LIGHT UP YOUR LIFE
WITH AN INFUSION OF LAUGHTER YOGA

2 Day CERTIFIED LAUGHTER YOGA LEADER TRAINING

Share Joy with the world…

• Maha Rose Healing Center, Brooklyn, www.maharose.com
• May 4th & 5th 2013

Investment: $270 includes 2 day training, Laughter Yoga Leadership Training Manual and Certificate.

Who Should Attend The Certified Laughter Yoga Leader Training:

This training enriches health and fitness teachers, management professionals, medical professionals, massage therapists, yoga teachers, psychologists, social workers, eldercare workers, life coaches, complementary therapists, and anyone who wants to help themselves  add more laughter to their lives and the lives of others...

** BECOME A CERTIFIED LAUGHTER YOGA LEADER **

Bring more joy and levity into your life

Develop daily joy and laughter practices

Reduce Stress - Boost your immune system

Enjoy the therapeutic benefits of laughter

Learn to lead laughter clubs and events

Make new laughter buddies

Increase self confidence

Laugh for hours each day

Become a Certified Laughter Yoga Leader with this introductory 2 day course! Why leave laughter to chance? Learn everything you need to know about laughter yoga and its multi-faceted uses and applications (scientifically proven benefits, practiced by over 1 million people worldwide.

Laughing as a form of exercise is an easy yet tremendously powerful way to address physical, mental and emotional challenges as well as a most enjoyable way to improve inter-personal skills. Laughter is indeed the best medicine. Build a solid foundation for a safe, rewarding, and fruitful laughter yoga practice. No previous experienced is required. All you need to bring is a willingness to laugh.

As a Certified Laughter Yoga Leader,  you will learn how to facilitate  individual and group Laughter Yoga sessions, which combine yogic breathing, gentle stretching, childlike playfulness and simulated laughter exercises designed to stimulate a natural flow of spontaneous laughter. Learn to Laugh at Will & to feel Free to Laugh Anytime because you will be  Trained & Certified to lead others back to their center of Joy & Empowerment

Laughter Yoga brings people together to laugh in a worldwide movement that includes thousands of weekly groups in dozens of countries. Madan Kataria, MD, started the first laughter club in India in 1995. Through his research, Dr. Kataria discovered that the mind does not know how to differentiate between fake and genuine laughter—either way it produces happy chemistry. Consequently, people don't need to feel happy nor rely on humor, comedy, or jokes to benefit from laughter. The Laughter Yoga technique blends 1) yogic deep breathing, 2) stretching, 3) simulated laughter exercises, and 4) cultivated child-like playfulness. Essentially people come together to laugh for no reason and receive physical, emotional, mental and social benefits of laughter.

Laughter Yoga Leaders are charged with guiding the activities and overseeing well-being of the group. The Laughter Yoga Leader training teaches the physiology of laughter and its many health benefits; how to start and run laughter yoga groups; special techniques for diverse populations; how to use and teach laughter as a coping skill and life skill; and the structure, norms, counter-indications, and logistics of a laughter yoga club. 

Participants who successfully complete the training receive a Laughter Yoga Leader Certificate demonstrating their competency in understanding the laughter yoga concepts, proficiency in the techniques of laughter, and embodiment of positive emotions and respect for themselves and everyone who is present.

Requirements for Certification
In order to receive a certificate as a Laughter Yoga Leader, participants are required to attend a 2-day training consisting of a minimum of 8 hours per day. Participants will be invited to re-connect via an optional one-hour teleconference approximately one month following the training. During the call, participants will give an update on their own laughter practices, report their progress to establish a laughter yoga group. And enjoy some laughter.

Additional requirements:

• Participate in the spirit of fun, collaboration and cooperation
• Attend both days and be on time.
• Make the facilitator aware of any special needs.
• Be playful and experimental.
• Take responsibility for your own experience, physical needs, safety and learning.
• Support others by being attentive and cooperative when they ask questions or lead the group.
• Communicate upsets and concerns immediately to the facilitator and/or to the persons involved.
• Agree not to teach these Laughter Yoga leadership methods to others.
• Agree not to disseminate the Laughter Yoga Leader Training materials for others to teach.

Objectives
As a participant, you will be able to

1. Understand the scientific research and physical, mental, and emotional benefits of happiness, laughter, and Laughter Yoga;
2. Understand how to use and teach simple exercises and techniques (including deep breathing, meditation, visualization, relaxation, playful activities) to increase joy and health and decrease stress;
3. Organize and lead laughter programs for individuals and diverse groups including healthcare staff and patients, seniors, children, and corporations.

Program Materials
The focus of the Laughter Yoga Leader Training course is primarily experiential where participants learn, practice and lead laughter yoga exercises and facilitation techniques. Additional learning methods include a training/resource manual, video, field practice, program design, and follow-up accountability.

1. Video may be used to demonstrate Laughter Yoga group facilitation.
2. Participants will also receive a comprehensive training workbook including:
   • Introductory Techniques
   • History of Therapeutic Laughter and Laughter Yoga
   • Concepts and Principles of Laughter Yoga
   • Benefits of Laughter and Laughter Yoga
   • Guidelines in Leading a Laughter Yoga Session
   • Laughter Meditation
   • Grounding/Relaxation
   • Solo Laughter
   • How to Start and Promote a Laughter Group
   • Leaders' Code of Ethics
   • Laughter Exercises
   • Laughter Yoga Information and Liability Release
3. During the training participants will lead exercises, meditation and relaxation, and practice introducing the Laughter Yoga concepts.
4. (Optional) During the conference week, participants will lead exercises, meditation and relaxation, and practice introducing the Laughter Yoga concepts.
5. Participants will create a design and implementation plan for a Laughter Yoga group at their worksite or community center.
6. (Optional) Participants may participate in a one-hour teleconference approximately one month after the training to laugh, discuss their progress, receive updates, and give and receive support.

Some of the Things You Will Learn:

To effectively lead groups and individuals in laughter exercises and laughter meditation

The history of Laughter Yoga, Laughter for Wellness, and the Positive Psychology movement

A person-centered approach to laughter applications

The benefits and scientific research on happiness and laughter

How to organize and lead laughter programs for diverse groups, including healthcare staff and patients (with physical and mental illnesses), seniors, children, corporate, etc.

The wellness aspects of Laughter Yoga and how to help yourself and others improve their health and joy

How to use and teach laughter as a coping skill and life skill

A laughter coaching program for individuals, couples, and families who want to learn to laugh when alone and increase their joy, health, and positive attitudes and relationships; and/or reduce pain and symptoms of mental and physical illnesses. Includes a “Laugh Alone Workout” and Laughter Coaching curriculum.

Simple exercises and techniques you can use and teach to increase joy and health and decrease stress (including deep breathing, meditation, visualization, relaxation, and journaling)

How to start a laughter club, including the roles and responsibilities of the Laughter Leader and more

How to make money with Laughter Yoga, including promoting and marketing your laughter services

Prepare Yourselves for the Most AMAZING

Laughter Yoga Leader Training EVER

7 Good Reasons To Attend This Course:

Laugh a lot and recharge your batteries. This is much more than a week-end workshop to learn a new skillset. It's a week-end away from your mind and into the joy of the here and now. Note that we are students of life ourselves and never stop learning and refining our own teaching material. Each workshop is different, better.

Give yourself the gift of laughter. Many come just for that: to give the gift of laughter to themselves first and foremost. We won't teach you how to laugh. That would be very presomptuous since you already know. We'll show you how to tap at will into the joy that's written in your genes and has never left you. Learning how to facilitate a group laughter session is just an added benefit.

Learn a powerful technique to diffuse stress: Laughter puts anxiety on a back burner for everyone. We can't laugh and worry at the same time;

Make new friends: Laughter improves inter-personal relationships and enhances communication. It breaks down the instinctive barriers between people;

Learn how to easily spice up your current yoga practice and classes with laughter! We have substantially built over the years on the original Laughter Yoga method devised by Dr Madan Kataria in India in 1995 and added many extra layers very relevant to our western culture that have taken this simple concept of simulated laughter exercises to new height of benefits while maintaining its ease of implementation. Learn enhanced ways to create, spice up and strengthen the (therapeutic) impact of your laughter sessions! You will be able to start teaching right away. Save yourself the learning curve.

Learn everything you need to know about laughter yoga and its multi-faceted uses and applications in a safe, structured and fun-filled approach. We'll cover all the topics from the official Certified Laughter Yoga Leader training as recommended by Dr Kataria, and much more (we helped write the first Laughter Yoga teacher manual back in 2005. We know.) For a start: we will not teach you a list of exercises to memorize. You will learn how to create your own.

Gain a deeper understanding of the philosophy behind Laughter Yoga. Laughter Yoga is ancient wisdom made new again. The truths it conveys can be partly summarized by the WORRY approach to stress management:

Worry is the greatest use of the imagination... Worry makes your think of the worst...

Laughter makes you bypass worry and focus on the best possible outcome.

Be Optimistic, not obsessed.

Don’t Regret the past. Learn from it.

Rest less: don’t stop until you have reached your goal.

Yoke yourself to something higher than yourself. Don’t say Yes to worry.

7 Places Where You Will Be Able To Apply What You've Learned

In your own life. "Happiness" is a skillset, a learned behavior, not a gift. Anybody can learn any given skillset with practice, patience and perseverance. Understanding the fundamental principles of Laughter Yoga will help you add more happiness into your life in a body-mind fashion, not mind-body, all of this at your own pace and convenience, to the extend you want to, just because you can.

With anything "exercise", on your own or with your students. Laughter Yoga does not seek to impose itself over or replace anything else. It adds value. It's about learning to constantly breathe deeper while practicing a positive attitude. You can certainly use it on its own as a powerful form of cardio-vascular exercise, or as a teaser to liven up any exercise class and create more fraternity and connections between your class members. Also: people who laugh forget to think and will invariably push themselves physically and work out more than they would otherwise if their mind was to focus on the possible difficulty and discomfort of exercise. They may be sore afterwards, but all they'll remember is how much fun they've had!

With the elderly, the physically frail and chair bound, the high and low cognitive, the mentally challenged, the blind, the deaf, the angry, the sad and depressed. Being primarily about the breath, inherently you don't even need to have limbs to practice Laughter Yoga (it's of course much better and more fun if you do). If you can breathe, you can laugh. Laughing with the special needs has very strong therapeutic values. It's an easy way to oxygenate the blood to the best of one's own abilities, get some physical exercise in a fun and safe way, improve mental functioniong (neurons that fire together wire together), strengthen the immune system, improve inter-personal skills and boost happy chemistry, just because.

In Schools. Laughter and learning go hand in hand (research has shown that the retention rate goes dramatically down after 12 minutes of exposure to dry data). Laughter Yoga works extremely well in the school system because it helps engage both hemisphere of the brain and tackle learning from many different angles. It also has a structure: there is a time to laugh, and a time not to laugh.

In Businesses Settings. This is not a market. It's already an industry: ice-breakers, team-building events, motivational events, keynotes... Where is your interest and expertise?

Special Applications. Homeless shelters, prisons, drug rehab centers, support groups, hospices, hospitals...anywhere where people are in physical, mental or emotional distress. Laughter Yoga works very well there, and lots of tact and humility are required with these populations. Nothing is ever forced. It's very humbling and also very rewarding.

Did we miss anything? Hopefully you get the point. Laughter Yoga works everywhere because everybody must breathe at some point and it's about primarily improving the breath and through it the attitude.

Why This Workshop Will Open New Doors For You

Flexible And Empowering Beyond Your Wildest Dreams. Even though you will learn in this training a standardized and structured program of light laughter exercise, how you apply it is up to you. This is where our training becomes hugely different from others. Regular practice of this method will develop your creativity to levels you may not believe you had in you. You get to bypass the learning curve at the speed of light! Note that Laughter Yoga can be learned and delivered entirely as chair exercises. Adaptations have been successful in bringing Laughter Yoga to those with mobility, visual, hearing, and cognitive limitations. We have trained Certified Laughter Yoga Leaders with hearing and also some with visual impairments. Some had cardio-pulmonary conditions. All still greatly benefit and enjoy this program. We have even heard very touching stories where people used Laughter Yoga with their loved ones until their very last days on Earth.

Complete Freedom. when you complete the training, you are independent in how or even if you organize as a business. This training gives you a foundation for systematic, repeatable, appealing and desirable laughter-related programs with healthy values, that leave plenty of room for your personality to shine through with your own creative expression. As such many Certified Laughter Yoga Leaders practice their newly acquired skills or add to their existing abilities as paid speakers, class instructors, seminar leaders, or provide other health-related services that are significantly enhanced with Laughter Yoga. But, though the Certification is through Dr Katraia's school and you can advertise on  Laughter Yoga International's webs tie, there is no financial connection to the Dr. Kataria School Of Laughter Yoga. When you generate revenue with your laughter programs, it is all yours.

This Certification Is For Life, Not 1 Year. Just like it says. We strongly suggest if you decide to sell your laughter yoga services that you keep your skills up to date (e.g. attend a refresher course or our national conference every year). Everybody needs to train and keep training, even world class athletes. And what you do is your call. You are responsible for your own life. We're not.

Bring more joy into your life and the lives of others by becoming a Certified Laughter Yoga Leader.

 Treat yourself to a Laughter Retreat.