, you know, sometimes when you're a changemaker and you're on this path with a big vision and mission, and sometimes you can feel a bit lonely… because it's your vision, it's your mission. There are people around you that can help you, but when you meet like minded people, especially all over the world, and thanks to internet, it's so beautiful to connect with like minded, similar missions and visions around the world. I think that's so awesome. That's, like, so fantastic.

SAMIA: Yes, yes. I agree with you. I agree with you... You know, I definitely, you know, as a changemaker… before I was my Happiness Expert self that I am now, I used to be a very sort of intense person. You know, I took things and life very seriously. And I also had big mission and big vision, you know, but I took it so seriously, and I also felt very lonely, and it made things very hard, I must tell you. It made things very hard. And it was also not just hard, but it was, in many ways, not very effective, you know, to feel that sense of loneliness and isolation. And, you know, when I learned to inject some fun, some laughter in my life, it just not only made me feel better, but it actually helped me start producing better results… because with that lighter energy, with that addition of laughter in my life, it made it more easy for other people to relate to me, relate with me, work with me. Because if you're, like, very serious all the time, very intense all the time, you know, it just sort of makes other people feel like, "oh, no, I don't want to be around that so much."

ANJANA: You know, I was similar. I was very shy growing up and coming from a cultural background… My cultural background was you as a woman mustn't talk too loud. Mustn't laugh… Like, when my girl, when my friends and I used to, like, work, play, and we giggle, my granny used to say, "Hey, what are you giggling there? Stop giggling. That's so rude." And I'm like… but we always taught that as a girl not to giggle and to be serious and to be responsible. And because of cultural background, I was being groomed from a very young age to be the perfect wife, to be the perfect wife material, daughter-in-law material. So that whole grooming, that whole grooming... And I can understand from a cultural background why they did it. They want to empower you so that you can fulfill those roles. But in the process, I was so quiet and shy and intense, like you said… and I was so intense that people wouldn't even approach me to become my friend. And I was always, like, shy in the corner, sitting awkward. And I grew up like that also in the twenties, when I went to the working world… I was so quiet that people even know I was part of the office. That's how quiet I was. And you know what? I wasn't happy. I wouldn't laugh. I would laugh inside, but I wouldn't express. I was like a poker face. I would not express myself. And I thought, you know, you are so… there was a deep sadness within me. Sadness. Not depressed, just sadness, because I lived on the sidelines. I never participated in a lot of things because of the awkwardness. And I thought, you know what? I cannot... Don't want to be like this. I was so... I had enough. You know, I was, like, done. I was, like, done of being this way… not having friends. And then I discovered something called laughter yoga. I actually saw it on tv and it was on some news about laughter yoga being used as a stress management tool in America, actually. And it intrigued me. And I went to go do research and I thought, this is so fun. And people were being wacky and silly… Thought… wouldn't it be... My heart said, "Wouldn't it be so awesome to be actually playing and have fun and express yourself?" And expressing myself was so fundamentally important for me because all my life, I didn't express myself. And this thing just caught... I'm telling you, this was meant for me. I promise you, I saw it and it just felt like the right thing. I booked my ticket to India, where it originated, to learn from the doctor who actually created laughter yoga. I booked my ticket. I didn't even book my course. Huh? Booked my ticket, got the address where the cause was being held, and I pitched up there. You didn't book? I said, I know I didn't book for the course, but I'm here... But, Samia, they were welcoming enough for me to participate in the course. And people from all over the world came to do this course. It was brilliant. And from all walks of life and all ages… and everybody came here for the same reason… they were missing laughter. Life became too serious and intense, and it was the turning point in my life, learning laughter yoga. It changed me. I evolved into a new version of myself. And, yeah, that's how my journey started, with laughter yoga.

SAMIA: I love it, I love it, I love it... No, thank you so much for sharing that journey of yours. And tell me more… like, for people who are unfamiliar with laughter yoga, what is laughter yoga?

ANJANA: Let me give you a little bit of background about laughter yoga.

SAMIA: Yeah.

ANJANA: Laughter yoga was started by a medical doctor called Dr. Madan Kataria, and he started laughter in Bombay or Mumbai… sorry, the new name, Mumbai…. in a park with five people. And he saw that it had the impact. Now, India is a very cultural country that people socialize in these parks… public parks… and everybody were curious and they came to join, and then he did it, and it expanded, and people around every day joined. And that's how he started this laughter yoga. And it spread to over 120 countries at the moment. So there is some value in laughter yoga. Now laughter yoga is… you laugh and you connect to your natural inner spirit of laughter. Every person born with the talent to laugh, it's an inborn skill. You don't have to learn how to laugh. It's something you already know. It was gifted to you from the day you were born. You know, when the grannies go, kuchi, kuchi, kuchi, kuchi, kuchi, with the babies, the smile and the giggle comes first, right. You giggle first before you talk. So you already know how to laugh. Laughter yoga is… we do basic laughter exercises, okay. And we play, we clap, we dance… in these exercises, we use visualization, we use games. And the yoga part that comes in here is the only deep breathing exercises from traditional yoga has been incorporated with the laughter exercises. And there is no rule of how you must laugh, how you must sound. You go with your natural laughter and your natural laughing sound. There's no competition, there's no listening. You just come there, be yourself.

SAMIA: Yeah.

ANJANA: So that is brilliant. It is... You express who you are and you express yourself, how you feel at that moment, at that time. That's how powerful this is. And then laughter also is… There's no jokes. You don't have to have a sense of comedy, sense of humor, to laugh. I just want to elaborate that we do not use jokes because in the jokes, you know, when people tell jokes, you always putting people down, you laughing at somebody's character, behavior, circumstances. So that is not part of laughter yoga. We laugh together, not at each other. Very important as one of the fundamentals of laughter yoga and main part is to have fun, fun, fun, fun, fun, fun…

SAMIA: That is so wonderful and so brilliant. Thank you for explaining more deeply about what laughter yoga is. I know... You know, actually, when you were talking about laughter yoga, one of the questions that sort of popped into my mind is, you know, like you mentioned… laughter is a natural skill that we are all born with. But what happened, by the time we are grown up, we have to go to laughter yoga classes to learn how to laugh again or something… like, what in the world is going on? Why is it such a struggle, you think, for us as adults to laugh and have fun and play?

ANJANA: Okay, there's two folds to that, okay... One thing is, to the age of seven, I would say about up to the age of ten… you childlike, you free, you play with your friends, you don't have responsibilities. But I guess as we go into adulthood, laughter becomes... We forget about the natural laughter that we're born with. And it's also cultural conditioning, life circumstances, your personality, your environment, that adults forget how to laugh. And I think most of the adults get so bogged down by life responsibilities and duties and obligations that we forget to laugh. And laughter yoga is... We don't teach you how to laugh, so you don't have to learn how to laugh. You already know how to laugh. You're born with the nature. We just remind you in these workshops, through play, to connect with your natural laughter that you were born with. And I will show you that laughter is part of you. You want to try something with me, Samia?

SAMIA: Sure. Let's go…

ANJANA: All right. I want you… I would like you to take a deep breath in. Okay. And then at the same time, simultaneously laugh…

SAMIA: Deep breath and laugh, wait…

ANJANA: …together.

SAMIA: That's impossible…

ANJANA: Close your eyes. Close your eyes. Close your eyes... Okay.

SAMIA: Okay.

ANJANA: Close your eyes with me. I'm going to keep my eyes open, right?

SAMIA: Yeah.

ANJANA: Take a deep breath in, slowly, and laugh at the same time.

SAMIA: No… it's like when I want to laugh, the breath comes out…

ANJANA: That's it... You see? Now, I proved to you that laughter is part of you, isn't it? The body's clever... Now, laughter is part of your physiology and biology, okay? It's inside you. It's in your mind. And laughter is exhalation. So when you're doing laughter yoga exercises, you don't have to think about breathing… deep breathing... While you're having fun and you're playing and laughing, you're ready doing deep breathing as part of the workshop or the exercise… that deep breathing just comes naturally. Do you ever remember a time where you if you watched a funny movie, you laugh so hard that you had to catch your breath, you had to hold your stomach, you had to laugh, and you had to catch your breath, right. You have to wait... So laughter is part of deep breathing. It's just a fun way of doing it.

SAMIA: Yes. Oh, that's so wonderful... Yes, oh... And, you know, it's like when you are deep breathing, when you're laughing, immediately, you know, I can begin to feel myself relaxing in amazing ways. It's not just my mind relaxing, but also my whole body relaxes… and, you know, wow, that is so amazing and invaluable, because when you're more relaxed, oh, all kinds of things can start to heal within you…

ANJANA: Yes. Now, okay, laughter you know, when you laughing, the brain gets a message. You say, you know what? She's happy... The muscles, the body, is sending a message to your mind, to your brain to say, she's happy. It releases the whole cocktail of happy chemicals. And we don't want to get too scientific. We don't get too stuck in the science. But one of them is endorphins. Okay? Feel good hormones, I'm going to call them… and endorphins are what makes you feel happy. But at the same time, endorphins is a natural pain relief. So the more you laugh, if you have physical pain, it does help to decrease the pain. Now, if you want to know more about that, read a book by Norman Cousins… how he used laughter to help him with physical pain. So the book is, I think it's called an Anatomy of an Illness, if I'm not mistaken. But just look for Norman Cousins. His book is very popular… and how we use laughter to help him with pain. So endorphin is not only a happy chemical, feel good chemical, in your body that's released by a brain when you laugh, it also reduces physical pain. So healing can happen. Healing can happen... It can help you feel more comfortable.

SAMIA: Yeah. It reminds me of the saying, laughter is the best medicine.

ANJANA: Oh, it's wonderful medicine. It's good medicine… on so many levels…

SAMIA: Yes, yes. You know, I'm remembering, as you were sharing, there are so many studies where they show… for example, they have done with cancer patients and etcetera, where there's a lot of times, you know, like, for example, people who are suffering with cancer, they can also have, like, real negative impacts on their mental health, and they can suffer from depression and anxiety, etcetera. And so when they introduce programs for the cancer patients that allow them to just feel better, more light and more happy… you know, they'll do different things, like, maybe they'll bring in entertainers for them or, you know, do practices like laughter yoga, etcetera. And it has been shown through research that actually their recovery speeds up. They're much more likely to have better reaction to the treatment that they do receive for the cancer. And there's just so many benefits to being happier. And laughter is one of the quickest paths to generating that feeling within yourself.

ANJANA: You know, laughter is the key to... Laughter is one of the best tools and distinct to happiness. And you know what? It's free. It's free... It's a gift… for me, I believe it's a gift from the higher universe. You know what I'm saying it's a gift from Mother Nature. When we're created by Mother Nature… we're part of Mother Nature. So it's a gift that's been given to human beings. And we become so intense and involved in life. And I think sometimes we chasing, chasing, chasing that we get so stressed out… the anxiety… we become so highly anxious people. And with modern lifestyle, living in cities and working in the corporates, just city lifestyle, forget about everything else, people have become highly anxious human beings. We're not relaxed.

SAMIA: Yes.

ANJANA: We're not relaxed. We carry so much stress hormones in our bodies, like cortisol. I mean, obesity is a big problem in cities. And one of the main reasons is stress and cortisol related obesity and being overweight. So I believe that laughter has a very key role in helping people to connect into that natural laughter and being able to feel relaxed in the body and mind. Creating calmness... People are craving for calmness and peace of mind. It's eluding them, you know? So I've used laughter yoga in corporates. I've used it for breast cancer foundations, old age homes… I mean, I've done workshops across special needs kids. I've been doing this since… for 15 years now. And I've seen it in my coaching clients with these midlife woman. The anxiety is so high… And I've seen it over, over and over, that it's such an easy tool to use. Yet people find it difficult to let go because of conditioning, social conditioning. That is one of the challenges. And laughter yoga can break those barriers.

SAMIA: Yeah.

ANJANA: You must just be willing to play.

SAMIA: Yes, yes, yes… You know, a lot of times people are, unfortunately waiting for some outside circumstance in their life to change in order to feel happy, in order to laugh… They're like waiting, you know… but life doesn't always present those opportunities, or it seems like that, that, "Oh, my life is just so serious. There's just so many serious things happening in my life. There's no reason for me to laugh." You know, you can have that perception or that idea. But I think one of the things that we learn with laughter yoga is that we can create the opportunities for us to laugh. We can choose to laugh no matter, you know, what our circumstances are. We can choose to feel different and to behave in a different way that promotes our laughter, that promotes our happiness.

ANJANA: You know, one part of the laughter yoga classes is that, as a facilitator… and we participate with the group… So laughter yoga exercises is not a specific, say, fitty exercises, universal exercises... No, it's not. Laughter yoga, we use a lot of imagination, we use visualization, and we encourage the participants in the group… We do like improve where we say, okay, you do a laughter exercise. If you got a chore child, what laughter games... What games do you play with your kid? You know, come show us. So we encourage the people… and some of them come up with the most amazing laughter exercises that when they open up and they ready to play… because there's no rules of how to laugh, what exercise… It's like, you know, some kid will just look at a leaf, a leaf will wave... They'll just find it amusing... So we encourage participants to come up with their own laughter exercises and play… and games… And it's amazing how they open up, and how they participate and they find it within them. It doesn't have to be an external factor. It's not an external material thing, you know…

SAMIA: Yeah.

ANJANA: So... and we do encourage… we have exercises that people can take with them home, that they can do on their own. So you don't need people to laugh. You can do laughter yoga on your own as well. So we have group and we have individual exercises, so people can... Yeah, we empower them. We empower them that it's not just a fun workshop and then close the door and finish. We give them exercises that you can take at home… and you can do with your family, you can do with your friends. You can use this in get togethers… you know, when you have barbecues or like we say… like a Sunday afternoon, you got family gatherings and you look for games to play. I mean, you can't just sit around and talk. And we encourage them to do this for their families.

SAMIA: Yes, that is wonderful. That is wonderful. And, you know, it makes me think back to when you were saying about… you don't use joke telling as a way to make people laugh… because, you know, that makes… another bit of wisdom behind that that is striking me now is, you know, the difference... You don't want to become dependent on external stimuli, your don’t want to become dependent on somebody having to tell you a joke in order for you to be able to laugh. You really want to be able to generate it from within yourself, and then you can be free to laugh whenever you, you desire, and to laugh a lot more in your life. If you're not dependent on any external circumstances, you just tap into your own sense of play and wanting to be happy, etcetera, and, you know, those internal motivations, and then you just get to laugh... I love it…

ANJANA: Yeah. No, I also love it. We laugh for no reason at all. We don't need a reason to laugh. And I think the west… the west has made it such a big deal that you have to have a sense of humor. What is wrong with you? If… you know, you get judged on that because you don't have a sense of humor. If you shy, you're awkward. They just think, look at that, so boring. So if you don't have a certain type of sense of humor, you like the outcast, you know, you don't belong, you don't fit in. So the part of all about laughter yoga is we laugh for no reason and you don't have to have a sense of humor. So important… So everybody is included and everybody can participate at their own pace. It's the beauty part of it. And I don't have a sense of humor. My sense of humor is very dry. I laugh at weird things, and if I see something or hear something, I'll just start laughing. And people just like, there's nothing to laugh about. I said, no, what she said was funny… but she made a comment, it's funny... I wouldn't, my old self wouldn't do that.

SAMIA: Yeah.

ANJANA: My old self would, like, shy away, like... But now, I'm free. Laughter liberated me with a lot of barriers, cultural barriers, and… And I found that…

I found a safe space, a safe way of expressing myself through laughter. It's not a fake laughter. It's my innate laughter. And laughter makes me feel relaxed. It makes me feel calm about myself. It makes me feel it's okay to be me, you know?

SAMIA: Yeah.

ANJANA: And that's what it has done for me. And the social conditioning… a lot of the layers has been removed because of laughter yoga. And I've met the most incredible people in the world. And I've traveled, because of laughter yoga to so many parts of the country and the world. So, yeah, it's been... Ripple effect of it is so big. It's so big for me. It's my thing. It's my thing…

SAMIA: Yay. I love it. I love it. Tell me a little bit more about the social aspect in terms of… especially when you first started practicing laughter yoga and you had mentioned that, you know, for example, in the culture that you experienced growing up, being, you know, told not to laugh, not to be loud… And then when you started these practices… if you received criticism or, you know, like, people, you know, looking at you like, what in the world is wrong with you… kind of a thing… You know, like, how did you deal with that? Because I imagine, you know, when we start something new, like, this, and if we receive criticism, for a lot of people, that can become discouraging and, you know, they might not feel empowered enough to keep going. So how do you... How would you encourage someone who maybe feeling, you know, some of that pressure to continue to conform and not let go? How do you keep, you know, encouraging yourself to actually keep going with these practices that are actually making you much happier?

ANJANA: You know, in the starting, when I started, yeah, people raise their eyebrows... And a lot of the people around me were very awkward. I wasn't awkward, but the people around me found it very wacky, silly, and this is not for adults, for grown ups. It's for kids. And I got a lot of… When I started, it was still new to South Africa, and when we started doing this, even… the wellness industry embraced us and invited us as facilitators to come into workshops for the corporate. So the wellness- employee wellness companies were quite open to it… because they're always looking for new ways of helping employees de-stress, team building, et cetera, et cetera... And being in South Africa, the African culture, they embrace… and they very loud. They're very big. Their personalities are very big, and they're open to these things. And they laugh very easier than from the culture that I come from. So the African culture here in South Africa actually embraced it very well. They were one of my best clients. So what I did is to continue… I connected and… with people from the African culture to get practice, to spread laughter. Yoga in the workplace, in the social gatherings and networking… book clubs, for example... So I did book clubs, I did business members, business networking, even we did rotary clubs, and that's how it spread. So we used the African culture. And then in the corporates, it took a while... It took a while to get on, but it did. And for me not to conform back to my way… it's… you know, laughter yoga, I must be honest, it came very naturally to me. It was like... It was destined to do this. I can't explain it. I was destined to do this. It was meant for me. So in the starting, yes, my friends and family were, but not encouraging because of cultural... they felt awkward. They felt more uncomfortable and awkward than I did. But it was fine. It was something new. It's something... And me being quiet and awkward, you must remember, all of a sudden, I'm going big and bold, like, what is wrong with you? And it's expected, naturally. But it's just… I promise you, Samia, it was meant for me. I did not struggled that much as I thought I would to keep going, to go against society's norms and rules of being the prim and proper lady. Yeah, they called me, I was called crazy, weird, one of the names in the starting… but I'm still doing it 15 years down the line. And you know what, it is meant for me. I've used it in trauma counseling, which goes against trauma because it's such a serious thing. But I've used laughter and deep breathing in my trauma counseling work that I do… and it's my thing. It's my thing.

SAMIA: Yeah, yeah. And I thank you for sharing that. I think, you know, what you shared about… you went where you were welcome, and you went where there was an easier path of entry in terms of, like, people were willing, you know… and I think that is actually a very wise thing. And for anyone who may be trying something new and feeling a little like, oh, gosh, I don't know how the people around me are going to react …or the people around you are not reacting so well… but if you can… there will always be some people that you can find who are in alignment with where you are at and what you're wanting to do. And so to find that community of people… And over time, you know, I think it happened with me also… like, after I started learning about happiness and how to be happy work, it was a similar thing where, you know… like one of the… actually, my journey started specifically when I think about in the context of learning how to be happy… I started working with my Happiness Coach, Doctor Aymee Coget. And one of the pillars of happiness that, you know, we talk about, that we have to learn to cultivate and practice every day, is positive mood skills, you know… So it's like, how do you develop that positive mood where your thinking is positive, you know, you're feeling happy, joyful… you know, the kind of happy… because there's different kinds of happiness… but the kind of happy that actually, you know, where you are laughing and wanting to sing and dance in joy, etcetera. And just like we were talking earlier, a lot of times, you know, the traditional... not traditional, but the dominant culture will tell you, okay, you have to have a reason. Like, something has to happen in your life in order for you to be happy. But what I was learning with Doctor Aymee was, no, you don't need a reason. You get to just choose to be happy... And so she had us practice… She was like, okay, so I just want you to start doing things like jumping for joy. And she was like, just do at least ten joyful-happy jumps every day, you know? And at first I was, like, really shy to do it. I would, like, either lock myself in the room or if I couldn't find an empty room, because I live with my family, I'd go lock myself in the bathroom and do it, or, you know, things like that. But, you know, I actually, interestingly, I took my happiness learning very seriously in some ways. And so I was like, it doesn't matter what the challenges are. I'm going to do it… I'm going to actually practice what I'm learning. And so in that way, I also sort of committed to it. And I was like, okay... And the thing is like, yeah, the further I went into the practices and it just made me so happy. And then after a while, it was like, oh, you know, the more happy you get, the more light you get in your energy, the less judgmental you get, even with regards to yourself… And other people's reactions then don't bother you so much. Or at least like, that's certainly what I keep finding in my own experience and even with the clients that I work with, that the more happy you become and the more adept you become at this ability to choose… choosing to be happy… the less you worry about how people are going to react and so forth. Because in some ways, that actually becomes a reason to laugh. It's like if people are giving funny looks to you, it's just like another reason to laugh…

ANJANA: It's amusing, actually. It is amusing... When people... I got those looks, like those big eyes, I've got the eyebrows. I'm like… people have told me… because she's laughing. But I was also like, you in a starting, when I first started laughter and I came back to practice, I couldn't do it in the bathroom because it's quite loud. So I used to sit in my car, and when I go shopping, I would take the long route so I could practice in my car how to laugh. And the more you practice… it must sound genuine. You know, it mustn't sound false.

SAMIA: Yes.

ANJANA: So you have to practice these exercises. And as a facilitator, you carry the energy of the room and the venue and the event. So you have to be… your energy needs to be higher to carry them, you know, and to influence them… and to not influence them in a bad way, but to inspire them to laugh and to participate. So I used to sit in my car and go the long route shopping, and I used to, in my car, I sit in the parking lot, and then I would sit in a grandest thing and I would laugh in my car. So that's how I choose every day. And I use laughter like you. The positivity every day… to choose positivity, to choose happiness and lightness, a sense of lightness. And I'm a very emotional person and a very sensitive person when I was growing up. And that helped me not to take things personally. And laughter has done that for me… because I was awkward and shy. And, you know, when you're sensitive, like, small little things would bother you and you get anxious about them and you worry about little things and sweat the small stuff, and all those, etc, etcetera... And with laughter, we use, like you say, dancing, jumping, we use a lot of body movement... Play… we call that play. And in the play we use laughter, we use music, we use dance, we even use singing. You can sing how you want to. And we use notes. Like we use, for example, we use the Christmas sound, like ho, ho, ha, ha… Father Christmas... That's very big as well. We use a lot of ho, ho, ha, ha, ha… You know, and everybody knows that Father Christmas, and you can just see the joy that it invokes and the happiness it invokes to people. So laughter has so many impacts on you as a person. And I think the more you laugh, like you tap on it, you know, and laughter and happiness is serious business. It's a choice. It's a serious business, a serious decision, and a serious intention that you set for yourself. And the more you do it, the easier it becomes. And the more... And in life, choosing to be happy, choosing a tool or a way to be happy is not that difficult. We choose... Everybody say, work hard, you have to work hard, you have to hustle, you have to crush it… All those terms… we just put so much pressure on ourselves that we miss out on this being joyful and happy moments, you know, the moments you miss it because he's so busy crushing it… hustle… whatever you want to use the word… And it's not that, it's not that difficult. Like, when I started with my laughter, like you said, I chose an environment and I chose people that already had that. Their culture, had that funness, had the play, had the dance, had the joy, and they lived by it. They lived by these simple things. And I went to go practice them… with them. And I promise you, they make it easy. They do it and it's easy… when you observe them and then you wonder why... I mean, they got their cultural dancers, for example. They dance, they dance, they have fun. And any music, they just go with the beat and rhythm. The African tribes in South Africa… and they make it look so much fun. But it is fun... I do it with them, and they've taught me. I've incorporated their culture in with my laughter. And I promise you, if you choose fun, happiness is easy. It is easy.

Like you say, it starts with a choice…

SAMIA: Yeah…

ANJANA: You find a method that works for you, like jumping for joy, for example. Some people dance with joy, some people sing with joy. Or laugh with joy, you know, what I’m saying…

SAMIA: …yeah.

ANJANA: …so you just want to…

SAMIA: Yes, exactly. Exactly. I love that. Yeah... Because, you know, not the… the same practices won't be best for everyone. And so it's like, you know, really awesome… I mean, when I have attended laughter yoga workshops, that was one of the things that I really appreciated, is that they have you try such a wide variety of different exercises, different ways to play. And some things, things just come more naturally to you and just click with you more easily than other kinds of exercises. And so just give it a try. Give lots of different ways a try and see what works best for you.

ANJANA: Yeah. No, you're true. You've attended it. So you know that the different exercises do cater for different personalities.

SAMIA: Yes.

ANJANA: And ages, actually, different age groups... And because I deal with midlife woman, I've actually got something called the anti wrinkle laughter… and I use it with my clients, and they're like… And that one method, I call it the anti wrinkle laughter method… And that method, I use it with my midlife woman to feel good about their wrinkles. And, you know, as women, our face represents everything about us. When we look, as women, we, especially the aging woman and the young woman, we judge ourselves so harshly, you know… and when we look in the mirror, it can ruin our day. It can... You know, today you look in the mirror and you're like, look at me… I don't feel good about myself… It influences your confidence. It influences how/what you… judgment… the word you use… judging yourself. So this whole mirror is such a powerful tool. So I use anti wrinkle-Laughter to help women, for example, in my coaching, to make themselves feel good about this whole aging and seeing laugh lines and see wrinkles. And, you know, so, for example, that's how powerful it is and I can talk so much about it. It's my thing like I said, I can go on and on and on…

SAMIA: Yeah... Oh, my gosh. No, that's wonderful. Thank you for sharing that example. And you're so right. You know, it again goes back to that... we can get so serious about everything in our lives. And learning to laugh about it just actually, again, not only helps us feel better in the moment, but we actually come up with… if it's a real problem… Like, a lot of times when you start laughing about things, you realize, oh, it's actually not even a problem at all… But even if it is a real problem, to whatever extent it is, when you are able to laugh, you actually come up with better solutions…

ANJANA: Yes, you do. Because when laughter… When you play… When you play… laughter is playing. Laughter is you laughing with your body. When you laughing with your body and mind, it's playing. It's a kind of a game. Yeah. And what laughter does, it helps you distance yourself from the situation that you in. And, you know, laughter is… you know, human beings go through three emotions in a day. We go through three… We don't even realize it. We go through a little bit of sadness, boredom, anger... Okay… so we go a little bit of sadness, boredom, anger, and we get irritated. Now, anger is expressed more in frustration, irritation. That's what I mean. And laughter is one of the fastest way to diffuse all those…

SAMIA: Yeah.

ANJANA: …Boredom, sadness and anger… And that it calms you down. And I'm saying… so it's one of the fastest way to bring you down, calm you down. And when you’re calm, in a good space, it helps you not identify with your problem. It helps you get back into yourself and you see the problem objectively. Problem… it's… the problem is there and you here, you know, it's a temporary thing… and it even helps you with that… it helps with that to identify... And when you're going through stress with a problem, laughter also diffuses and reduces the stress and anxiety within your mind and your body. 

SAMIA: Yeah. 

ANJANA: And it happens quite quick. It happens... Studies have been done where they do the stress hormones… pre-workshop and after the workshop they did blood tests… and the cortisol reduced quite significantly. A lot of universities have done those studies. You can go look it up and it's amazing. It's quite amazing.

SAMIA: Yeah. You know what, you made me remember is… just more recently, one of the ways in which I experienced the power of laughter and how it really helps you in very serious situations is… you know, unfortunately, the world is experiencing some really intense, difficult, horrible things, including genocides going on and so forth. And, you know, I'm part of communities of changemakers, you know, like passionate people, about creating change in the world… And so a lot of us are very actively involved in these different social causes and so forth. And particularly right now, I'm thinking about, you know, the ongoing genocide in Gaza… and, you know, so many people in our community are so involved in, you know, trying to do whatever we can to help and to educate ourselves and to raise awareness in the broader community. And… because in America, there is still a lot of lack of awareness of hat is actually happening… You know, the suffering, etcetera, etcetera... And a lot of people are also, like, burning out. They begin to get into this work, and it's so serious… They get so serious and intense about it… And there's so much that is discouraging in terms of, you know, you're trying to create change and people not responding. People actually not… Or if they respond, they respond in a very negative way to your efforts. And it can be very frustrating, etcetera. And people are just, you know, literally burning themselves out in the process and then just feeling even worse because they're like, ah, you know… but one of the things that I've been doing and I've been encouraging my friends and people I'm working with to do is to, you know, continue to make that time and space we take care of ourselves, particularly in the context of laughing and doing happiness practices. Because just like you were saying, Anjana, you know, it helps us to create that perspective of…

ANJANA: ...separation.

SAMIA: Yes, separation…

ANJANA: …Separation of your self.

SAMIA: Exactly.

ANJANA: And the situation that you see.

SAMIA: Exactly, exactly. And, you know, that is so important because, you know, especially, like, from a faith perspective to... Like, for me, you know, it's very important from a faith perspective to cultivate the knowing that, you know, ultimately, it's actually not my responsibility to change anything… ultimate… you know, it's not that, you know, for me to let go of that sense of responsibility into the care of God. Like, God, you take care of it, because actually, I'm not capable. I need... I want to… So I want to let go of my sense of responsibility and put it in your care. But in order for me to be able to do that, you know, you have to be able to have that perspective of separating yourself from the situation and to be able to see it... Yes. And see it from that bigger picture perspective and all of those things. And so even, like, you were saying, it's so difficult for people to let go. And so, for sure, when we engage in practices like laughter yoga, other happiness cultivating practices… it is so important for us to be able to let go... Yeah.

ANJANA: You know, the question will come up, how can I laugh in such a serious…?

SAMIA: Yeah.

ANJANA: I get ask that a lot. How can I laugh when the situation as the circumstances are so dire? How can I..? And they feel guilty.

SAMIA: Yes.

ANJANA: It's such a guilt, such a deep guilt that... But laughter... Okay, let's put laughter aside. Smile... Smile and kindness, right. Let's bring it a bit... Let's tone it down the laughter. What's after before laughter is a smile. When you smile in situations like somebody going through a bad time, when you smile at them, you acknowledge them. You say, you ask them, how are you? How are you doing? You check in. That already makes them feel comfortable because somebody is connecting with them. You understand? So laughter… You don't have to have such a high degree of laughter and fun. You can tone down the exercises that you can do, even though the people that are doing volunteer work, working with social groups, NGO's, whatever, nonprofits… those guys are the caregivers, they're volunteering, but they also need to look after their mental health. So you can do certain laughter exercises with a deep breathing and use sound… Instead of using laughter, what we do is we use sound, like I explained. Ho ho, ha ha ha. And it has the same effect as laughter. So different exercises for different circumstances.

SAMIA: Yes.

ANJANA: So we use sound with body movement and a little bit of smiling just to uplift people and especially for mental health. So in very serious situation… does it answer your question?

SAMIA: Yes. Yes. You actually just reminded me of… I was watching the documentary that was focusing on highlighting experiences of people in refugee camps… like, people who have escaped war zones and so forth. And one very interesting finding that they were highlighting in the documentary was resiliency of the people. And they actually found that the children were more resilient… showing more resiliency than the adults. And one of the hypotheses or theories that they had for why the children were showing more resiliency is because even, you know, in these refugee camps, which are, you know, really… the conditions over there are very harsh. You know, people living there, very hard circumstances… and they've experienced massive traumas that, you know, in the context of the war that they have escaped and so on and so forth. But, you know, even in these kinds of conditions, you see the children, they come out and they are playing together, and they're laughing, and they make up games to have fun…

ANJANA: The stones… The stones become their friend. They play with the stone. They find things, and they make a ball. They take cardboard… they take anything lying around, and they make it into a toy and they play. So it shows that play is so important in life, whether you're an adult or whether you're a child… or whether you're an older person… play in life is important for your mental health, for your happiness, for your overall well being. It's so, so important. Yeah. So my… recently I came up with this, and when you scared, go play. I tell the people, when you scared, go play.

SAMIA: Yes.

ANJANA: So I get this look, and even I tell my clients, when you're anxious, scared, nervous, go play.

SAMIA: Yes.

ANJANA: I was just watching a movie recently with… Top Gun Maverick… and the teacher, Tom Cruise in the movie was trying to teach these people how to be team building, and he wasn't getting it right. So the big boss says, listen, you need to get this team to be working together. You know what he did? He took the day off and they went to the beach to play football and volleyball and beach volleyball. And they were playing. And in the play, they all relaxed, all the guard.... They weren't guarded, they let themselves go. They were having fun. And guess what? In play, they had team building.

SAMIA: Yeah.

ANJANA: They came to know each other better. No judgments. They were having fun. And that's how effective play is. Something as serious as that movie, the point of the movie… and to get everybody to work together. And I thought that was so awesome and a perfect example of play and how important play is for serious stuff.

SAMIA: Yes. 

ANJANA: It's easy, fun… It's easy… yet you're achieving such a serious thing that you need to.

SAMIA: Yes, yes.

ANJANA: And without thinking about it so much… it's creative and you don't engage. You don't have to overthink it or how to achieve it.

SAMIA: Yes. You just made me think about an amazing lesson that I had learned with one of my spiritual mentors. But… oh, my gosh, I'm not going to talk about it because I lost track of time and I just realized, oh, my gosh... We have been talking for over an hour. I think we better wrap up for today... But, you know, Anjana we'll have to bring you back Anjana, so we can keep talking even more about laughter and happiness and all these good things... But for now, do you have any last thoughts or words you would love to share?

ANJANA: You know, go play… My message to everybody is to go play. When you get scared, go play... When you get nervous, angry… go play. Any negative emotions such as this thing, go play. Whether it's exercise, walking, dancing, bouncing, jumping rope, just jumping for joy like you say, and laugh. And if you can't laugh on demand like me for no reason, go watch a favorite comedy movies. Put it on, that will make you laugh. That will inspire you to laugh and, yeah… And use laughter as medicine, because it is great medicine, not just good medicine. I've seen it over 15 years, the results it had. And it's just when you got the gift, you were born with it. Now it's just a matter of using it. 

SAMIA: Yes. I love that. Thank you so much, Anjana. And my last reminder to our audience is to make sure you check the show notes because we will be dropping Anjana's links in there so you can connect with her and learn from her even more and better how to practice laughing and to actually practice laughing with her and make it more fun and easy for you. And until we connect next time, I just wish you lots and lots of peace and joy and laughter… :)

ANJANA: Bye bye.

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Samia Bano, Happiness Expert

Samia Bano is the #HappinessExpert, author, speaker, podcaster & coach for coaches and healers. Samia is most known for her book, 'Make Change Fun and Easy' and her #podcast of the same name. With the help of her signature Follow Your Heart Process™, a unique combination of #PositivePsychology and the spiritual wisdom of our most effective #ChangeMakers, Samia helps you overcome #LimitingBeliefs, your chains of fear, to develop a #PositiveMindset and create the impact and income you desire with fun and ease… Samia’s advanced signature programs include the Happiness 101 Class and the Transformative Action Training. Samia is also a Certified #ReikiHealer and Crisis Counselor working to promote #MentalHealthAwareness. Samia models #HeartCenteredLeadership and business that is both #SociallyResponsible and #EnvironmentallyFriendly. Samia is a practicing #Muslim with an inter-spiritual approach. As someone who has a love and appreciation for diversity, she is a #BridgeBuilder between people of different faiths and cultures. Although Samia currently lives in California, USA, she has lived in 3 other countries and speaks Hindi, Urdu, and English fluently.

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