The Healing Power of Laughter, Music and Singing- Q & A | Ashok Gupta |

Okay, everybody, welcome back to the second part of our Facebook Live where I'm going to answer some of your questions about the content that we covered today. So the power of joy, the power of laughter, singing, music and dance and how that can impact on our mental, physical, emotional and spiritual well being. So I'm just going to find the video obviously in our Gupta program page and then what we'll do is look at the comments section. So please ask a question in the comments section of this particular video and then I'll be able to find you. There we go. And let us know where you're tuning in from, of course, as well. So Helen says, I love to dance and sing. It's very healing. Yes, absolutely. And we didn't cover dancing today, but you know, dancing is incredibly powerful as well. And certainly for those of us in our, let's say, mature years, dancing has been shown as one of the most powerful forms of exercise because not only is the, the cardiovascular effect, but there's also a protective effect against neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and whatever. Because there has to be coordination between the brain and the limbs and the body and the music and that stimulation of the nervous system in that way strengthens our neuronal systems. Yeah, it's that idea of if you don't use it, you lose it. So coordinated dancing with music, incredibly beneficial for our health. And in the first Facebook Live that we just did, please do share that on your social media, I've got to mention. So please share that on different groups, healing groups. It's such a powerful message that we want to put out there. Okay. So once again, please do share your comments. Let us know where you're tuning in from in the comments section of this particular video that you're streaming live right now. So any questions you may have on that content. Susan says thank you so much. Tuning in from Colorado, where might we find music lists for listening and singing that are songs to encourage joy, laughter and positive moods? Well, you see, it's so interesting you say that because as a bit of research for today's event, you go onto Google, you know, and you just type in songs for laughter, songs for joy, uplifting songs, you know, based on the popularity of, I guess, the global population, they list out songs that have proven to be the most popular under those particular categories. As simple as it sounds, just Google it. Tessa says do you have any thoughts on the amygdala or insular resistance to joy whilst in a dip and or processing trauma? Yes. So, Tessa, when we're in the process of, you know, processing trauma in our lives. We know that a part of that is the amygdala and the neuronal connections that the amygdala has to our memories. And of course, what we're not encouraging is a spiritual bypass where we say, oh, everything's fine in life. I'm going to. Sorry, everything's fine in life. I'm going to laugh and smile and pretend I don't have these challenges. That's not what we're saying. So processing trauma is something that we work with a therapist or a coach on or we're doing specific exercises, but that's not something we're necessarily doing all day long. That doesn't prohibit the need or the opportunity for us to laugh and be joyful. And yes, the amygdala and the thalamic systems are involved in laughter as well. So the two are not mutually exclusive. And even during a dip. Absolutely. During a diplomatic. The ability to smile and to laugh and be joyful. Let's not wait for ourselves to be fully healthy before we allow ourselves that opportunity to be uplifted. Helen's tuning in from Toronto. Welcome to you. Lucy from Norfolk. Colleen. Hi to you from Canada. Sonia tuning in from New Zealand. Wow. I believe you must be up very early to have tuned in. Pamela says, do you suggest all of this even if you're struggling with low energy and weakness? Could this help? This is where we talk about the power of laughter and smiling, but in a more contented way, not in an excited way. Because you're absolutely right. If we have low energy, we're suffering from me and chronic fatigue, and we engage in something which is too stimulating to the system, the laughter is too exciting for the body, then that can also drain a little energy. So that gentle humor, that smiling might be more appropriate in those situations. Colleen says, has anyone used laughing out loud instead of the stops? That's for people on the Gupta program. Yes, absolutely. So laughing out loud can be incredibly powerful. Interruption technique or pattern interrupt. Jim says hello from chicago. Hi there, jim. Deb from sunny mesa. Is that in arizona? Liza says, I have chronic fatigue syndrome and I feel sensitive most of the time. Not sure how I can incorporate those sensory stimulating things such as music. The sensory overload causes meltdowns. Exactly, Liza. So this is where we apply the knowledge according to our personal situation. So, of course, it is too stimulating. You need to find something and it may be gentle flute music. So personally, I find if people are quite agitated, very soft and subtle and slow healing flute Music can support that sensory overload. So you find what works for you. Kate says hello from Sacramento. Welcome. Jerriann says, I love your idea of having a karaoke party via Zoom. Thank you so much. New York State will be rocking very soon. Yes, exactly. So many of us are in isolation right now still and you can just get a few of your friends together or family members. Everyone thinks of a song that they want to sing and it's very simple. You go onto YouTube, find the song with the word karaoke afterwards and share your screen. The music goes to everybody and you all sing along. Yes, it will sound like an absolute mess, but so what? That is the point. It doesn't have to be perfect. Don't look at it from an achiever or perfectionist mindset. And to make the sound better, you can also just have switch it between different people. So you mute everybody and some people start singing and then you mute those people and you open the microphone to some other people. So it's like a tag team. We're all getting to sing a certain part of the song. It's so much fun. Maria says hello from Sweden. Welcome to you. Susan says, yes, we use laughter this way in our family. Tessa says, laughing for a stop. What a great idea. Carolyn from Toronto, she says hello everyone and welcome to the Magic of the Doctor program. It's interesting to learn that gentle humor is needed in lower energy situations. Thank you for the Q and A. Yes. And this is where this knowledge is always applicable to our unique situation. And so, you know, sometimes that laughter can be internal. We can bring that sense of the energy rising. You know, how do we feel when we laugh with friends? Do we feel constricted or do we feel expanded? We feel expanded. And that expansion is a subjective experience which doesn't require intense laughter necessarily or that can be powerful, but it's that expansion that we're aiming towards, connecting us towards something bigger and brighter. Ray says hello from Tucson, Arizona. Kate says, what's your opinion on snarky humour? How do you help others with this? That's a really good point, Kate. And this is something that we touched on that sometimes if humour is used as a way of bringing down someone's self esteem, making them feel bad about themselves or is overtly damaging, then the best way of dealing with that is to confront that person, say, look for you, this type of humor or things that you say, I know you're just saying it to make fun of me and it's, you don't mean it in a, in a bad way. Perhaps in some situations they might mean it in a bad way, but actually this is how it makes me feel. Yeah. Wanted you to be aware of that. And perhaps that person isn't aware of how their smoky humour has an impact on people around them because maybe no one's given them the feedback. So leave that to your skill as to how you deal with that situation. Helen says hello from Los Angeles. Monica from Germany. Welcome to you. All these beautiful flowers that people are sending. Kelsey from Montana. Oh, sonia says it's 9am in New Zealand. Not too early. Okay. Thank God for that. Rosie says, I always love the songs in the webinars. They replay in my mind all day and bring me joy. Okay, good. Well, I hope we. Hope we gave that song justice today. Christine says, sing as if no one is listening. Yes, they say I paraphrase here, but sing as if no one is listening. Dance as if no one is watching. Laugh as if you don't have a care in the world. Right. Sonia says I can't sing but it doesn't stop me. Yes. Sing in the shower. Sing whilst you're doing the dishes. Sing whilst you're cleaning. What are the other things we can do in lockdown? Not much. Sing as you're walking. But please don't sing on the tube they'll take you away. Everyone will give you dirty looks but sing wherever you get the opportunity. When I say the tube, this is the train system in London. Gerianne says for those of you or those of us who don't laugh much, is this a fake it until you make it thing? Gerianne? For me, this is habits. Why do some people that we know in our lives tend to be people who just laugh more at small things? In a conversation they'll be more humorous, they'll laugh out loud more even if it's not that funny. And they put us in a good mood. Is there something that's unique to them? Perhaps. Do they feel differently to us? Maybe. But maybe it's just habits. It's just their personality is what they've got used to. Perhaps they grew up in a family where people just used to laugh more. So these are things that we can. It's not even faking it, it's just becoming more aware of the humor and absurdity of life, the ironies of life, the pair of ducks of life, becoming more aware of that and making more effort to find that humour and laugh. Susan says, how might we use breathing, eye movements, body movements to encourage laughter? Yes. So often when we are stuck in certain emotions like anxiety or anger, there becomes a rigidity in the body and we become a little tense, and that emotion becomes associated with a certain body posture. So body movement is a powerful way of loosening up the body and releasing emotion. And there's a whole genre for therapies around body movement, body awareness, somatic experiencing, and body work that encompasses that principle. So in the same way, yes, if when we're laughing, incorporating movement to encourage laughter, stretching as we're laughing, these are all ways of loosening up these stuck emotions with us. Valerie wanting us to unmute everyone's microphone so that 200 people can sing together. Okay, we'll give it a shot. One day, we'll give it a shot. How about that? Terry says hello from Hershey, Pennsylvania. Make me want to eat chocolate all of a sudden. Helen shares something really powerful. I used to wake up at night with panic attacks, and I would YouTube laughing yoga to calm my nerves. Yeah. The brain finds it difficult to simultaneously hold onto a position of anxiety or worry and also laughter and smiling. Yeah, it's a paradox. The paradox. Sorry, I won't have mentioned that joke anymore. Those two things can't sit together in the brain. And therefore laughter is a great way of, in that moment, just releasing and letting go and shifting. And sometimes we need distraction when there's a panic attack, we need a distraction away from the sensory experience. Okay, good. Well, it's been wonderful for you to be with me today. Thank you so much from the Gupta Program team, the Meaning of Life team. Thank you for joining us. And once again, the first video that we did on this page. Please do share that, because it's such an important message that in the modern way that we organize healthcare, something goes wrong with the body, and we go to our doctor, he seizes, or he or she seizes for five or 10 minutes and prescribes some pills, and we go away and we take those pills, and that's how we get healthy. That model is not fit for purpose anymore. It's just not the right way of handling the body, in my opinion, my humble opinion. And so many illnesses can be treated in that way. And it's right that we see our doctors. But the prescription should be holistic, rather than just, here are some pills, go away. How can we incorporate a prescription of laughter, a prescription of singing, a prescription of meditation? This is the new modern healthcare, the new way that I think things should be structured, and we'll get far better outcomes in the population, both from a conceptual perspective, an individual perspective, and an epidemiological. Perspective as well. So how can we engender this new type of healthcare? It starts with us first. If we share that gift with others that look, laughter can heal. Singing together with other people can heal. It has a massive healing effect. I remember a friend of mine who was going through clinical depression, came over one day and we did some karaoke. And initially she didn't want to do it, but then we did some karaoke, 45 minutes an hour. And she just felt so good and so positive. She said, wow, this is far better than therapy. Now, I'm not saying it's a substitute for therapy, of course not. But it shows us that when we regularly engage in activities that are beyond the mind and it connects us to spirit, it connects us to so our bliss, our love, our unity, the natural state of who we are, then it can help us so much with these mental conditions that we're going through. And mental illness is such a common topic, especially with that recent interview that everybody's talking about with the pandemic. It's really brought into the spotlight and really, we need to move away from this idea that people, traditional medical drugs are somehow going to help the situation. They're not talking. Therapies are a brilliant start. They really do are a great step towards healing. And in combination, the meditation, the laughter, the joy, bringing that joy into each moment of our life in some shape or some form is a beautiful adjunct to those traditional therapies. And I hope that it becomes a part of our healing journey. Jill, hello to you from San Francisco. She says this info is so perfect for our time. Thank you. Someone sharing someone. His name is Maharishi Song. What a beautiful name. Please put your singing on the dashboard, Ashok, so we can all smile together. Oh, gosh. Okay, we'll have to have a think about that one. Kelsey says thank you so much. I always leave these live videos with a big smile and feeling understood and supported. Great. Thank you so much, Kelsey. So thanks once again. Thank you for watching and we'll have more of these Facebook lives and these events coming up soon. All is left for me to do is say thank you for watching and we'll see you next time. Thank you and goodbye.