The Zen of Joy
How to Rewire Your Brain for Happiness and Success. Minutes a Day to Boost Your Performance, Productivity and Profits.
Matti Anttila, Certified Laughter Yoga Teacher
Copyright © 2012 Matti Anttila
Any and all information provided here is not a substitute for the advice of a licensed medical practitioner. Individuals are advised not to self-medicate in the presence of significant illness. Always consult with your licensed medical practitioner first before undertaking anything, be it supplements, exercise programs and/or other protocols. All information provided or referred to herein is for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be health, medical, financial, accounting or tax advice, nor should it be relied upon as such. Matti Anttila is not a licensed financial planner, doctor or health practitioner. If you’re not inclined to Do-It-Yourself, then please, before you Do-It-To-Yourself, obtain professional advice. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. The information herein is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.
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2012-11-22
Dedication
DEDICATION
Dedicated to The Great Spirit that moves though us all and to the many manifestations of that spirit in all of life.
I have limitless and unending gratitude for all my blessings from Great Spirit.
Acknowledgments
Firstly, I acknowledge and thank myself for I can only allow as much love into my being as I am willing to love myself.
That is our first task, duty and joy: to LOVE ourselves. To the extent that we are able to do that, we can open ourselves to receiving love from others and from “The Great Spirit.”
Secondly, I acknowledge The Great Spirit for moving through me, inspiring me, kicking me in the butt and showing unconditional LOVE in all the events that occur to me and people who populate my life.
Thirdly, if I now were to single out a few folks to whom I owe so much I can never repay, I would leave someone off the list for sure. This would cause some consternation to them and endless grief to me as I kick myself for all eternity for such a glaring oversight. So I thank everyone in my family, all my friends, acquaintances and all who have crossed my path from the bottom of my heart for the part you have played in my unfolding.
Thank you to Dr. Madan Kataria, founder of Laughter Yoga, whose boundless love and support encourages and enlivens me.
Thank you to My Nearest and Dearest, Liz.
Some Who Have Inspired Me. This is an incomplete list and not meant to be all inclusive.
My family, Ram Dass, Baba Hari Dass, George Leonard, Mother Theresa, The Dalai Lama, Ann Mortifee, Louise Hay, Morihei Ueshiba, Master Wang, Dr. Terry Willard, Dr. Shigeaki Hinohara, Alice Herz-Sommer, Deepak Chopra, Tony Robbins.
Thanks to my Tai Chi Master Ray Sidwell for patiently, over the years, gently assisting me to come into my centre. Thanks to Grand Master Henry Wang, one of the great Tai Chi players on the planet. Thanks to all who have played Tai Chi with me. Thanks to all my previous teachers in Aikido.
Come to think of it, thanks to any and all who have touched my life in ways large and small. All were influential. All were ultimately loving and all are loved by me. My gratitude knows no bounds.
Thanks to editors Esther Hart, Coyote O’Brien and Jim Morrison.
Foreword by Dr. Madan Kataria, founder of Laughter Yoga
How to Keep Your Spirits High When Life Offers a Dare and Experience Happiness, Peace, Harmony and Unlimited Potentiality.
Laughter and joy are joined together at the hip. Laughing heartily, whether it is because of hearing a joke or for no reason as we do in Laughter Yoga, creates a cascade of reactions in the body.
Laughter eases the production of the stress hormones such as cortisol and adrenalin and replaces them with the “feel good” hormones such as the endorphins. This state of “feeling good” allows us to make better choices in our lives. We can more easily let go of unhealthy stressful reactions to the many stress inducing stimuli in our busy 21st century lifestyles.
Stress, as we know, has been implicated in many conditions. Stress can exacerbate or make worse a condition we may have. Conversely, laughter, joy and feeling good can ease or help to relieve the many conditions that modern humans are prey to, whether it be cancer, heart disease, diabetes or even the common cold.
Finding a way to feel good allows our immune function to be operating at a higher, more optimum level. In the years since I started Laughter Yoga with five people in a Mumbai park in 1995, I have seen and heard of many stories of recovery from dis-ease, of the easing of pain, of Laughter Yoga practitioners finding joy in their lives.
Laughter Yoga helped me to transcend my judgmental mind and find my true nature, my meaning and purpose of life. It not only changed my life, but also has inspired tens of thousands of people to cope with impediments and enlighten them about the inner spirit of laughter which is one’s ability not only to laugh at the best times in life, but also to keep the spirits high when life offers a dare.
Whether we know it or not, every aspect of our life is influenced by certain universal principles. You may call them spiritual laws or universal laws. You may have noticed there are times when you don’t have to struggle hard and things come easy in life.
Then there are times when certain good or bad things happen and one just does not know the reason and gets quite perplexed. This is akin to the natural and effortless working of the Universe.
Therefore, if we understand and imbibe these principles on the whole, we can live a life of complete flow without asking too many Hows and Whys. It will help the logical mind to accept what’s not working and why we face problems in life which are incomprehensible and make us upset and angry.
What cannot be explained logically can be understood by these spiritual principles. If we align ourselves to these principles, we can experience moments of happiness, peace, harmony and unlimited potentiality.
In times of difficulty, it is not easy to remain calm, but by imbibing the inner spirit of Laughter Yoga, we can cultivate a positive mental attitude and an understanding based on unconditional love, forgiveness, generosity and compassion. It allows virtues of patience and tolerance to
