Clive St. James

Laughter Yoga for health on Valentine’s Day! Is this a joke?
There’s always a slightly different feel to a room full of people waiting for something they’re not quite sure about, and that’s exactly how Positive Living Group Bournemouth felt this evening as we were awaiting Clive and Jackie St.James for an evening of Laughter Yoga.

PLGB relaunched only three weeks ago and already the slight edge in the air is palpably different to the other weeks. What will they ask of us? Do we need mats? How much movement is involved exactly?
A semicircle of chairs and an expectant audience, what is laughter yoga anyway it didn’t take long for us to be launched, breath first, into what was a taster of deep full body breathing and an insight into how stale air in the lungs can cause all sorts of problems when not fully exhaled – mental note to practice more conscious deep breathing!

Clive narrated us through a small journey of his and Jackie’s training, and more recent level up on their skills while visiting Dr Katrina in Mumbai, India had involved.

He asked who liked to laugh, and who liked to make others laugh, the room was beginning to warm up and the group were beginning to breathe and move together.

We explored he he he’s and ho ho ho’s and let’s not forget the ha ha ha’s, always allowing for a rest after each exertion of laughter – we were already feeling lighter, freer and warmer. Visually around the room people of all ages seemed more at ease and relaxed with each other.

What’s the difference between happiness and joy? Can laughing each day, for no reason really give you the DOSE that you need to feel good? Dopamine Oxytocin Serotonin Endorphins – it absolutely can and we were experiencing it first hand.

Imagine you’re a penguin, now imagine how an untamed horse might behave and pretend to be on its back. It sounds bizarre and it was but it was also fun and we all seemed to enjoy the stretch from the ordinary into the slightly extraordinary role play and imagination.

Personally my favourite part was a load of gibberish, or should I say complimenting each other in gibberish, and then telling your partner off in gibberish – a whole new world opened up and allowed us to step in without fear of judgement or much care for what anyone else was up to, we were completely present to what was there in front of us, totally in the now. As Clive told us; yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery and today is a gift, that’s why we call it the

We finished the evening of dancing the Can Can together, yes, the Can Can! We all kicked the legs, waved the hands and wiggled the hips as the music played and we laughed and laughed and laughed, some of us were twenty years old and some seventy, it made no difference. It was pure, it was wholesome and it was fun with a capital F.

Laughter Yoga Workshop With Dorset MIND
Laughter and playing together builds incredible memories, people will recall stories of their laughter yoga workshop for years to come.