Wouldn’t it be nice to have a vision in our heads of older people in care homes laughing, chuckling and guffawing and showing their crazy side instead of sitting around looking lonely and bored? (Not that I’m insinuating this is how it is but how it might be perceived)
Come on – let’s start a geriatric laughter evolution!
I am sharing this wonderful article by Rebecca Brown about doing Laughter Yoga with older people.
“5 Life Lessons from a Laughing Senior Group – By Rebecca Brown Recently I was lucky enough to lead a laughter yoga session with a group of seniors at an assisted living centre here in Reno, NV. When I arrived, the activity professionals had already gathered a sizeable group of residents together and the energy in the room was palpable. They were ready to laugh!
The thing about laughing with senior groups is that I get so much out of it too. They teach me amidst all of the laughter yoga exercises and shenanigans.
“The people walking by are going to admit us to the loony bin.” This was spoken by a senior woman with a big grin on her face while catching her breath in between laughter exercises. The takeaway for me was – who cares? She obviously didn’t and was going to have a good time with the ridiculousness of the activity. Why do we care so much what other people think? Sometimes when we take the crazy, zany road, people will think we are nuts. But if that’s our authentic path, who cares? Live YOUR life, not the life you think others want you to be living! When going around the circle and asking the residents their favourite sport we heard the usual soccer, football, swimming, baseball, ice skating, and then … “My favourite sport was chasing boys!” Such a funny response which elicited it’s rightful amount of chuckling around the circle. The thing was, this particular woman spoke from her wheelchair with such merriment in her eyes! When was the last time you let your particular brand of humour smile and twinkle through your eyes? This was a wonderful example that no matter the circumstances, we are all able to find a source of merriment from within. It’s a reminder to tap into this source and let it out – both for our own benefit and for the benefit of those around us. Sometimes we just need to be honest – with our own flair! “Thank you for coming and getting us to laugh.” The lesson here was gratitude. It truly does go a long way. Here was a senior gentleman taking the time to say thank you to me at the end of our session – and all I wanted to do was thank all of them for everything they brought to me. When we express our gratitude and pass our thanks forward, we are opening the doorway to expanded relationships. We are also making someone else’s day as we take time to notice what they do for us and give to us in our lives. Me: “Do you feel better?” “I am SOOO Sexy.” |
The original article can be found here: http://www.rebeccabrowncoaching.com/blog/life-lessons-from-a-laughing-senior-group
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