Our Invitation to Laughter!
Since Covid I am also doing sessions on Zoom or whatever platform your company prefers. The Zoom setup is minimal and effortless. Use yours or mine. I tailor the session to your company or personal needs. Contact Me Here!
This is an invitation to help you create JOY in your life, or your organization with a unique approach: Laughter Wellness
Mindful Happiness is conditional, I will be happy when I get the good grade, the new car, the diamond ring, the bigger house…… It goes on and on. This happiness never lasts very long.
How about choosing to be happy right now, right in this moment? JOY is a process. Joy is an inner choice.
Laughter Yoga
Enjoy the proven benefits of Laughter!
Laughter is Joy-full breathing. It’s as simple as that.
Laughter Yoga is a combination of laughter exercises, deep breathing, gentle stretching and relaxation designed to enhance your health and wellbeing.
Sharon has been facilitating Laughter sessions since 2008. She wanted to deepen her understanding after a while so went ahead and became a Certified Laughter Yoga Teacher in 2012. This has filled her bag of tricks with many more options on how to facilitate your sessions.
Sharon is in partnership with some other Laughter Leaders here in Calgary and we have weekly sessions that take place every Sunday at 5pm. You can find more information on these public sessions at Calgary Laughter Yoga.
We take turns facilitating the sessions and all have our own unique style.
Since Covid-19 I have taken to doing sessions on Zoom or whatever platform your company prefers. The Zoom setup is minimal and effortless. Use yours or mine. I tailor the session to your company or personal needs. Contact me Here!
About me
A very wise person once said, people don’t care what you know, until they know that you care. Sharon cares!
Sharon is a Certified Laughter Yoga Leader since 2008 and has conducted hundreds of laughter workshops since then. She became a Certified Laughter Teacher in 2012.
Professional Experience
Sharon has done Laughter sessions for many Seniors facilities and local schools in Calgary, as well as corporations including;
CRA-Bankruptcy Division * Cenovus * Town of Irricana * Atco Power * Banff Centre of the Arts * Covenant Care * Silvera for Seniors * Canadian Association of Retired Professionals * Woods Homes * Creative Tree, to name a few.
Sharon is an award winning Professional Clown and Childrens Entertainer since 2006, working full time as an entertainer and facilitator for children and adults alike. Clown Idol of 2006 voted by her peers.
Sharon spent three years volunteering for the Homecare division of Alberta Health Services until 2010, visiting sick children in their homes, bringing Joy and Laughter as Sunshine Sally.
When Sharon isn’t Laughing and playing she’s working with adults with Dementia.
Sharon is currently located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada
LAUGHTER IS GOOD FOR US!
Laughter helps us keep healthy by enriching the blood with ample supplies of oxygen.
“Oxygen plays a pivotal role in the proper functioning of the immune system. We can look at oxygen deficiency as the single greatest cause of all diseases.”
Stephen Levine, a respected molecular biologist and geneticist, and Dr. Paris M. Kidd, Ph.D., in Antioxidant Adaptation – Its Role in Free Radical Pathology, 1985
“We need to give each other the space to grow… to exercise our diversity. Thus, we both give and receive such beautiful things as ideas, openness, dignity, joy, healing, and inclusion.”
Max de Pree
Harnessing the joy of laughter
Laughter yoga is giving St. Teresa Place residents plenty to smile about
Mary Lucyk was skeptical when she was asked to try a new yoga class. In a wheelchair, the 72-year-old resident of St. Teresa Place had to be coaxed into giving laughter yoga a try.
“I was very apprehensive when I first went in. I don’t dig yoga. I was about as excited as a toad,” says Mary. “At the end of it, you don’t want to leave. It’s lots of good laughs. It’s the best.”
Laughter yoga isn’t your typical yoga session filled with deep stretches and meditation. Laughing, clapping and breathing are focus areas in the class that can be done standing or seated, and it’s proving to be popular with residents at the supported living centre in Calgary.
“It’s laughing for no reason,” says Sharon Falconer, a certified laughter yoga leader and teacher. “People will fake their laughter because I ask them to if they can’t laugh for real, but it’s contagious and they graduate to real laughter. You can hear it. Laughter is Joy-full breathing, don’t bother to fake it, breathe Joyfully!!!
Laughter can strengthen the immune system, boost mood, diminish pain and reduce stress. It can also bolster relationships and promote group bonding. “It brings joy to people. It helps connect people,” says Sharon. “It’s really, really good for us.”
People are drawn to happy sounds, as evident from the residents who join partway through an already well-attended laughter yoga session at the centre.
“I think they came in after it started because they heard the laughter. They heard the clapping and the excitement. It just rippled through the air,” says Mary.
“You could look around at any time and see happier faces on everyone. That’s what I really enjoy,” says Mary.
The facility’s staff also notice a visible change in residents participating in the classes, which launched in January, says Recreation Therapist Stephanie Hodgins. “It’s nice to see the residents walk away with a big smile on their faces and know that they enjoyed it, especially with our dementia residents. This is something that carries through. Even a little while after the program, they’re still smiling.”
For Sharon, that transformation in participants is powerful. Leading the class also serves as another way to connect with her father, Jim Doyle, 88, who moved into St. Teresa Place after she could no longer care for him. “I accidentally outed him that he was my dad. Some of the people in the group knew because I’m there visiting Dad often. He absolutely burst out laughing. Afterward he talked to me about how awesome it was and how good it was…. That was the best reaction I’ve had from him in a long time. It filled my heart.”
Three classes are held monthly, led by Sharon, who volunteers her time. Each session includes a variety of gentle exercises, such as residents pretending to ride a roller coaster. As they head up the tracks, residents do breathing exercises, then raise their arms as they reach the top, where squeals of delight turn to deep belly laughs as they pretend to descend. After the exercise, participants clap briefly, then engage in three deep-breathing breaks.
“It is accessible to every single person. It doesn’t matter if they are severely cognitively impaired or physically impaired. Everyone can participate in it,” says Stephanie.
As the session comes to an end, the laughter gives way to relaxation so people can smoothly transition from the class. “They look refreshed and happy as they leave,” says Rachelle Forster, Recreation Therapist. “It’s nice to see.”
For Mary, the class is a boon.
“(Sharon) just made you feel good that you were there. It’s all so silly that it’s easy to laugh. It’s worth its weight in gold,” she says. “I’m excited about going. I’m looking forward to it.”
Article above also published from https://vitalbeat.ca/news/harnessing-joy-laughter
Contact Sharon Falconer
