Last weekend, I, and a group of my very capable students, led a group of seniors at an assisted living facility in Laughter Yoga. We laughed, clapped and breathed. The results were magnificent! They burst out laughing and didn't stop for 40 minutes. Dolores, a lovely, perfumed, 80-ish woman, with a walker, pink lipstick and an attitude said, "My fibromyalgia gives me so much pain, but the pain is gone. When are you going to come back?"
My first-time laughers tell me about their pain vanishing so often that I am embarrassed to say that I am used to it. I know they are telling me the truth because I have had the same experience with lasting results.
When I started this blog, I was trying to recover from chronic fatigue immune dysfunction, fibromyalgia, chronic back and pelvic pain, and mood disorder. Over fifteen years, I had made some progress, but never a complete recovery. In fact, my healing journey led me to Mayo Clinic to see yet another provider. As I was leaving, I saw a sign that said - The Spirituality of Laughter. "That's for me!" I decided and I invited myself to the seminar. I experienced Laughter Yoga for the first time and my whole life changed. I got certified as a leader and began a daily laughter practice. In the last two years, I have been completely delivered from pain, fatigue and depression. The pain and illness is gone and replaced by joy, gratitude and a new career path. I lead and teach others how to lead Laughter Yoga sessions. I also provide Spiritual Laughter Coaching for those who want to transform stuck areas of their lives and live in serenity.
Over the last year, I have been leading groups of all ages, but primarily seniors who have Alzheimer's disease, dementia and mental illness. I hang out with the forgotten crowd with yellow toenails, poop problems, aches, pains and complaints. In other words, my people. Guess what? They all laugh. No matter what. I am good at what I do, but it is a gift. All of the crap that I have been through that felt like unnecessary torture has been put to good use.
So, I wasn't surprised by Dolores' remark. I hear it all the time from her peers, their staff and loved ones. But, after this class, I heard something that took my breath away.
We finished our Laughter Session and were saying our goodbye and thank you's when a short woman with short, white straight hair surrounding a small bald spot, stepped into the middle of the gathering and announced, "I missed most of the class, but I would like to sing." I gave my permission and she began to sing, "How Great Thou Art" in a tender, flute-like soprano. The entire room began to sing with her.
Here is a room filled with people who live in someone else's home. They are blind and deaf. They push their own wheelchairs by shuffling their feet like Fred Flinstone. They have hands that have twisted so that they can no longer hold them in prayer. They have lost friends and family. They are waiting and wondering why God hasn't taken them.
Yet, for one hour, they got to laugh and experience joy through the gift of Laughter Yoga that we brought to them. Then, they gave us something even more powerful, a witness of faith and praise to a powerful, healing God in the midst of what some would call suffering. I cried at their vulnerability and strength. I am still in awe of the power of faith.
I can't deny the truth of it. I have seen this Power heal me in places that no human power could, knowing that I didn't do anything to deserve it. I think that is what they call grace.
So, after a year hiatus, I am back in the writer's saddle. My child is now 7, and surfing the confusion and elation of first grade. My marriage is strong, and needs careful tending. And I am healthy and pain free.
To those who commented on my post, "No Put Downs, Just Put Ups." Thank you. Your encouragement affirmed my passion for writing about my journey for unconditional serenity. And has helped shape my intentions for my days to come.
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