https://www.westmont.org.au/stress-relief-from-laughter-is-no-joke/
Years ago, when our oldest was about 7 years old, I had to give a seminar – but had no one who could take care of him for the next two hours. So we went together. I begged him to sit quietly in the back and do some drawings, which he patiently did. When everybody else had left at the end, I asked him what he thought about the seminar. “Well”, he said, “they did not laugh very much”.
I am still grateful for his comment. Since then, whenever I have to prepare for classes, I think what could make people laugh, even if the topic is bloody serious.
– If people laugh, they do not sleep.
– Laughing causes some adrenalin, which assures attention for the next couple of minutes.
– If other participants have dozed off, laughter of their neighbours wakes them up and gives them the feeling that they missed something. They become more curious.
– Laughing together increases the group feeling, it connects people.
– Laughing increases the memorability of the moment. People relax and become more open.
– It supports a positive attitude towards the event and the environment.
At an international workshop with about 40 participants, half of us were asked to line up along one wall of the hall and the other half along the opposite wall. Each group formed couples and got a balloon. The task was that each couple would have to inflate the balloon and then let it free. The balloons would zigzag for a moment through the air and then fall down. Each couple would then start again from the spot where the balloon came down. The objective was to reach the opposite wall. With teams coming from opposite sides and balloons flowing into all directions, this created a lot of hustle – and laughter.
The debriefing was short. We were asked if we had had the same fun if our balloons had directly flown to the opposite wall at the first trial. Obviously not. “Cherish the journey”, was the message, “and enjoy it!” The workshop was offered by Lee-Anne Ragan (https://rockpaperscissorsinc.com/). Laughter is Rock-Paper-Scissors’ hallmark.
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