Laughter

The other day is a day that I cannot believe happened. It was a spur of the moment type thing which I am so glad took place. Lynn is a girl from ISU that is also studying abroad and she is wonderful. She is a musician and always in search of music, literally she will stop listen and follow the melody to it's source. Any who, she is a go getter and likes to participate in fun genuine activities. So we read in a newspaper about this thing; The laughter of Yoga. It was started in India and the man that started it emphasizes how essential laughter is to the health of a person. He also just points out how the act of laughing fake or real will lead to more laughter. As you all know, I am a huge giggler and I will laugh at just about anything especially when I feel a little uncomfortable. Well we were all for it but we had to travel a ways so Lynn looked up where to go and told me to take the number 14 bus. I had no idea where I was going or how it was going to turn out but both Lynn and I had a feeling this would be just what we needed. I knew God was going to lead me the right way and set up a wonderfully new experience for me. I am so glad all the pieces added up to the final destination. I will admit I got on the right bus but it was headed the wrong direction so I had to redirect myself. So finally reaching the park we see a circle of people gathered in the distance. They were super cute with a little smiley face sign welcoming all.
The group was a mix of all ages and they were all very Italian. The entire thing was in Italian so we had to rely a lot on body language, luckily Italians talk a lot with their hands and help all those that are not fluent. We began by stretching and just taking deep breaths. It was so relaxing to be away from the center of the city and enjoy greenery and company with Italians. It was a little strange that we were all so quiet, considering the title of the activity, but in the background a small boombox played Micheal Jackson, Latin Music and other random songs. To hurry this up, we moved right into the laughing activities. It is quite amazing how quickly fake laughter leads to real genuine laughter. My favorite person to interact with was this old man who had yellow teeth and a unique cackle that just made you think of a really great story. It was so easy to laugh because of the circumstance, we did not know what they were saying and people looked different then we were used to seeing in America. By the end of the first activity, Lynn was literally tearing. Oh it was so great, we plan on bringing it to ISU and I plan on trying to bring it to the Vineyard. It was a work out for your abs to say the least. There is going to be another meeting and I will give up any activity to make it to the next one. If you really think about it, it is phenomenal how God made laughter a universal language. Even with the language gap, Lynn, Angela and I were able to communicate with those around us and probably have the best conversations of our lives. I'm getting deep but really think about it because it is a beautiful thing.