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“So, keep fighting for freedom and justice, beloveds, but don't forget to have fun doin' it...” ― Molly Ivins

When times get hard, we don’t want to run away. Neither do we always need to be serious. Laughter allows us to persevere in the face of difficulties. Do you know why angels can fly? Because they take themselves lightly. Let’s take ourselves lightly and see what laughter adds to our work.

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Research suggests that the simple act of laughing is a powerful form of complementary medicine. Until now, there has been no reliable and effective system to deliver laughter. Humor was the only tool available, but it is not reliable and seldom leads to continuous hearty laughter.

Laughter Yoga is a breakthrough laughter delivery system that enables a person to laugh continuously for 15 to 20 minutes with short breaks of yogic breathing.

Below are 20 Laughter Yoga exercises to get you started. Try to practice them with others and appreciate that they are indeed highly incongruous. And choosing to laugh as and when you want to is not a sign of silliness, it's a sign of maturity.

These exercises will shift your mood state if you give them a chance for at least 10 minutes.

5 Classic Laughter Yoga Exercises

Cell Phone Laughter: Hold an imaginary cell phone to your ear and laugh.

Gradient Laughter: Fake a smile; giggle, then laugh slowly and gradually increase in tempo and volume.

Greeting Laughter: Greet everybody the way you normally greet (e.g. shake hands) and replace words with laughter.

Hearty Laughter: Spread your arms up, look up and laugh heartily as you direct your laughter to come straight from your heart.

Think of a socially awkward situation and laugh at it (e.g. shoe laces untied, shaving cream behind your ears...)

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Research suggests that the simple act of laughing is a powerful form of complementary medicine. Until now, there has been no reliable and effective system to deliver laughter. Humor was the only tool available, but it is not reliable and seldom leads to continuous hearty laughter.

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Building Beloved Community and journeying toward spiritual wholeness isn’t easy. The proposed 8th UU Principle invites us to “accountably dismantle racism and other oppressions in ourselves and our institutions.” Dismantling means taking apart something which has been built up. Racism has been built up for over 400 years. If we want to do it, we must commit to the long haul and the hard work. And when that hard work gets really hard, we will be tempted to quit or run away. So, what’s one of the ways our faith guides us into becoming a people of Beloved Community? It tells us “Don’t run away when things get hard!”

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Watch videos and full episodes of your favorite PBS KIDS shows like Curious George, Dinosaur Train, and Sesame Street!

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Persevering in the face of bullying. Blue is a quiet color. Red’s a hothead who likes to pick on Blue. Yellow, Orange, Green, and Purple don’t like what they see, but what can they do? When no one speaks up, things get out of hand — until One comes along and shows all the colors how to stand up, stand together, and count.

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When it comes to Beloved Community, we focus on creating a place where wounds are healed, and wrongs are righted. Our faith has taken up this work and called on UU’s to build a world without racism. A large part of that is creating new ways of being together, but we also need to focus on healing old and existing wounds that linger. So, what’s one of the ways our faith guides us into becoming a people of Beloved Community? It says, “acknowledge and heal the wounds that racism has caused.”

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“Part of Me” Mindfulness Song with Lea Morris 

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“Part of Me” Mindfulness Song with Lea Morris 

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Sit comfortably in your chair or on the floor.

Put your hands on your lap or on your knees.

Sit up nice and tall.

Focus your eyes in front of you.

Find your breath moving in your body by taking in one breath through your nose and then slowly breathing it out through your mouth. Now play the video!

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Part of Me (Mindful Moment with the Kids)

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Ripple Valentine’s for Beloved Community

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Ripple Valentine’s for Beloved Community

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On Valentine’s Day, we exchange Valentines with people to show them we love them. It’s easy to think about who we love - parents and grandparents, friends, our pets. What if we wanted to grow that love? We might think of what happens when you throw a stone into a pond. It makes circles, rippling outward bigger and bigger. We could grow love beyond boundaries like the ripples. What would those ripples be…?

1. Smallest heart - First, it would be our family

2. Larger heart - What would come next? close friends and extended family

3. Larger heart - Next... the people in our neighborhood

4. Larger heart - Next... the people in our church and school, teams and clubs

5. Larger heart - Next... the people in our town or city

6. Even Larger heart - Next...the people in our state

7. Giant Heart - Next… the people in our country

8. Humongous Heart - Finally… all the people in our World community!

We can think of love without boundaries for the people we don’t know really well and the people who are different from us. This idea of loving all people and beings, not just those close to us and the same as us is what Beloved Community is all about.

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Our faith is an expansive one. Historically, we UU’s disagreed with those who believed that only Jesus was the way to get to heaven and instead we asserted that all people have goodness in them and God would ensure that all humanity was welcomed into God’s love. That’s why we have “Universalism” in our name, Unitarian Universalists. The Universalists believed in “universal salvation” or universal goodness.  This call of universalism was a call to continually expand our love to wider and wider circles until all of humanity (and the natural world) is embraced.  So, what’s one of the ways our faith guides us into becoming a people of Beloved Community? It tells us to “grow your love beyond boundaries!”

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Honor John Lewis by celebrating his birthday - Feb. 21, 1940

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Honor John Lewis by celebrating his birthday - Feb. 21, 1940

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Animation Series: Preaching to the Chickens (#AtlantisBuild)

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Honor Malcom X by learning about his assassination - Feb. 21, 1965

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Honor Malcom X by learning about his assassination - Feb. 21, 1965

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Fresberg Cartoon – Learning & History for Students

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Malcolm X Biography: Black History Month (Educational Videos for Students)

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Honor Rosa Parks' by celebrating her birthday - February 4

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Honor Rosa Parks' by celebrating her birthday - February 4

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Rosa ~ READ ALOUD | Story time with Ann Marie

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When we think about Beloved Community, one can’t help reflecting on the work of BLUU (Black Lives of UU) and DRUUMM (Diverse Revolutionary UU Multicultural Ministries). With the dedicated leadership of these groups, UU white supremacy is being called out and challenged. We are gaining insights into our faith from these and other leaders of color about how to journey into multicultural wholeness. So, what’s one of the ways our faith guides us into becoming a people of Beloved Community? It tells us to “Honor Your Black leaders!”