and warm your heart and home.

May good and faithful friends be yours,

wherever you may roam.

May peace and plenty bless your world

with joy that long endures.

May all life’s passing seasons

bring the best to you and yours!

Irish Proverb

On Wednesday my support group had our laughter meditation (referred to as laughter yoga in my previous post) session with Sarito Sun, Laughter Healer and Coach, Hypnotherapist and Meditation Instructor. Now I have to admit I was a little skeptical about the evening. I watched the videos on laughter yoga and I wondered if I would be too self-conscious to let myself go enough and enjoy the experience. Turns out I had no problem at all letting go. If only I had a video of the evening to share with you how fun and freeing it was. Fifteen group members were in attendance, and for about a half hour, all fifteen of us were laughing, and moving, and smiling in a state of pure joy. And it all started off with a few simple laughter exercises which forced us to “fake” laugh. It did not take long until the laughter and joy became real.

It was such a treat to look around the room and see the happy expressions on everyone’s face. Some members literally had to drag themselves to the meeting that evening they were in such a bad way, but everyone was able to participate and we all left feeling a little lighter, and little happier. The half hour of laughter did not cure any of us, and it truthfully may have only distracted us from our pain and fatigue, but it was a beautiful gift none the less. Sarito brought a guest with her who shared his experience of recovery through the use of laughter meditation. In his experience, 30 minutes of laughter a day – fake or  not – can reduce pain symptoms and improve sleep and fatigue. After my half hour experience I can only say it is the most fun I have had in my quest to improve my health, and it is definitely worth trying. I am smiling right now as I relive the evening to share with you!

On Friday I had my first appointment with Dr. Shores, the holistic chiropractor who spoke at a previous support group meeting and also contributed to my blog. It was an enlightening appointment. Through Bio-response testing he was able to determine I have several issues which are likely contributing to, our may be the cause of my Fibromyalgia.

Here is the breakdown of what Dr. Shores believes to be my greatest issues:

40% – Structural. Due most likely to the slip and fall which initially brought on my Fibromyalgia, and the car accident which gave my FM superpowers (post still coming – I promise!)

30% – Grain Intolerance & Dairy Allergy. Turns out I am gluten intolerant. This is the thing I most feared learning. I think I have suspected it for some time but did not want to face having to drastically change my diet - eliminating all wheat and grain based foods. Again through Bio-response Dr. Shores demonstrated how the gluten intolerance was partially responsible for my muscle pain. In my understanding my body treats the gluten as an infection, and it draws the “infection” away from my digestive tract and into my muscle to help my body eliminate it. This causes muscle pain, inflammation and spasms. YES, YES, & YES!!! He also believes my dairy allergy should clear up if I eliminate gluten from my diet. This is going to be a huge lifestyle change for me, and I am certain I will be writing about it. Anyone out there with suggestion or advice, I gladly welcome it.

30% – Toxin/Infection – Dr. Shores’ presentation on heavy metal toxins is one of the things that most intrigued me about his philosophy of wellness. After hearing him speak about how metal filings constantly release fumes and the fumes go straight to our brains, I suspected he was right in that this could be a cause/contributing factor to fibrofog. It turns out I tested positive for all of the following:

• Heavy Metals
• Arsenec
• Borrelia Burgdorferi – lyme
• Chloroform
• Formaldehyde
• H-pylori

Although this list looks overwhelming, Dr. Shores assured me not to panic. In his estimation the thing I should be most concerned with, and will get the most improvement from correcting is the gluten intolerance. As part of my treatment I will be taking a supplement to help my body detox, but I am beginning with eliminating the gluten.

He also used his special gentle adjusting instrument (which I can never remember the name of) to correct some of my structural issues. I have been walking around for as long as I can remember with my right leg slightly shorter than my left. With just a few adjustments it was corrected. I stood up and could tell instantly. It was a weird sensation! I will report back soon about how I am doing with his treatment and recommendations. I think I may finally be on to something.

And if the laughter and the holistic healing weren’t enough, Saturday brought me another great tool for my arsenal in my battle against Fibromyalgia. One of my newest group members is also a certified yoga instructor. She arranged to teach a special gentle yoga class for group members at the Wellness Center. Yoga helped relieve her Fibromyalgia symptoms so much that she became an instructor in order to share and encourage other FM sufferers to try it for themselves. Eight brave members attended and we were lead through gentle movements and also taught modifications of movements that we could take with us into most any yoga class.

I had taken yoga once before and it was an awful experience. The instructor was not gentle or nurturing and seemed put-out that a newbie was in her class. Saturday was a completely opposite experience and I am now a yoga convert. It was like my muscles were waking up from a long cryogenic freeze. I loved it so much that I took another class on Sunday with a different instructor. I was able to modify several of the movements and keep up for the most part. I was not the most graceful participant, but I continued to enjoy the awakening my muscles experienced the day before. I cannot think of a better way to describe it. I know my muscles thanked me, and after taking it easy for a couple of days I am heading back tomorrow. I have had no negative effects or a flare-up like I did from the H2O Cardio class.

So that happened! I don’t know if it was the laughter, or the adjustment, or the yoga, but I am feeling better – better than I have since taking the H2O Cardio class. My mind is finally clear enough to write a post, and my muscles are not burning with fire after sitting at my desk for a couple of hours to write it. Woo hoo!

Laughter Yoga is a revolutionary idea – simple and profound.  An exercise routine, it is fast sweeping the world and is a complete wellbeing workout. It is the brainchild of Dr. Madan Kataria, an Indian physician from Mumbai who started the first laughter club in a park on 13th March 1995, with just 5 people. Today, it has become a worldwide phenomenon with more than 6000 social laughter clubs in 60 countries. 

Laughter Yoga combines unconditional laughter with yogic breathing (Pranayama). Anyone can laugh for no reason, without relying on humor, jokes or comedy. Laughter is simulated as a body exercise in a group but with eye contact and childlike playfulness, it soon turns into real and contagious laughter. The concept of Laughter Yoga is based on a scientific fact that the body cannot differentiate between fake and real laughter.One gets the same physiological and psychological benefits

 

So what are the physiological and psychological benefits of laughter and how can they help patients with Fibromyalgia? Here is a list I compiled from my research:

• Laughter reduces pain and allows us to tolerate discomfort. It is not clear whether laughter is just a diversionary tactic to help us forget our pain or if it is due to a chemical change and an increase in endorphins, but researchers have time and again documented lowered pain responses in patients treated with humor therapy. It is also thought that a good hearty laugh that brings you to tears removes toxic substances that build up in our bodies during periods of emotional stress.
• Laughter improves brain function and reduces stress. Laughter stimulates both sides of the brain to enhance learning. It eases muscle tension and psychological stress, which keeps the brain alert and allows people to retain more information. Laughter is a great way to combat fibrofog.
• Laughter aids in better relaxation and improved sleep. The focus on the benefits of laughter really began with Norman Cousin’s memoir, Anatomy of an Illness. Cousins, who was diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis, a painful spine condition, found that a diet of comedies, like Marx Brothers films and episodes of Candid Camera, helped him feel better. He said that ten minutes of laughter allowed him two hours of pain-free sleep.
• Laughter helps your immune system carry out its natural functions. Laughter moves lymph fluid around your body simply by the convulsions you experience during the process of laughing; so it boosts immune system function and helps clear out old, dead waste products from organs and tissues. Your lymph system doesn’t have a separate pump; your body needs to move around to properly circulate lymph fluid so that your immune system can carry out its natural functions. Laughter is a great way to support that.

Pain, brain function and sleep (the three biggest complaints of Fibromyalgia patients) can all be improved with a regular dose of hearty laughter. And according to Dr. Kataria, founder of Laughter Yoga International, it doesn’t even matter if the laughter is spontaneous or forced, your body does not recognize the difference. When you laugh you are forcing oxygen into your lungs, muscles and the cells of your body, which boosts circulation and increases energy. And if you watch this video you will see, laughing is just plain old fun.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eB3ISAYE-I]

Tomorrow evening my support group is going to be treated with a session of laughter yoga. I will be sure to report back on the event and share with you how we all feel after all the laughter, giggles and silliness of the event.