RaeShelle Erickson

Reflection Paper

Laughter Yoga HLTH 1242

MW 8-8:50 AM

Delan and Carden

 

 

 

            Before taking laughter yoga I thought it was going to be like regular yoga that you laugh in to make it more difficult. I learned in a hurry that this is not at all what the class was about. After the first class I was left thinking that it was just an introduction day to meet everyone and go over the course. As time went on it began to feel more like team building exercises and a trust building course. This wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. I started this semester pretty upset from things that happened over Christmas and this course has helped me get over those events emotionally and apply them to other events in my life. For example, I had a friend arguing with me and another ganging up on me over something I knew for a fact was true. Normally this angers me to no end but after taking laughter yoga for a few months, I started laughing uncontrollably which made them think I was mentally unstable but that’s ok.

 

            Overall, despite my initial thoughts of this class, it has turned out to be quite rewarding and even really fun. I find it difficult to force laughter and in large groups my laughing isn’t very loud but I have noticed I am laughing more and getting mad less outside of class. In the next few pages I will discuss the three aspects of this course that I found the most fun as well as rewarding inside and outside of the classroom. I would like to discuss the sleep section, the family section and the self-soothing practices.

 

            The first section I would like to go over is the sleep activities. Yoga Nidra genuinely helped me get some extra rest as I hadn’t slept well the night before but also seemed to genuinely lift the rest of my day. I felt happier and more awake that day as well as fell asleep much easier later that night. I didn’t find tensing all my muscles and relaxing them helpful that seemed to wake me up more. However, thinking of happy memories or calming thoughts did help lull me to sleep and I have used that method to fall asleep since. Sometimes if I have a happy enough thought or memory before I sleep, I’ve noticed that it will enter my dreams and I’ll get to relive it. These nights make me very happy when I wake up in the morning and tend to leave me in a good mood for quite a while. Sometimes when I use this method to fall asleep it allows me to lucid dream which I personally find enjoyable.  I personally found the section of class on sleep enjoyable because it is something I was almost immediately able to apply to my life in order to make it easier and better. Since learning about ways to fall asleep I have been able to rest longer. The only issue is some nights I don’t get deep sleep or I wake up frequently over the night. I’m not sure how to make that aspect better but on those nights I’m very grateful for the ability to fall asleep quickly. I wouldn’t call myself someone who suffers from insomnia I just can’t seem to get myself to stop thinking long enough to rest. By thinking of happy memories or things that I would like to manifest in the future I find myself relaxing faster and falling asleep to those thoughts.

 

            The next section of the course I would like to cover is the family wellness topic. This topic is one of my top three favorites because when we talked about the list of what makes a great family I realized that my family already did quite a few of those things. We go camping because it helps us bond, we always eat dinner together and say thank you to whoever bought it or cooked the meal and other things on the list.

 

            The assignment we had for this topic was to find an activity to do with our families to bring us together. I had shown my mom a bunch of pictures that I found funny and thought she would also enjoy and I ended up making her laugh so hard that she was crying a bit. For my dad I showed him my Minecraft game. Since then he’s been playing the game with me and it’s genuinely helped him relieve stress from work. I have enjoyed bonding with my dad over this game because it’s so simple and honestly pointless but yet it’s done so much to bring up our moods and bond. My mom and I have sent pictures back and forth to each other that we think will make us laugh. It helps us bond and lighten each others days which I’ve enjoyed because it seems like when I’m not having the best day in the world, mom can make me laugh and it all goes away. My parents have told me my whole life that if I’m ever in trouble to always run home. This section of the class helped remind me that my family is close and always has been despite everything life could throw at us. I know that everything will be ok as long as I can get ahold of my mom and dad.

 

            The final topic I would like to cover is the section on self-soothing practices. This section was quite long and tedious to journal about so I had simply taken the five different sections and wrote about the final product of each. This is another section that I noticed on some level I knew how to do. This is also one of my favorites because I’ve noticed the people around me have some of the same tendencies to do the examples religiously. For example, my mom always puts on perform before she goes to work or anywhere else which I think is something I picked up from watching her throughout my childhood. Another example is seen in my friends. Alexis and Geneva are two people I hang out with for most of the week and I’ve noticed that Alexis never leaves home without her chapstick and Geneva never leaves without lotion. If either of them forgets these things they feel empty and subconsciously look for it or ask if anyone else has some. These are things they prefer to have for a certain smell or feeling to make themselves happier. This section has helped me notice that each and every person has a small practice that makes them happy even if it’s subconscious. I personally feel naked without wearing my eyeliner and a necklace. I usually put on my favorite perfume every morning but that’s a habit I could live without. The eyeliner and necklace on the other hand, are more difficult for me if I forget them. I tend to hope no one looks at me very often when I forget my eyeliner and I fidget with my shirt and try to find my necklace when I forget to put one on in the morning. I liked this section because of how it made me feel. It made me happy and feel normal. Sometimes I think it’s weird that I need a necklace to feel ok but this section helped me realize that everyone has something similar and it’s perfectly ok.

 

            In conclusion, this course was not at all what I had expected but turned out to be incredibly rewarding and creative. I don’t regret taking this course and I would recommend it to my other friends and anyone interested in seeing what the class is all about. I would like to thank both of you for this semester and for the opportunities you’ve taught the class to look for and take advantage of. So far they have already begun to improve my life personally.