The Laughing Family of Huntington
Mohit's
desire to understand the laughter and it's benefits were to be applauded
as he researched and shared
his laughter with other high school students. One thing he might have noticed
as well was the effect the laughter would have on his family. In meeting
his parents and younger brother last summer it was apparent they supported
his project and his zest for what he would create. Meeting them all again
almost a year later I would say the idea of laughter was more prominently
featured in the household.
While young children have the ability to laugh at everything, the immediate reaction of his younger brother was to burst into laughter on my arrival. He seemed to have given himself an extra permission to laugh and the idea of laughing really sent him on a mission of mirth.
His parents however spoke of the change in themselves and how laughing has made a difference in the way they percieve and act. Radha, Mohit's mother organized her International Club quickly for a special meeting to have a laughter session and what was extraordinarily fun was that each member represented a different country so we created laughter around the world.
Both parents are eager to spread the message of laughter and have been invited to join us for the next laughter training to understand more of what has occured in their lives since Mohit began his project. For now they laugh more and understand the valuable lesson of laughter as a family. In creating his own understanding of laughter, Mohit has spread it to the school, community and right in his own family. When both mom and dad complete their training it will be very interesting to see the town become known perhaps as Ha Ha Huntington! It wonderfully demonstrates how each of us can make a difference and affect the world.
World Peace through laughter one person at a time...one laugh at a time!
The Mirth of Mohit
Mohit trained to be a Certified Laughter Yoga Leader in July 2008. He discovered a level of stress in his body during his junior year in High School with all of the Advanced Placement classes, SAT and ACT, College Prepatory and the accompanying anxiety of wondering and waiting. He wanted to find something to relieve himself and also knew if he did it would be of benefit to other AP students. He was aware of yoga, however was intrigued by the idea of Laughter Yoga and followed up on the current research.
Keen to create his Senior Year Huntington High Honors Program Capstone Exit Project on the idea of Laughter as a benefit for stressed students, he began his journey during the summer by flying into Chicago with his family to pursue the training. He was the youngest of the group in training and his drive and ambition to follow this project with college application toward Neuro psychology and physiology were enough to allow this 17 year old into the training; that and the fact that
he was here and ready before we discovered the fact that he would have been underage for the training. He joined in with gusto becoming an affable member of the training team lending his youth and humor to a great overall experience for everyone.
He left our training with a special certificate to be replaced with our official Certified Laughter Yoga leader certificate on his 18th birthday, which is just around the corner. The certificate presentation also coincides with his year end presentation of the Honors Exit project he has been working on all year. Mohit began a Laughter Club at his high school in September and has held regular sessions all year with attendance ranging from 5 - 15 per session. Interestingly, Mohit has discovered that the students liked the laughter exercises that allowed them to get out of their box and be what he called "Silly". During his training he had thought some of those exercises that allowed the extra release of seriousness were a bit silly and isn't that the beauty of research?
As Mohit finishes his school year and project, he will report his findings in a presentation to near 200 AP Students and a body of faculty. All are excited to hear his presentation as his research throughout the year has been consistent and he has shared findings with teachers regarding the benefits of laughter in classroom performance, especially where test taking is involved.
As his Laughter Mentor, I will be present to award him his certificate and aid him in his presentation, though from our conversations he seems to be ready to deliver the findings and research in a well thought out concise manner that all will appreciate.
Mohit would like to pass the torch onto another student in the high school to continue the laughter club for these highly charged students of Advanced Placement in particular. As he prepares for college he would like to study positive psychology and in particular at Washington University in St. Louis he will major in Philosophy, Neuroscience and Psychology. He will continue to develop the laughter in his life and perhaps even on college campus, knowing that what he creates for himself will benefit others one laugh at a time.
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Mohit
Presents a Case for Laughter
April 28, 2009
Huntington
High School - Hungtington, West Virginia
Students filed in on time to fill the auditorium for Mohit's presentation at 1:50pm. We both noted it had been a day to find the laughter with all the silly distractions that had occured and when the clock struck, he was prepared to deliver his message. Using Power Point software to illustrate the finer points and a video clip, Mohit presented his research and findings from a variety of sources to the student body and teachers present. He articulated the way the body reacts in stress and explained the process that occurs when laughter is used and how it all relates to the physical body's reaction and well being.
As his Laughter Mentor I spoke about the added points of laughter that are emotional, mental and yes spiritual as well as the physical. It rounded out the presentation as we had the participants engage in a few of the laughter exercises and ideas from their seats. Offering a question and answer session there seemed to be a need to find out more so we invited any students who wanted to come up on stage and we would be happy to demonstrate. We were delighted to find all but a very few converged onto the stage.
This was an on the spot opportunity and Mohit led many of the exercises on this impromptu session. What we both observed was the happy release they all felt in delivering the "Very Good, Very Good...Yay" at the end. The laughter erupted naturally as we progressed through a number of exercises.
It all ended a bit too soon as the students were required to go back to class, yet we found there was a lot of excitement and teachers remarked that this type of assembly would be great at the beginning of the year. A special offer for leader instruction was given to the students who would be interested in keeping the laughter present in their school and community.
