We Know Their Support Staff Did!

Think you have a tough job? Dan and I were hired to provide a laughter yoga session at an educational training with the SD Unified Judicial System Support Staff. Now you might think these folks could be stuffy and standoffish. But we found the exact opposite - everyone was friendly and willing to try anything! They understood laughter as an innovative tool for stress management, and along the way they had the time of their lives laughing with each other!

Some of the attendees were support staff for probation officers, and all come from within the judicial system where stress and negativity can be a large part of their job. They spent two days learning new skills and Laughter Yoga was the last session of their training. Our job was to send them home feeling good. They were so much fun to work with that they made our job easy!

Welcome Karen and Marsha

We had a blast laughing all weekend at our most recent Laughter Yoga Leader Training on Saturday, August 14 and Sunday, August 15. Once again we held the training at The Dharma Room Yoga & Wellness Center in downtown Sioux Falls and we could feel the walls ringing with laughter by the end of the weekend.

We had a small, but mighty, group of folks at our training this time. Karen, a grief counselor from Utah, came all the way to South Dakota to get trained and we were so honored and blessed to have her join us. You could see the wheels turning as she kept thinking of innovative ways to use Laughter Yoga in her grief counseling sessions. We can’t wait to see how she uses it and what we can learn from her!

Surprise! Surprise!

Whew! We had a full day of laughter with the staff from two local schools, Garfield Elementary and John Harris Elementary, today. The principals of each school introduced Laughter Yoga as a surprise to the staff as part of their busy day of getting ready to welcome the kids back to school next week.

We started each presentation off with the Pledge of Allegiance. But this pledge called for a hand on your heart, a index finger on someone else’s nose, and words that pledged allegiance to fun and playfulness. Hahaha!

School Administrators Laugh For No Reason

Jill & Dan had a great time sharing Laughter Yoga with school administrators at their annual late summer meeting. Dr. Pam Homan, Superintendent of the Sioux Falls Public Schools, thought Laughter Yoga would be a great activity - and she got an “A+” for her efforts! The afternoon time slot is where Pam usually schedules fun team building activities for the administrators, and this time they not only had a great time laughing, but learned valuable tools to make their lives more joyful on a daily basis. Read on and take a look at these principals faces! Very good, very good, yay!

JazzFest 2010

Every July, for the past 19 years, we've had a jazz and blues festival in our city, Sioux Falls, SD, called JazzFest. This year it included Thursday night, as well as Friday night and all day Saturday. And, we’re proud to say, we were there all three days. The motto of JazzFest is “It’s hot, be cool!” - and boy was it ever!! Hot temps and the coolest music this side of Louisiana.

Can you tell us what music moves you? What makes you feel as if you’ve peeled open your heart and soul to God, nature, a cold brewsky and good friends? Well, we can attest that this past weekend we were singing, dancing and laughing at the feet of Marcia Ball, roadhouse blues artist from Louisiana.

Following His Own Lead

For all our laughter buddies in South Dakota below is a video of Jason moving into his new home in California. All we can say is: grill, ocean, rooftop patio and Balboa Park - you better get ready for some winter visitors Jason! HahaHA! We miss you and are so glad you're in your new home! Thank you Ina and Michael for being there to welcome Jason!

Still Laughing After All These Years

Dan and I are celebrating our ninth wedding anniversary with a bang! Hahaha! We feel so blessed to have found each other ten years ago at our twenty year high school reunion. Once I asked Dan to dance and he said yes, falling in love was the easiest thing either of us had ever done. And Laughter Yoga was the perfect addition to our relationship encouraging us to laugh, love and forgive each other every day.

We encourage all of you to laugh with your partner, your spouse, your dog or yourself. Unconditional laughter leads to unconditional love. And isn’t that what it’s all about?

Still Laughing After All These Years

Dan and I are celebrating our ninth wedding anniversary with a bang! Hahaha! We feel so blessed to have found each other ten years ago at our twenty year high school reunion. Once I asked Dan to dance and he said yes, falling in love was the easiest thing either of us had ever done. And Laughter Yoga was the perfect addition to our relationship encouraging us to laugh, love and forgive each other every day.

We encourage all of you to laugh with your partner, your spouse, your dog or yourself. Unconditional laughter leads to unconditional love. And isn’t that what it’s all about?

Budget Stress Relief

Dan and Jill had the pleasure of bringing stress relief to the Holy Cross Lutheran Church staff meeting the end of June. The staff spent all morning on scheduling, programming, budgets and business. Then they experienced laughing for no reason with Laughter Yoga and their budget took a back seat for awhile. Hahaha!

This staff was young and had a willingness to try something new. So between their number crunching in the morning, and laughter after lunch, they were a fun crew to expose to the benefits of intentional laughter.

Budget Stress Relief

Dan and Jill had the pleasure of bringing stress relief to the Holy Cross Lutheran Church staff meeting the end of June. The staff spent all morning on scheduling, programming, budgets and business. Then they experienced laughing for no reason with Laughter Yoga and their budget took a back seat for awhile. Hahaha!

This staff was young and had a willingness to try something new. So between their number crunching in the morning, and laughter after lunch, they were a fun crew to expose to the benefits of intentional laughter.