A Word to the Wise T.I. - Axing Anxiety with Laughter Yoga

Art: "Laughter in the Wind" by Karsten Stier

Updated 03/09/09 and 03/10/09

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LAUGHTER YOGA works even if you think the idea is absurd, or are too stressed out to laugh, or have no sense of humor. With laughter yoga you can still laugh away your anxiety. This Discovery Channel video report on physician Dr. Kataria's globe spanning movement is the best on YouTube.



Or watch these: Oprah Show, or BBC's Report.

Does it still seem stupid? Laughter as therapy was used two centuries ago at one of America's most well known health spas for the rich and famous, as this scene from the movie, Wellsville, illustrates so well. Well, you can always revisit this idea when all else fails and you are desperate enough to try something new and effective. Click here to locate your area's nearest laughter club. Don't want to go out? Watch these videos over and over and laugh along with the participants:

BBC's Human Face (John Cleese visits laughter club in Mumbai, India)

Laughter Yoga Day South Africa

Race Around the World visits Dr. Kataria's Laughter Club

Laughter Yoga Session, Tokyo

If you cannot access the YouTube videos, watch a Marx Brothers film:

1. At the Circus (1939)
   
2. A Day at the Races (1937)
   
3. A Night at the Opera (1935)
   
4. Duck Soup (1933)
5. Horse Feathers (1932)
   
6. Monkey Business (1931)
   
7. Animal Crackers (1930)

Warning: if you choose to do laughter yoga alone in your home, make sure you laugh silently (engaging your entire body except for your vocal cords) so your neighbors don't call the police on you.

Tip: If you hope the Laughter Yoga Alone DVDs will include a 15-minute laughter club session, you will be disappointed. Both disks only have Dr. Katarias going over the technique, so your money won't be well spent. You are better off just laughing along with one of the above laughter club videos on YouTube.
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And may A Word to the Wise T.I. be sufficient.

A Word to the Wise T.I. - Axing Anxiety with Chanting

Art: "Terrible Toll of Art Anxiety" by Gordon Fraser

CHANTING, especially using V2K-drowning chanting, is both empowering and invigorating. If the perps compromise the words of your chant, just pick another. If they compromise the rhythm of the chant, move on to another. There are thousands of things one can chant, from the single syllable, "Ohmmmm" to multi-worded Hindu or Buddhist sutras, Christian or Muslim prayers, etc. Just make sure that you chant silently; don't ever move your lips or engage your vocal cords (even to whisper the chant). If you do, you will clue the perps to the words and/or rhythm of your chant. If your chant does get compromised from V2K transmissions that change its rhythm or mock its words, then select simply another chant: perhaps a longer one or one with a different number of syllables.

Remember: if your chant comes unbidden to your mind without your having decided, there is a good chance the chanted is being transmitted V2K. When this happens, change your chant immediately and remember not to voice it under your breath again.

Here's hoping that A Word to the Wise T.I. is sufficient.