We are now flooded with the imagery of violence on a daily basis. From reports coming in from Iraq or Afghanistan…to our daily speech/thought/writing/blogging.
So how does one survive in such a world in a healthy manner? Here is a report from The Washington Post providing an option.
There is also an interesting documentary “The Laughing Club of India” by internationally-acclaimed filmaker Meera Nair. She allows her subjects to tell how being part of a laughing club affected them — in some cases, simply relieving stress, in others, helping to live through overwhelming grief, loneliness and sadness. For more on Mira Nair, who studied sociology at Harvard, and now teaches at Columbia University.
Insight into Indian life is a bonus of the film.
“Yoga laughter” is a blend of yogic deep breathing, stretching, stimulated laughter exercises and cultivated child-like playfulness. It is advocated as internal jogging, which provides a good massage to all internal organs. The benefits include natural pain relief, improved breathing and strengthened immune system.
The trend now includes Laughter Parties and Weekends. Proponents say you benefit even if you don’t feel like laughing. Faking it still prompts the body to produce happiness chemicals, and soon enough the mind follows!!! Interestingly, in the laughter clubs in the world more than 70 per cent members are women.
Here is a three-step Yoga laughter exercise that my wife taught me a few years back:
1) A broadest possible grin/smile without a sound (and mouth firmly shut) for a few minutes.
2) Open your mouth wide gently – very subdued long, deep laughter almost like a whisper.
3) Breathe in deeply…Then throw your hands up in the air and laugh very loudly with gay abandon for a long time….repeat at least for two or three minutes (don’t look at your watch…end the exercise when you feel like it or tears start flowing from your eyes).
Remember: Laughter should come from the belly…so the breathing exercise becomes deeper. Don’t worry if people call you crazy! We all are, anyway!!!
You can do the exercise in the privacy of your room. Better still invite friends/their children over and let it be a joint exercise. What fun when everyone (including the pompous one) looks like an idiot! Serve dinner or drinks only after the exercise. You would realise the dinner or drinks never tasted so much better!!!
Swaraaj Chauhan describes his two-decade-long stint as a full-time journalist as eventful, purposeful, and full of joy and excitement. In 1993 he could foresee a different work culture appearing on the horizon, and decided to devote full time to teaching journalism (also, partly, with a desire to give back to the community from where he had enriched himself so much.)
Alongside, he worked for about a year in 1993 for the US State Department’s SPAN magazine, a nearly five-decade-old art and culture monthly magazine promoting US-India relations. It gave him an excellent opportunity to learn about things American, plus the pleasure of playing tennis in the lavish American embassy compound in the heart of New Delhi.
In !995 he joined WWF-India as a full-time media and environment education consultant and worked there for five years travelling a great deal, including to Husum in Germany as a part of the international team to formulate WWF’s Eco-tourism policy.
He taught journalism to honors students in a college affiliated to the University of Delhi, as also at the prestigious Indian Institute of Mass Communication where he lectured on “Development Journalism” to mid-career journalists/Information officers from the SAARC, African, East European and Latin American countries, for eight years.
In 2004 the BBC World Service Trust (BBC WST) selected him as a Trainer/Mentor for India under a European Union project. In 2008/09 He completed another European Union-funded project for the BBC WST related to Disaster Management and media coverage in two eastern States in India — West Bengal and Orissa.
Last year, he spent a couple of months in Australia and enjoyed trekking, and also taught for a while at the University of South Australia.
Recently, he was appointed as a Member of the Board of Studies at Chitkara University in Chandigarh, a beautiful city in North India designed by the famous Swiss/French architect Le Corbusier. He also teaches undergraduate and postgraduate students there.
He loves trekking, especially in the hills, and never misses an opportunity to play a game of tennis. The Western and Indian classical music are always within his reach for instant relaxation.
And last, but not least, is his firm belief in the power of the positive thought to heal oneself and others.