Laughter, clearly, is still the best medicine!!

The lion laugh is easily still my favorite:

ROAR!!!!! (tongue fully out, fingers curled into claws) ... HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

What can I say -- there's something truly liberating about roaring like a lion as loudly as you can in a public place.

After months of delinquency, I'm back at laughing yoga -- this time with Tyler.  Waking up at 5:50am on a Saturday morning isn't usually our idea of fun, but we're committed.

Laughing yoga (or "laughing circles") started in Bombay in 1995 by Dr. Madam Kataria.  Two years later, Shirin Panjwani brought it to Hyderabad.  There are now 3000 laughing circles who meet every morning at 6am around India -- 1000 in Bombay alone.  

So here we are, 6:15am at Nampally Public Gardens with the ABC Laughing Club -- one of the 20 that Shirin has started (ABC as in: "Always be Cheerful").  As always, before the actual laughing starts, it's time for calisthenics: anything from marching in place to clapping 50 times.  At random points throughout the exercises, we hear: "Good for the eyes!  Good for the kidneys!"  Tyler and I catch each other's eyes and try not to laugh, as these body parts generally do not correspond at all with whatever we are stretching.

Finally, the laughing begins (although not before a statement granting everyone permission to laugh -- as the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh had died the day before: "this is exercise, not happiness").

First is the warm-up laugh: HO-HO! HA-HA-HA!!  HO-HO! HA-HA-HA!! -- while pumping your arms.  Next is my runner-up favorite: the Buddha Laugh!!  This is where you throw your arms open and look up to the sky...HAHAHAHAHA!!!

The exercise ends with a quiet meditation and prayer, to just about every god: Allah, God, Jesus, Vishnu...and finally, a prayer for Shanti (peace).

Laughter and prayers for peace, all before 7am.  As we begin to leave, we are handed a pamphlet about the Laughing Club, which states amongst laughter's benefits: "Enhances aesthetic value of face" as well as "enhances memory power, leadership quality, makes you lead a happy life."

Whatever it does, we feel great...

...And ready for Bloody Mary's on my patio swing for breakfast :)