The Hawthorne Laughter Club

The Hawthorne Laughter Club has been filling the movement studio of the Hawthorne Wellness Center with peals of laughter since January 2011. At its New Year's meeting on Sunday, January 1, 2012 at 4 p.m., the group will celebrate its first anniversary at the Hawthorne Wellness location and also honor and thank the Wellness Center and all of its leaders and laughers, past and present, for support. All are invited to join in the fun.

The club is managed by Certified Laughter Yoga Leader Laura Lou Pape-McCarthy. Leaders Andrea Crisp and Tajha Whiteley also help lead sessions on a regular basis. The Hawthorne Laughter Club began, originally, as the Belmont Laughter Club and was started by Molly Dilg and Jamie Poster in the Spring of 2010. For scheduling reasons, during 2010, the club had to change hands and ultimately find a new home, so the celebration of the one year anniversary is a feat unto its self! Finding space for a laughter club is the hardest part of getting a club going. Hawthorne Wellness Center allows the generous use of its space and in return club leaders joyously clean the movement center after each laughter session.

The Hawthorne Laughter Club meets every Sunday at 4 p.m. at the Hawthorne Wellness Center Movement Studio, 3942 SE Hawthorne Blvd., Portland, OR. The club will even meet this coming Sunday, December 25th, Christmas Day. All are welcome, whether you come once or every time! Some members come alone, some in pairs and some with their entire family. But, they all enjoy the many health benefits of Laughter Yoga. The laughter club is free, but donations are gladly accepted.

This is a copy of the email announcement that went out to club members today:

After 2 ½ years, it is with laughter in my heart and a tear in my eye that I’m emailing to let you know that the Awakenings Laughter Club is closing, effective immediately. Attendance has been struggling since we took our two week break over the holidays. I’ve given it six months, but the time has come to move on …  I’ve spent many Tuesdays laughing alone or with just one or two other people. I began advertising it on Meetup.com in an effort to keep it alive, but the small numbers make it hard for new people to return and the time of day has never been ideal for myself or most others. However, I want to thank you for your part in the Awakenings Laughter Club, whether you taught me, shared with me or subbed for me, whether you helped it get its start, were there during its heyday or tried to help keep it going, you have played an important role. It was the first weekly Laughter Club in Portland to stand the test of time. The club helped me get my laughter leader feet wet in the beginning and it elevated Laughter Yoga in the Portland area, even getting a spread in the Oregonian last May. I could not have done any of this without my fellow laughers, without your support. And on top of everything I’ve meet fabulous & interesting people (all of you!) and I’ve made some great friends.

I am searching for a new location where I can hold a weekly, weekday evening club. I am putting the intention out there for a free space, with room to grow and a convenient location and parking. Meanwhile, there are still some options! Thanks to Laura Lou, the Hawthorne Laughter Club (formerly the Belmont Club) is still meeting on Sundays @ 4pm (I lead the 1^st Sunday of the month) and Molly still leads Monday evenings at Sprout. PCC Sylvania will be continuing with new volunteer leaders in the fall and there is even a new Laughter Club in Vancouver now! I’ll have details on my website for that soon. But the movement is still growing, only in its infancy. Thank you for being at the forefront of the groundswell! I could never have done this alone, so thank you for your part. Keep smiling and laughing and definitely keep in touch.

With love, light & laughs,

Andréa 

While I search for a new location to host a club, there are still options to laugh in Portland. Please follow the link to check out other Laughing Opportunities.

Dr. Madan Kataria and Master Trainer Jeffrey Briar

In addition to his key note speech, Dr. Kataria was also interviewed, on stage, in front of a live audience by his friend and colleague Master Laughter Yoga Trainer Jeffrey Briar. Folloe the link to see some news highlights from the event. 

Andrea & Gail @ the 2010 WLD event at Whole Foods in Portland

• When? May 1, 2011 at 2 pm to 3:30 pm (rain or shine)
• Where? the Portland Saturday Market main stage - Next to the food carts on the waterfront near Ankeny Square and the Burnside Bridge
• Why? For the pure joy of it! We set aside this day to send a message of joy & hope. We want to get more people laughing & urge the world to lighten up! The ultimate vision is world peace through laughter!
• Who? All ages; Anyone ready to laugh or who is interested in learning the tools of Laughter Yoga
• What? Laughter Yoga. Prizes. Fun and fellowship! We will be holding various laughter contests (longest, funniest & best laugh, even a contest for dogs!) and mini Laughter Yoga sessions from 2-3:30

We hope to spread the joy of laughter to more people during World Laughter Day. Any donations will go to the Oregon Humane Society and the Portland Women's Crisis Line. We will also be joined by Laura Lou Pape-McCarthy with 1 Laugh at a Time and other leaders from the Awakenings and Hawthorne Laughter Clubs (Michelle Wirta and Matt Deegan).

Will you help us by forwarding this information to someone you know who might be interested? Thank you for your support!

The 2011 schedule is out. I will be offering three CLYL trainings this year: Spring, Summer & Fall. The 2-day weekend trainings are all day, both days. Look for early-bird specials online throughout the year!

Here are a few photos from the birthday party that we had at Dan and I's place last Friday night in celebration:

Very good, very good, yay!

Bumper Car Laughter

Vowel Laughter in action

The end of a vowel during Vowel laughter

This will be Portland's 6th Annual World Laughter Day Celebration! World Laughter Day (WLD) is always celebrated on the first Sunday in May. Portland's own motivational humorist, Gail Hand has hosted a WLD event each year in Portland since 2004 and last year was the first year Gail & Andrea combined efforts. It was such a success that we will doing it again!!World Laughter Day 2009

• When? May 2, 2010 at 12 Noon (rain or shine)
• Where? the Whole Foods at NE 15th & Fremont
• Why? For the pure joy of it! We set aside this day to send a message of joy & hope. We want to get more people laughing & urge the world to lighten up!
• Who? All ages; Anyone ready to laugh or who is interested in learning the tools of Laughter Yoga
• What? Laughter Yoga. Prizes. Fun and fellowship!

We hope to spread the joy of laughter to more people during World Laughter Day. Will you help us by forwarding this information to someone you know who might be interested? Thank you for your support!

Portland, OR—

The Awakenings Laughter Club has been filling a small studio in SE Portland with peals of laughter since last October.  Led by Andrea Crisp, a certified Laughter Yoga Teacher and Holistic Health Counselor, the club currently has members ranging from ages 23 to 70. All ages are welcome and regular attendance is not required. Some members come alone, some in pairs; some every week, others only during the summer or whenever their schedules allow. But everyone enjoys the many scientifically proven health benefits of hearty laughter.

The club at Awakenings is currently the only free, regularly scheduled laughter club active in the Portland area. The Awakenings Laughter Club meets every Tuesday morning from 7:10 to 7:40 am in the studio at Awakenings Wellness Center at 1016 SE 12^th Ave. The weekly club is free, although donations are collected for the use of the space. Members will be celebrating the anniversary all month long. Everyone is invited to join in the fun this month or in the future! Members wish to thank Jim Davis, the owner of Awakenings, for his initial and ongoing support. For more information on the free club or other Laughter Yoga events in Portland check out http://www.portlandlaughteryoga.com.

The unique concept of Laughter Yoga was created in 1995 by Dr. Madan Kataria, a physician in Mumbai, India. He realized that laughter truly could be "the best medicine," and started working with a small group of people in a city park. They discovered that anyone could laugh for 15-20 minutes without depending upon a sense of humor, jokes, or comedy. It has since grown into a worldwide movement with more than 6000 clubs in over 60 countries around the world. The concept of Laughter Yoga has been featured on Oprah, Dancing with the Stars, Wife Swap, CNN and the BBC. For more information on the movement check out Laughter Yoga International’s web site at http://www.laughteryoga.org.