Our HydePark Laughing Group: Our Step by Step Guide

      Our Hyde Park Laughing Group: A Step-by-Step Guide

The Anecdote:

Imagine this: Have you ever had one of those days where everything seems to go wrong? You wake up late, spill coffee on your shirt, get stuck in traffic, arrive late to work, and make a mistake that infuriates your boss. Days like these drain your spirit, and one effective way to boost it is through laughter.

Laughter is a way of life, and we believe in making our lives pleasant. Here at Hyde Park, we have a Laughing Group that regularly gathers in the garden for warm-up exercises followed by bursts of laughter. We've been doing this for years, but something's missing—we’re not fully enjoying it. This blog is an effort to explore what we’re doing and what we could do better.

We Have a Laughing Group in Hyde Park:

Recently, as a member of the group, I took a deeper interest in our activities. A few days ago, on a sunny morning, I joined our Morning Laughing Group Exercise. We, the residents of Hyde Park, Kharghar, consistently meet in the mornings for group exercises. Among us is Mr. Dube, an easy-going, jolly person. While I enjoy the group exercise, the laughing on number calling isn't my favorite.

On that particular day, as I participated, I found myself laughing while listening to Mr. Dube. He’s a cheerful part of our team. Suddenly, an out-of-the-box idea struck me—what if we focus more on making others laugh? This “Little Professor” in my mind suggested that we might enjoy our group more by ensuring others enjoy us, and vice versa.

It was an Eureka moment. I realized that by focusing on making others laugh, we can relax and have more fun ourselves. It’s a win-win situation.

So, I decided that next time, I’ll be more mindful of others and focus on making them laugh. I believe this will enhance everyone's experience.

When I Joined Our Laughing Group:

Three years ago, I was invited to join the laughter group by one of its participants. Since then, I've been part of it. While the group is doing well, I'm not thrilled with some activities, like laughing on number calling.

We believe laughter should be a natural response to something funny. Forcing laughter by simply calling out numbers doesn’t seem effective and might even make it harder to laugh. Yet, participants appear to enjoy it.

We suspect they don't truly enjoy it, though we have no data to confirm this. Maybe that's why, once the session is over, everyone seems unchanged, as if the laughter session never happened.

Some of My Key Constraints from the Group:

Being an integral part of the group and wanting to enjoy laughing, I feel there’s a need to review our activities. My reservations revealed these constraints:

- I don't enjoy the current activities, particularly number calling, which doesn't uplift my mood.

- Attempts to discuss these issues with other members haven't been fruitful—they either don't understand or are just following tradition without much thought.

Lately, I've been questioning the sense of engaging in something that seems senseless. Are we unfit for this group, or is the above rationale more accurate?

This led to the decision to blog about the issue. Our goal is twofold: to train our colleagues and to benefit other laughing groups.

What Makes You Laugh?

Continuing this thought, we explored why people laugh. A Google search reveals that laughter results from external or internal stimuli that trigger certain responses. This stimulation can come from various sources, such as:

- Clever jokes and puns: Unexpected and witty jokes.

- Absurd situations: Unexpected, nonsensical events.

- Satire and parody: Intelligent, thought-provoking humor.

- Genuine human behavior: Authentic, sometimes awkward or silly moments.

Why Do People Laugh in Groups?

We also explored why people laugh more in groups than alone. It turns out laughter is a social behavior that helps us bond and connect. This explains why laughing groups start with warm-up activities followed by various laughter-inducing exercises, such as:

- Laughter yoga: Combines laughter exercises with yogic breathing to reduce stress and improve mood.

- Laughter games: Designed to make people laugh through jokes or funny stories.

- Laughter sharing: Involves sharing funny stories with each other.

Laughing groups can kickstart the day on a positive note, help meet new people, and make friends. So, taking the lead in these activities can be highly beneficial.

Observing Others Also Makes People Laugh:

Our search also showed that observing others can trigger laughter through social contagion—seeing someone laugh makes us laugh. Shared experiences, especially funny ones, enhance this effect.

For instance, at a comedy show, you're more likely to laugh if others around you are laughing.

What Should Be Laughing Activities of Our Laughing Group?

For years, our group has relied on artificial laughter through number calling, which leaves us in the same mood as before. We need to understand this issue and help ourselves. This requires changing both our mindset and procedures. Being natural and expressive will make us more open, happy, and social.

Our Current Procedure:

- Start with extensive warm-up exercises: Includes stretching and breathing exercises, but we emphasize stretching more than laughter.

- Number calling laughter: We call numbers and laugh, a practice we've followed for years.

- Laughing follows meditation: This is a self-relaxation exercise, usually followed by a thought for the day, then we disperse.

What Should Be Our Correct Procedure:

- Warm-up exercises: Stick to our stretching exercises as they are beneficial.

- Replace number calling with laughing exercises: Introduce various laughter exercises like:

  - Laughter yoga: Combines laughter with breathing exercises to reduce stress and improve mood.

  - Laughter meditation: Involves visualizing and releasing laughter with each breath.

  - Laughter games: Fun activities like laughter relay races, balloon tosses, and freeze dances.

  - Specific laughing exercises: Such as lion laughter and laughter yoga breathing.

By focusing on genuine laughter exercises instead of number calling, we can enhance our group's overall enjoyment.

Conclusion:

Laughing make you to feel fun and enjoy life. It's a way to connect with others and feel joyful. Given these speciality I believe that by making some corrections, we can make our morning-laughing Group more interesting and joyful.