Games that make people laugh, and how to lead them

Take your Laughter Yoga Practice to the next level!

1. Learn tools that will extend your reach as a Laughter Yoga Professional, and provide you entree to many new venues and audiences;
2. Develop competencies that will allow you to bring more fun, laughter and social solidarity to your personal communities;
3. Expand your repertoire of laughter games for all occasions;
4. Give your clients tools they can use to make fun more accessible to them, their families and communities;
5. Master techniques that will help you serve a wider range of clients.

Laughter Games can be played with large groups, small groups, couples, adults and children. They are games that involve fantasy and creativity, games that require little or moderate physical activity.

After each game session, participants will discuss their experiences during the games, focusing in particular on moments of “deep fun” and on what they and other people did to create those moments. As their repertoire increases, participants will be asked to lead others in any game that we’ve already played or in a game they know that is of similar spirit and focus.

After their games, participants will discuss what the leaders did to help increase their access to the game, and the sheer fun of it all. In this way, we will be able to evolve principles for effective Laughter Game leadership, as well as provide participants with an opportunity to learn and practice Laughter Game leadership skills.

During this workshop, participants will:

• Develop a wide repertoire of “Laughter Games” - open-ended, non-threatening, gentle games that can engage almost any audience in laughter and healthy, healing dialog
  • Human value: Extend your options for sharing laughter and playfulness with all of your friends, family and community;
  • Professional value: Give you tools that will significantly extend your reach as a Laughter Yoga Professional, providing you with entree into many new venues and audiences: business, healthcare, educational and community organizations.

• Practice and develop skills in adapting laughter games to the communities and environments in which you are playing – you will learn how to modify Laughter Games to respond to the needs and abilities of almost any audience – large or small groups, old or young, male, female, and differently-abled.
  • Human value: Extend your ability to bring laughter and fun to all your relationships, wherever you are. Further extend your ability to engage others – strangers, people of different abilities and cultures – in positive, mutually empowering, community-building experiences.
  • Professional value: Help you not only engage a wider variety of clients, but also to give your clients tools that they can use to make fun more accessible to them, their families and communities, regardless of who or where they are.

• Practice and develop facilitation skills in leading laughter games – You will learn how to lead Laughter Games to help almost any group become more cohesive, participants feel more involved and invested, and exercise mind and body. This session introduces a significant paradigm shift for most Laughter Leaders. Laughter Games are not led the way most Laughter Leaders work. They are facilitated rather than led, with the emphasis being on sharing leadership (coleadership) with the group.
  • Human value: You will develop skills that will allow you to bring more fun, laughter and solidarity to your self by your being able to extend those opportunities to your personal community – friends, family, neighbors, religious organizations, workplace.
  • Professional value: Bring laughter and joy to a wide range of clients

Therapists will gain:

A Fun Way To Exercise Body & Mind

• Participants will learn how to motivate people who are otherwise apathetic and reluctant to exercise to engage in safe and gentle physical exercise under cover of games. Exercise is work but playing is fun. People who play and enjoy their play become more animated and are inspired to engage physically more than they would otherwise.
• To that end participants will learn a variety of time-tested games that make people laugh and how to adapt these games to the specific abilities and mood of a given group to maximize their benefits.
• Participants will also learn games that facilitate a full brain function and improves & strengthens neuro-plasticity.
• The physical benefits of exercise and laughter are already thoroughly documented.

Stress Management

• Participants will learn practical tools to help their clients/patients diffuse stress through the use of a variety of time-tested games that make people laugh and how to adapt these games to the specific abilities and mood of a given group to maximize their benefits.
• By helping them play gently and openly with each other, by engaging them in activities that are unthreatening and often extremely funny, therapists will find it much easier to create an atmosphere that is far more conducive to a healing conversation.
• An estimated 80% of all doctors’ visits and medication prescribed today are for stress-related illnesses.

Improved Communication & Social Skills

Participants will acquire a repertoire of games that help people become more open to each other, less guarded and more spontaneous, more willing to engage and participate, more secure psychologically and socially.

Notes:

The session, like the games, will be very open-ended and responsive to whatever people seem to find most valuable to their professional passions.