Eliot’s beach at Besant Nagar is packed in the mornings with the walking crowd. Starting from 5 o’ clock in the morning the trickle of people gradually becomes a full house by sun rise. Residents in all age-groups are attracted to the breeze, the sun, sands, and the friends they make on their daily strolls.
The beach plays host to every kind– from a frisbee playing team and children wielding cricket bats to the roller skaters. Then there is also the Besant Nagar laughter club to cheer up further.
Image courtesy: flickr.com
I have been watching this laughter group members for years on my daily walks to the beach. Almost every day there would be close to a dozen people in a circle going through their sequence of exercises accompanied by shrieks of laughter and limb movements. I was convinced that it would be good for me but initial hesitation was there.
One day I happened to spot a friend in the laughter yoga gang. I lost no time asking him, “I wish to give it a try. Would you accommodate me in the group?”
It has been a year since I got myself involved in the laughter yoga club. We assemble on the dot at 6:15 am on the sands. We start with the “Om” chants. This gives me a good feel in the nippy mornings while the crimson sun too smiles at me.
Then we start exercising. We squat, turn our shoulders clockwise and counter clockwise, and do workouts for joints and muscles. When we are through, the instructor says “here we go” and we clap hands. The teacher explains,” This acts as acupuncture points of the palms”.
Like this, for 30 minutes, I keep on doing what the instructor shows. We end the session with “Asathoma Sadgamaya…” and three rounds of “Shanti”. There is a section where we say,” I forgive anyone who has hurt me.” Then a couple of more exercises before we face the sun and declare ‘I am the happiest person in the world and I am the healthiest person in the world’ bursting into peals of laughter.
We try to gather all our worries in the mind and throw it into the sea symbolically saying,”No more worries.” While doing exercise for head, we say,” No more headaches.”
I am too much of an introvert and this daily dose of laughing has got a lot of glow on my face. I find myself light on feet while walking on rain soaked sands of the beach.
A daily dose of laughter relaxes the face muscles. Laugh without reason, that makes it easier to stay happy.
