This document outlines the key principles and exercises of a guided laughter yoga training session. It discusses how laughter yoga aims to integrate laughter into daily life through call-and-response laughter exercises without the need for jokes. The benefits of laughter yoga include reduced stress, increased energy, and strengthened social skills. A variety of breathing exercises and themed laughter exercises are presented, with guidance on safely practicing laughter yoga through mindfulness of physical limitations.

1. Haha Thisaway
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2. Everybody Laughs in the Same Language
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3. Laugh Supercut
3

4. I Love to Laugh
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5. Guided
Therapeutic
Laughter
Training Closure Day
May 8, 2017
Justin B. Wright,
Certified Laughter Yoga Leader
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6. Most Common
Comments Before:
If you saw me do yoga, you’d laugh.
I like to laugh when things are funny.
Isn’t this fake laughing?
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7. Most Common
Comments After:
They must have thought we were
crazy!
I needed that!
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8. Please Share*
*With the group or a neighbor
*@facebook.com/laughteryogaolympia
during the presentation for a prize
 Laughter is: (Give a Definition,
Synonym, Value, etc.)
 Laughter can: (Give an example)
 Laughter at TRL should: (Dream BIG!)
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9. Philosophy
The Sanskrit word Yoga has the literal
meaning “Yoke”. The root yuj means: to
join, to unite, to attach, to get hold of, to
integrate, or to harmonize.
Laughter Yoga can be a physical, mental,
and/or spiritual practice.
Laughter Yoga helps us integrate laughter
into our life.
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10. Laughter is an
extension of our voice
 Laughter can communicate via tone,
volume, rhythm
 Laughter can be soothing or agitating,
helpful or harmful
 Appropriate and healthy laughter increases
social skills, emotional intelligence, and
positive relationships
 A culture of healthy laughter reduces the
incidence of bullying, teasing, and harassing
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11. There’s Good News..
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12. And Bad News…
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13. Assumptions
 Laughter is fun
 Laughter is healthy
 Laughter is contagious
 Laughter is easiest with friends
 Laughter can happen deliberately without
comedy
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14. 14
As with any aerobic activity, use
precaution.
 Recent surgery (last 3 months)
 Pregnancy
 Major psychiatric disorders
 Hernia
 Heart Disease
 Epilepsy
 Urinary incontinence
 Bleeding piles
 Persistent cough
When in doubt consult your physician.
CONTRAINDICATIONS

15. Benefits
 Increased energy levels
 Rapid decrease of stress levels and better
ability to deal with stress
 Improved commitment and motivation
 Increased performance, efficiency,
innovation and problem solving abilities
 Stronger team spirit
 Reduced absenteeism and improved
health leading to decreased sick leave
and lower medical costs
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16. When to use
Laughter Yoga
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 During your commute
 Beginning of the day – to energize
 During lunch break – for a pick-me-up,
to aid digestion
 End of the day – to decompress

17. How-To
 Be Willing to Laugh
 Attitude of Playfulness
 Warm-Up Stretches
 Call & Response Laughs without jokes/
talking
 Signal to Break [Very Good,Very Good,
Yay! or Ho-Ho/HaHaHa]
 Eye Contact
 Mingle
 ‘Yogic’ Breath 17

18. Stretching:
Neck
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19. Stretching:
Eyes
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20. Stretching:
Shoulders
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21. Stretching:
Wrists and Fingers
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22. Stretching:
Hips
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23. Pledge
I give myself permission to laugh
I give my neighbor permission to laugh
My laughter allows me to be heard
My laughter allows my feelings to be
shared
My laughter is my gift
Your laughter is your gift
I am responsible for my own laugh 23

24. Exercise: Handshake/
Namaste Greeting
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25. Laughter and
Music
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26. “Mein Herr Marquis (the Laughing Song)”
from Strauss’ operetta Die Fledermaus
Sung by Charlotte Church
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27. “Laff it Off” by Billy Martin & Ernest Hare
(1924)
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28. See also works by:
 Handel
 Puccini
 Bach
 Rimsky-Korsakov
 Mozart
 Strauss
 Verdi
 Prokofiev
 Gilbert & Sullivan
 Shostakovich
 Webber
 Wagner
 Sondheim
 Gershwin
 et. al
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29. Exercises:
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 Solfège [Scales]
 Beautiful Round Notes
 Faux Opera

30. Exercise:
Yaaaawn
Contagious
Yawners
tend to be
higher in
dispositional
empathy.
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31. Exercise:
Cell phone
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32. Exercise:
Silent Laugh
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33. Examples of Themes
Animals
Holidays
Special Events
Common Life Scenarios
Characters from Fiction33

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35. Breath Exercise:
Blow Kisses
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36. Exercise:
No Money Laugh
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37. Group Exercise:
Won the Lotto Laugh
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38. Group Exercise:
Roller Coaster Laugh
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39. Group Exercise:
Shiver Laugh
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40. Breath Exercise:
Hot Cocoa
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41. Exercise:
Pirate/ Swashbuckler
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42. Exercise:
Bow & Arrow Laugh/
1 Meter/ 1 cm Laugh
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43. Breath Exercise:
Blow Dust
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44. Exercise:
Toothache/ Nitrous/ Gargle
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45. Exercise:
Hula Hoop/ Hula Dance
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46. Exercise:
Unbalanced Washer
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47. Exercise:
Elvis
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48. Breath Exercise:
Bouquet
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49. Exercise:
Sneeze
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50. Exercise:
Wicked Laughs
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51. Exercise: Halloween
Wolfman, Ghost, Witch
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52. Exercise: Zombie
7 AM Staff Meeting?
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53. Breath Exercise:
Vader
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54. Exercise:
Cartoon Characters
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55. Woody Woodpecker
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56. Danny Kaye and
the Andrew Sisters
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57. Barney Rubble
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58. Nelson Muntz
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59. Breath Exercise:
Blow Out Candles
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60. Exercise:
Cutting Onions/ Crying
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61. Exercise:
Gradient Laugh
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62. Meditation:
Compassion Laugh
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63. Meditation:
Mandala
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64. Further info
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65. Safe, Appropriate, Profoundly
Memorable Surprises
With or without
Red Nose
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66. 66
Facebook.com/laughteryogaolympia
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Laughter…
Is: ____________
Can: __________
Should:________