| A laugh in Ethiopia | 2003-11-06 05:15 4 comments |
 by Flemming FunchAn Ethiopian fellow named Belachew Girma broke his own record in laughing non-stop. And got a crowd of unlookers to do the same. There's not always a lot to laugh about in Ethiopia, but sometimes the best therapy is to do so anyway. Story at BBC. "We are living full of stress... Natural disasters, economical, political, social problems... My aim is to minimise this stress. Please let us communicate by smiling," he said. "Our slogan is 'laughter, love, peace for all human beings'."Indeed. The laughing exercise appears in a number of different traditions. I believe it is an old Buddhist exercise for one thing. I've participating in group laughing several times, and I can testify that it is very healing. In brief, you just start laughing, for no necessarily good reason. Sometimes that's difficult to do non-stop, but it helps to do it with a group of people. And it is kind of strange to break through the barriers that stop you from doing it. Crying works too, but I prefer the laughing process. Some people can hardly stop again. And just look at the smiling face of Belachew there. Hard not to laugh with him. |