Divine Calling: You Need To Laugh (with Celeste Greene)

Meet today’s special guest, Laughter Yoga Teacher, Celeste Greene! I discovered Celeste’s Laughter Yoga videos online years ago when I first started practicing and teaching laughter as an exercise. Her incredible work in the Laughter Yoga community was a huge inspiration for me as a teacher.

Join us to laugh, be inspired, and raise your vibration!

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Learn more about Celeste and her trainings/classes: https://celestegreenelaughs.com/
YouTube: https://youtube.com/@laughactive
Instagram: @CelesteGreeneLaughs

About your Host:
Lauren Tatner, founder of Law of Happy, is an inspirational teacher, attorney, author, wellness arts practitioner, and inspirational clown. She is certified as a Reiki Teacher, Consulting Hypnotist, and Meditation Teacher, Laughter Yoga Leader, and Fitness Instructor Specialist. She also trained in Theatre, Dance, Zumba, Voice, Mediation, Public Speaking, Improv, Clown, Comedy, Past Life Regression (with American Psychiatrist, Dr. Brian Weiss), Shamanism, and Qigong.

Lauren has always been fascinated with the mind, body, and spirit connection. She is passionate about teaching the power of laughter, meditation, and movement in a fun and relatable way. When Lauren gives talks and leads workshops in the corporate and private sectors, she uses a unique approach that integrates elements of her diverse skills and experience.

Lauren is the mother of twins and a rescue pup.

- Follow Lauren on IG @TheLawofHappy
- Watch & Laugh with us on YouTube
- Interested in laughing with Lauren on the show or in a customized workshop: Get in touch

Transcript

0:07

Welcome back to the Law of Happy podcast. I'm your host, Lauren Tatner. I'm an attorney and I teach laughter as an exercise. When we laugh, we feel good and we raise our energy. This allows more good, fun things to flow into our experience. This is the law of happy. So let's laugh, have fun, and practice the law of happy together. I'm so excited for you to meet today's special guest laughter. Laughter yoga teacher. Celeste Greene. I discovered celeste's laughter yoga videos online years ago So When i first started practicing and teaching laughter as an exercise Her incredible work in the laughter yoga community was a huge inspiration for me as a teacher In 2017, Dr. Madan Kataria. the founder of the worldwide laughter yoga movement awarded celeste the prestigious laughter ambassador distinction for outstanding work in the field So here's a personal anecdote that i've never shared with anyone before I remember being so nervous before teaching my first few laughter yoga classes and to help me relax and get in the zone before teaching I would rewatch Celese online laughter videos. And my nerves transformed back into excitement confidence and joy Fast-forward to 2023. when i reached out to celeste to be a guest on my new podcast and she graciously agreed i was jumping and laughing with excitement to enjoy. Please join me in giving a warm welcome to celeste

Lauren Host: 1:27

celeste, welcome to the Law of Happy Podcast. I'm so excited that you're a special guest today. Thank you so much for being

Celeste: 1:33

here. Thank you so much for having me.

Lauren Host: 1:36

You've played a huge role in, my own, my inspiration and helping me in my laughter yoga journey. I'm just so thankful for you and so honored and beyond excited that you're here. Oh,

Celeste: 1:49

It's such a pleasure. I'm so grateful to be here with you today. Thank you so much for inviting me.

Lauren Host: 1:55

Oh, thank you. I just want to keep you for so many reasons. I'm wondering if I'm always trying to figure out how to make this heart. Okay. Yeah, for your

Celeste: 2:06

listeners, we're making hearts with our hands. It's a love fest over here. Yes.

Lauren Host: 2:12

Definitely. And so that's, I'm wondering if we can start off by just getting into the a bit of practical for people who have never tried laughter yoga or never heard of it. How would you describe it? And then can we do a brief exercise that people can experience it?

Celeste: 2:28

Absolutely. Laughter yoga is. An incredible health concept whereby practically anybody can get a good long sustained laugh without even needing any jokes or humor or comedy. This whole concept is based on scientific evidence that demonstrates that both genuine laughter and. Just going through the motions of laughter, both bring about health benefits. In the laughter yoga practice, we use that to our advantage. So we start out just initially just going through the motions of laughter. Just laughing as a form of exercise, but. We add a little playful twist to our exercises and we make eye contact and when you see other people laughing and you hear other people laughing, your laughter tends to become genuine and contagious. It doesn't matter if it doesn't and that's the beauty of laughter yoga. It works. Even if it doesn't become genuine and contagious, but it often does. And then we also incorporate a lot of nice, deep breathing all throughout the practice, which is where laughter yoga gets its name. It's from the diaphragmatic motion of the laughter and also the intentional deep breathing that we do in the practice.

Lauren Host: 3:55

Yes, I really appreciate how you've explained it very clearly. Thank you for that. And there's so many benefits and I'm still I've been doing it for practicing it and teaching it for several years now. And I'm still in awe of all the benefits and how it feels, how it just instantly raises my energy and my mood and just allows more good things to flow into my day when I've Left, that day or when I do it earlier in the day that it allows for the whole rest of the day to flow in a more fun relaxed way. You know what? Speaking of all that, is there a is there an exercise that we can do together and with our listeners? Yes,

Celeste: 4:42

we are going to enjoy a little mental floss laughter. So you mentioned before our talk about overthinking. We're going to undo overthinking right now. And so what we're going to do is we're going to string a gigantic piece of mental floss around our hands, and then we're going to thread it into our hands. In and out of our ears, laughing the whole time and I'll clean yours and you can clean mine. All right. Mental floss, laughter, ready, go. And say this with me. Ho Ha. Two more. Ho Ha Last one.

Lauren Host: 5:47

Ho. Ha And yay. I love it. And when we were saying the ho, hahaha, we were. Flopping with our hands parallel, right? Yes,

Celeste: 6:03

this gives us an energy massage in our fingertips. So when we clap, with a full palm to palm finger to finger clap. It's a very active clap. It feels much different. If you try that, then versus your like, polite golf clap, right?

Lauren Host: 6:25

Oh, I love that. And I love the yeah, I love the, there's so many things that laughter yoga incorporates. Like you said the, deep breathing from the diaphragm movement, simulating laughter to get all the benefits and and clapping where we're, It feels good and it stimulates the acupressure points in the hands and gets our energy moving that way too. And I also love the the child playfulness clapping chant where,

Celeste: 6:56

that 1 always makes me feel like the cheerleader. I never was. To all your listeners out there, I am rooting for you right now. It goes like this. So we clap and then we clap. Very good. Very good. Yay. And we let our hands go up exuberantly in the air. Yay. Let's do it together. Very good. Very good. Very good.

Lauren Host: 7:20

Yay. Thank you so much that cheer and chant alone makes me just feel good and silly and reminds me what it's like to be, a child or childlike and playful and to just let my inner child play. Cause I think that we all have an inner child who wants to wake up and play no matter how our chronological. Age it's it's always fun to be playful and,

Celeste: 7:56

absolutely. And that's why the laughter yoga works so well is you start out just initially going through the motions of laughter allowing yourself to laugh, but these exercises tend to be playful and as you allow yourself to be playful while you're laughing, it's Okay. We connect with each other. The play generates more laughter and the laughter generates more play. And it's just it's snowballs. And yeah, but it's, that playful, recess vibe that makes it work.

Lauren Host: 8:36

Definitely. And it just, there's so many benefits, like we've been saying, and it just feels good. And I find that what's fun is that when we feel good, we just attract and invite and allow more. Yeah. Things that feel good and flow into our lives just in an easier and more relaxed, fun way. So it's just like you said, like a snowball effect and just so much fun. And for so many reasons, that's why I get so excited about talking with people like yourself who practice this and, teach it. And I want to ask you, I always be curious about this. How did you discover and get into laughter yoga? Like, how did you discover this as an exercise?

Celeste: 9:14

Yeah, so it happened on accident. So I was working in marketing and when the economy downturned in 2008, I was laid off from my job. And and then other bad things happened all in a row. I got into a bad accident, had an injury. And then just icing on the cake, I was dumped and I was just feeling so rotten. And something told me it was like a divine calling, Celeste, you need to laugh and I have explored. Many different types of laughter over the years, and I had actually performed as an improv comic at a local theater here in Atlanta for a number of years. But I knew that the comedy laughter wasn't gonna cut it. In this particular instance, so I started looking around and, 1 Google search led to another and I found laughter yoga and, I noticed that they had a training in Florida and Hey, I had a severance check and not much to do. And family and friends in Florida. I went down to Florida. I had never tried a laughter yoga session before and I went to that 2 day certified laughter yoga leader training and was forever changed. I came home from the training and then just on a whim decided to set up a little website about laughter yoga. And then the next thing I noticed, I was helping others to laugh. I, I started a free laughter club that's still running, 12 years later. And then I had companies reach out to me looking for stress management, team building. Problem solving those types of things through laughter. So so it really, it all happened very organically 1 thing into the next. Yeah, and and then I had this whole journey laughing with elders along the way. My grandmother when I, 1st got certified as a laughter yoga leader, I wanted to share laughter yoga with anybody who would. Do it with me and, in those early days, that meant my grandma and the other residents and her assisted living facility a captive audience. But, so I went there and I started laughing with them and watching the joy. Come back into my grandma's face and the faces of her friends, and seeing them come alive and continuing to share that laughter with my grandmother even after she, was diagnosed with dementia and struggled to, understand what was going on. The great thing about laughter yoga is we don't need a reason to laugh. The 2 of us were still able to maintain a lot of laughter together. And it led me to get a master's degree in gerontology, which is the study of aging. And I I'm probably talking too much and you can stop me at any

Lauren Host: 13:08

time. I don't want to stop you because you're saying so many important profound things. I want to go back to that, but I want to keep hearing your journey and your story. It's, so inspiring. Yes,

Celeste: 13:21

I started pursuing my master's in gerontology because I, was so influenced by how I saw my grandmother change. And I knew I really had something here and, when my grandmother broke a hip, it's hard to keep up with her. She also needed group exercise, so I created a program. That's when I got certified as a group fitness instructor and created an exercise program for her that blended strength, balance, endurance and flexibility with intentional laughter. And we looked at the advocacy of that program, in a scientific study, which ended up being published in a peer review journal, validating the beneficial effects of laughter. And it was after that, that I was awarded the U. S. laughter ambassador for, the work that I did specifically, with elders.

Lauren Host: 14:25

Yeah, you're amazing. I don't even I, there's, I'm just in awe. I, just felt this right away when I discovered you through your TEDx talk that I saw that that I came across when I was looking into laughter, yoga, and I just. I loved your talk that you gave. I think that was in 2014, and I just loved your energy and everything about what I felt from you and now hearing this part of your story and journey. And you've done and are doing such incredible things for The world like for to to help people in, joyful, healthy, amazing ways. Wow. Thank you for everything you're doing. Everything about your journey, the way it unfolded, like you said, organically and, I just find it an amazing reminder about how, even if something we, we, in life, there are ups and downs, as we know we're, human. But if we remain open and open minded, we can just incredible things can, flow into our lives. You were, open to you, you were saying you had this into, or I believe it was, you said it was intuitive, like an intuitive nudge to explore laughter to bring laughter into your life. And you were, you got that. Sense of feeling and then you were open to it and then this everything unfolded, but I'm just wondering, do you I believe we all have intuition, but I don't know if. If there are ways that people can just tune in more to their intuition, do you have a trick or a way that you that helps you to more into your intuition and these intuitive nudges that you receive?

Celeste: 16:05

I'm also a big meditator and, and I've been meditating longer than I've been a laughter Yogi, and I think that it may have been that quiet connection, with my spiritual guide and, my heart center through my meditation practice that, perhaps brought along some of those insights that led me to discover laughter yoga. Yeah, but you're right. As I used to be a person that wanted to have everything figured out in terms of what's next at 1 point and I was already a successful laughter Yogi, but I thought maybe I should become an occupational therapist because. Yeah. Gosh, darn it, I should get a real job and, I, ended up getting another intuitive nudge after a semester in schooling that basically said you are enough and just let things, do what you enjoy, and what you're good at. And opportunities will fall into place and, it requires trust and faith, and ease, as you mentioned, and then also operating on that, that higher vibration that laughter brings.

Lauren Host: 17:46

Yes, thank you for everything that you shared and explained. And I, believe that too, that it's when we, like you said, meditate or another way that I describe it to myself or others is when we're, you mentioned it too, when we're quieting our mind, just to, Yeah, just to not to stop our minds. Our minds are beautiful and we're alive and there's always thoughts that are going through our minds. But when we can have a practice or do something just to allow our mind to slow down and quiet, it just makes it easier to tune into our heart center, like you said, and feel what our inner being or inner self. Wants us to know or hear, because otherwise there's just so much noise going on. And do you have a favorite way to quiet your mind? Do you yes. And

Celeste: 18:37

you're breathing. Okay. Yes. So my favorite way to quiet my mind. Is to laugh beforehand. So I have always found that after so laughter is 1 of the quickest and easiest ways to relieve stress and to tap into the present moment. It's very difficult to think about other things. While you're laughing and when you're immersed in playfulness. What I like to do is get laughing and what that can look like is it can literally just start off just making the sound. I might go, which usually ends up making me laugh. But remember, even if it doesn't, your body doesn't care whether the laughter is genuine laughter. You're just going through the motions of laughter. Even just making the sounds is so beneficial. So, making the sounds, combining the sounds with physical movement. A simple exercise. Ho, ho ha, Taking the hands out front. Ho ha Ho, ha. Letting that turn into laughter. Ha. That kind of thing. So any way that you can get the laughter going, all of the exercises work. So in laughter yoga, we're taught 40 foundation laughter exercises, but there are as many exercises as your mind can. Imagine so that's another great thing about laughter yoga. So if you can get laughing and I noticed benefits, even after just 1 minute, 5 minutes, but really, that sweet spot is that 10 minute mark. And you can work up to it, do what you can, as you're able to do 10 minutes of. Laughter and then work up to that. 20 minutes of silence after the, laughter and what you will find is after you laugh and then you the, mind is. unusually quiet. So it, it really does work.

Lauren Host: 21:15

This is incredible. Thank you for sharing this. So you're saying too, it can be helpful to build up to the 10 minutes of laughing, of laughter and breathing, of course, so we're always reading. So yeah, that's the 10 minutes. And then to sit in silence and let's say, focus just on your breathing for 20 minutes where you're just. In silence, maybe focusing on your breathing just to have your mind focus on something other than yes,

Celeste: 21:41

and you can build up to the 20 minutes. You could start with 5 minutes of laughter, 5 minutes of silence. What you want to do is start with what you can feasibly do and enjoy and grow it from there. So 5 minutes of focused. Meditation and breathing, could be more powerful than 10 minutes of my mind is everywhere. But if you can maintain it, for however long that duration is, and then just grow it as you're enjoying it as you want to expand it, right?

Lauren Host: 22:22

Yes, exactly. And that's a great reminder for everyone, because it's all about Thank You Being consistent and enjoying it. You

Celeste: 22:30

want to bring a joyful effort to it a joyful effort. So just starting with what feels joyful and then just letting it unfold from there.

Lauren Host: 22:40

Yes. And that is a great reminder for me too, because I remember when I brought. Meditation or quieting my mind back into my life. I started with 5 minutes. I took 5 minutes in my office environment where I just set my timer for 5 minutes and focus on my breathing. And I couldn't believe how good I felt. And I did it for 5 minutes regular, let's say for a week. And I thought this was so good. I want to do it for 7 minutes and then 10 minutes. And so it was exciting. I wanted to just keep. Feeling good. And so thank you for that reminder. And so I'm wondering if you have a trick or how do you make sure that if you're having, I don't know, an off day or morning like, how do you remind yourself to just laugh or to practice what you, like some of the tools that you have in your, in

Celeste: 23:31

Yeah, so for me I am a big advocate of habit stacking and also acting as if so. So I, I struggle with depression from time to time. I wouldn't say struggle with. I, am a person living with symptoms of depression that periodically pop up. How's that? Bringing laughter into the day, no matter what is very helpful. For me I have a routine of what I do every morning and each thing stacks on to the other. So I start out with the, intentional laughter and the meditation and also some. Prayers that I do. And then just the successful completion of each thing. It, actually makes you feel better, and, and there are some mornings when I may not necessarily feel like laughing or maybe my laughter isn't flowing as naturally as I would like. But that being said as we know just the going through the motions of laughter is beneficial. You get the benefits of a cardiovascular workout, both physical and mental just by going through the motions of laughter. So there are some days where I might not be feeling it. And I might just be like, but, but it, I'm still getting the benefits and I've learned along the way to just act as if. I have a powerful morning routine and I just get up and do it no matter what is going on. And and oftentimes I'll feel better after doing it. But for me and my mental health it used to be optional to do these things. And then at 1 point, I. Came to realize that this was really something that I needed to do every day to maintain my mental health.

Lauren Host: 25:59

Yeah, definitely. Thank you for sharing that. And I just want to ask you for your morning ritual or the routine that you like to, or that you've created for yourself. Can you just let me know just as it could probably be inspiring or helpful for people to just hear what your morning routine is like. When you wake up is the 1st thing you do before you get out of bed. Do you start laughing while you're still in bed? Or how does it work for you?

Celeste: 26:26

For me, I start laughing while I'm still in bed. And no, with this, you'll have to see how this works in your house but, I don't wake up as early as my partner. I wake up and I'm alone in the bed. And so I just start with a little gentle laughter in the bed. And you can pull your knees into your chest. You can roll. You can stretch your arms up overhead and laugh. And, even laughing with some gentle cat cow, some spinal twist just some gentle movement and combining it with the laughter. And then I move into the meditation. After that, And then I get a little coffee, and then when I'm showering, I like to enjoy some intentional laughter in the shower just to, bring in some zest to the shower, and and then you get out and I keep doing the laughter while I'm getting ready and then, it's great, because by the time I'm ready to face the world externally, I've already laughed and meditated and coffeed,

Lauren Host: 27:51

right? Thank you for sharing that. And whenever somebody asks me, oh, what time should they, when's a good time to meditate or. I tell people there's, it's not that there's an exact time, but the earlier in the day that you can do it, it just allows for the rest of your day to unfold or flow in a, in just a more fun, easier way. So I like how you've incorporated this, your practice from while you're still in bed to then when you're in the shower and getting ready. I love everything you're sharing. I'm so happy we're having this talk, but I, always like to ask, is there a question that I didn't ask you but you think would've been a good question? And what would your answer be, or what would you like to share about that?

Celeste: 28:33

Oh, man.

Lauren Host: 28:35

And not to put you on the spot, I just wanna make sure that you've shared everything that you've wanted to share. Even, if I forgot to ask you something. That's why I asked that Yeah.

Celeste: 28:44

One of the things that I found, insightful from Dr. Kataria, the founder of Laughter Yoga is he says, the more you laugh, the more you're able to laugh and it is like a muscle. We start off, maybe our laugh might not be as deep or. Diaphragmatic or we can't laugh as long. But if you stick with the practice over time what you will find is that your laugh will develop and you'll be able to bring. More and more laughter into situations that you might not have previously gotten laughter out of. Just to offer that encouragement, out there just starting small, bringing little bursts of laughter into your day and either by yourself or in a laughter club and then, and being open to. To the journey as it evolves, I think, as you mentioned when we're vibrating at that frequency, it seems like opportunities just seem to unfold. But, if anything I, just want to encourage people to, start a, laughter practice and to gradually grow it and and reap benefits.

Lauren Host: 30:14

Thank you. I'm so glad I asked that question. But about sharing something a final share and that was so well said and important to remember. It's a practice and it can grow and evolve and to to enjoy the process and just be gentle with ourselves because at first it's going to feel, funny or different or awkward to just laugh for no reason or to simulate the laughter. But then, like you said the spontaneous, natural laughter will just flow and, flow in an easier, more fun way. We just have to be, it's a great practice to be gentle with ourselves and yeah, and to be open. So thank you for sharing that. It's an important reminder for everyone, even if, even for myself, who is also who is a laughter yoga leader, it's a good reminder too, because Yeah, some days it's more ha I'm really similar. I really started, but then I'm like, and it just flows and but it's a constant practice. So thank you

Celeste: 31:15

Celeste. Absolutely. And then just being happy for showing up for me, that's been instrumental. Just being happy with making the effort. Even if the laughter doesn't even transition into genuine and contagious laughter, even just making the effort to laugh is

Lauren Host: 31:36

a lot. That's another important reminder. That's very true that you're open to it. And you're, like you said, making the effort and giving yourself this, gift of this wellness gift and and being open to it and showing up for that and doing the best you can in that moment. That's amazing. Thank you. Another important reminder. Celeste, like I just, we're still here, but I want to have you back again or talk and laugh with you again soon. You're an incredible being, you're an incredible soul in person and thank you for everything you do and for having been a guest. So thank you so much Celeste. And can we, and we'll. Say goodbye is there a goodbye laughter exercise where we, wave and laugh.

Celeste: 32:30

Yes, absolutely. So what we're going to do is we are going to wave to each other as many different ways as we can all while laughing. All right. Ready go. Say this with me. Very good. Good. Very good. Yay. Let's do it one more time. Very good. Very good. Very, good. Yay.

Lauren Host: 33:13

Yay. Oh my gosh. Thank you for everything, Celeste. Thank you so much for being a guest and we will laugh and talk soon, I hope.

Celeste: 33:22

Perfect. Thank you so much. Such a pleasure to talk with you

Lauren Host: 33:25

today. Thank you. Same here. Bye. Bye.

33:28

Thank you for having tuned into this Law of Happy episode. If you smiled, laughed, or felt inspired, please subscribe, rate, review, and share the Law of Happy podcast with someone you'd love to have fun with. And if you'd like to laugh with me as a guest on the show or in a customized program, you can email me at lauren at law of happy. com. I look forward to laughing with you soon.