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LAUGHTER master Keyem Thomez has been helping to spread good cheer on a Russian adventure aimed at bringing smiles to a nation of people with a reputation of being straight-faced and unemotional in public.
The Bahrain-based ‘laughter ambassador’ and certified laughter yoga practitioner recently attended the First Russian Laughter Yoga Conference held in Moscow.
More than 150 laughter yoga professionals participated in the three-day event which included meditation, research studies, workshops, music, dance … and plenty of jollity.
“It was a wonderful experience,” said Keyem, 57, a personal officer at St Christopher’s School, who was attending an international conference for the sixth time having also travelled to Italy, Malaysia, Germany, France and Turkey on similar missions.
“The conferences are a golden opportunity to meet laughter professionals from around the world, interact with them, attend novel workshops and update knowledge and, above all, to share love and care in the laughter family, as our mission of statement says bring ‘world peace through laughter.”
The celebrated founder of the laughter yoga movement Dr Madan Kataria from Mumbai also attended the event. The practice originated in India when the good doctor started a quest to find ways that laughter could be prescribed to patients by field-testing the impact of a good chuckle. In March 1995, he launched the first Laughter Club starting with five people.
These founding members laughed together in a park to the amusement of bystanders and eventually, the small group grew to 50 strong. When the jokes dried up, further research revealed that even a forced hearty guffaw produced ‘happy chemistry’ and the movement was born.
Now, there are more than 20,000 laughter clubs in 102 countries. Keyem, who lives in Zinj, co-founded the Kerala Catholic Association’s (KCA) Laughter Club in Bahrain along with friend P U Devassy.
Keyem was trained by Dr Madan and is now a laughter ambassador in the Middle East, the founder of four clubs in Bahrain and The Laughing Toastmasters.
The May conference in Moscow was organised by Laughter Yoga ambassador in Russia, Dmitriy Effimov, in what many might have considered a brave move. It is simply a part of their culture that in public, Russians do not show much emotion. If they are at home or with those they know well, then they are much more open with their feelings.
Keyem was invited to host a ‘Laughter Circle’ workshop and soon had the party rockin’. “When people are laughing together the shared laughter often signals that they see the world in the same way,” he said. “It momentarily boosts a sense of connection. My workshop included team-building exercises and group laughter sessions, games, songs and dance.
“It’s very important to attend laughter yoga sessions, in my opinion, because everyone seeks good health and happiness in their lives but many are often too stressed out, depressed, suffer disturbed sleep patterns, have negative thoughts or feel isolated.
“Laughter yoga can bring more joy into a participant’s life. Laughing feels great, and it is proven to be good for health by enhancing the immune system. It can also help undo many of the negative effects of stress and improve cardiovascular health, offer relief to depression and anxiety and create better resistance to disease.
“I truly believe participants live life more joyfully and find themselves better able to cope with whatever stresses life may bring them.
“Laughter also strengthens relationships. As they say, people who laugh together, stay together!”
But it wasn’t all about the business of laughter on the trip. On the final day participants enjoyed a visit to the Kremlin, Red Square and a river boat cruise.
