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An astonishing 83% of Americans
are stressed about their jobs,

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and about one in two of us
struggle to stay happy.

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In fact, I'm one of them.

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What about you?

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I'm here to help you with that today

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by teaching you one thing
and one thing only:

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how to laugh for no reason at all.

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(Laughter)

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Why?

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Because when we laugh,

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our bodies release a flood of chemicals
and positive neurotransmitters

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that stimulate our brains,

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our immune system,
and our nervous systems.

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In fact, when we laugh,
our blood flow increases by about 50%.

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That's how we get the rosy cheeks.

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And laughing can actually burn calories.

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If you were to laugh
for about 15 minutes a day,

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everyday of the year,

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you can lose up to five pounds.

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All of these benefits intrigued me
about laughter yoga,

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but I still had no idea what to expect
when I went to my first class.

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The instructor started
by giving us background

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on how laughter yoga was started
in 1995 by a doctor in India.

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He found that our bodies and minds
can't discern the differences

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between fake and real laughter.

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So we don't need a comedian,
and we don't need a catalyst

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to reap the real benefits of laughter.

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So I said, "Sign me up."

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And so we started.

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We warmed up
with pranayama yogic breathing,

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and then things started
to get uncomfortable.

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I had to laugh for no reason.

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The instructor could sense my nervousness

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so she looked at me, and she said,
"Ida, fake it till you make it."

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Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!

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((Laughter)

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Awkward.

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But it worked.

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It took the pressure off.

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It showed me that I shouldn't worry

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about what other people think
or how it felt.

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The endgame is a healthy life.

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I had to believe
that I deserve to be happy,

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and I deserve to laugh.

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And so do you.

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So that's what we're going to do today:
fake it till we make it.

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We're going to laugh for no reason at all

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because science tells us
that within 45 to 90 seconds,

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your body will start to release
that flood of positive neurotransmitters,

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and within about two minutes,
fake laughter becomes real.

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So here we go.

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Who's ready to laugh?

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(Applause)

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Alright. I need everyone to stand up.

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Get the blood flowing.

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OK.

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There are two primary techniques
to laughter yoga:

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the first is breathing.

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The focus is on filling up our diaphragm

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increasing our amount of oxygen

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and helping our blood flow.

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The second is, of course, laughter.

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The focus here is on deep belly laughter.

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This increases the circulation
of our lymphatic systems

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and it jump-starts our immune systems.

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OK, so to warm up, I want everyone
to take a deep breath in,

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raise your hands towards the ceiling,

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and I want you to let your breath out
with an audible "Hwoo."

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I want you to push it out. Ready? Go!

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Ida Abdalkhani: Hwoo!
(Audience) Hwoo!

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IA: Nice job. OK. One more time.

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Deep breath in, fill up your lungs.

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This time you're going to laugh
on your exhale. Ready? Go!

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(Audience) & IA: Hahahahaha.

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One more time, deep breath in,
fill up your lungs.

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From the bottom of your belly, let it out!

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Hahahahahahahahaha!

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Nice job. OK.

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Now we are warmed up.

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For our first laughter yoga exercise,

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we're going to do something called
"cell phone laughter."

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Speaking on our cell phones
is something we do everyday,

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but today we're going to make it more fun.

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I want you to pretend that you just heard
the funniest story in the world.

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Get out your fake cell phones.

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There's no right or wrong way to do this.

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Just have fun with it.
Take a deep breath in and laugh.

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(Audience) and IA: Hahahahahaha!

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IA: Somebody is hearing
some really funny stories

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up here, up front; it's good stuff.

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For our second laughter yoga exercise,

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we're going to do one of my favorites,
"Shaking-hands laughter."

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Shaking hands is something
that we do everyday,

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and it helps us connect with others.

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But today, we're going to amplify it
and connect with laughter as well.

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I want you to shake hands
with those around you.

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But you're going to look them in the face,
and you're going to laugh.

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Ready? Deep breath in and laugh.

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Hahahahaha!

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High five!

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Hahahahahahaha!

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(Applause)

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Thank you.

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I can tell you guys are getting
the hang of it, this is great.

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For our last exercise,

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I'm actually going to have you guys
decide what we laugh about.

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I want you to take a moment

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and reflect about something that has been
stressing you out the past few days.

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We're going to take that,

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and we're going to use it
as a way to remind ourselves

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that we can't always change
the outcomes in life,

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but we can change how we react to them.

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So what's something that's been
stressing you guys out lately?

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Go ahead. Yell it out.

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(Indistinct comments from the audience)

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IA: You all are stressed
about a lot of stuff,

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but I heard cell phone bills
a few times, so let's use that.

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I want you to pull out
your outrageous cell phone bill

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with all its crazy roaming
charges and overages.

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We're going to take a minute
to remind ourselves

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that while we can't change the outcome
of that crazy cell phone bill,

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we can forgive ourselves,

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we can laugh for a moment,

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and we can have fun with it.

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So deep breath in.
And laugh at your cellphone bill.

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Hahahahahaha!

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(Applause)

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Thank you.

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I don't know if you realized it or not,

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but you just laughed for about 5 minutes,

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and I didn't tell you a single joke.

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We actually laugh
about 300 times a day as children,

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but only 30 as adults.

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I hope this has shown you how easy it is
to bring laughter back into your life

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to feel lighter and happier,

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and to laugh.

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It's within your power
to make your narrative a joyful one.

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You decide.

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Thank you.

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(Applause)

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(Cheers)