Reduce Stress and Burnout with Laughter Yoga

In this week’s episode of The Leadership Habit podcast, we are talking to Jenna Pascual. Jenna is a certified Laughter Yoga leader, yoga teacher, and life coach based in San Francisco. She discovered Laughter Yoga after being diagnosed with repetitive stress syndrome from working at tech startups for 10 years. Jenna is now on a mission to help companies and teams create a positive, engaging, and innovative work environment where employees can experience more productivity, authenticity, and fun during the workday. Join our host, Jenn DeWall, as she learns more from Jenna about how you can bring laughter into your workplace to reduce stress and burnout, improve performance, and make your people happy.

Full Transcript Below: 

Jenn DeWall:

Hi everyone! It’s Jenn DeWall. And on this week’s episode of the leadership habit, I am so excited to welcome Jenna Pascual. For those of you that may not know her, she is a certified Laughter Yoga teacher and leader. It’s what we all need more in our lives. She’s also a life coach she’s based in San Francisco, which we’re happy to have another representation from around the US. But Jenna, you know, we brought you on here because I know you do a ton of work with teams and organizations all about how they can incorporate laughter into the workforce. But you know, for those that may not know, you just tell us a little bit about yourself. How in the heck did you get into this concept of Laughter Yoga because it’s something I had never heard of before.

Meet Jenna Pascual, Registered Yoga Teacher and Laughter Yoga Leader

Jenna Pascual:

Yes. So I actually spent 10 years working at tech startups, and I spent most of my time working at Facebook. And while I was working there, I was diagnosed with repetitive stress syndrome. So because of that diagnosis, I started practicing yoga. And then, I actually left tech to pursue yoga. So I went to Guatemala, I did a yoga teacher training, and while I was traveling there, I spent seven months in Latin America. And I met a woman in Nicaragua who loved my laugh. And I started noticing that every country I went to, people would always compliment my laugh. So I was like, wow, maybe I should do something with this. And then my friend in Nicaragua mentioned Laughter Yoga. So when I came back to the United States, I, you know, I looked online. I was like, what is Laughter Yoga? And then I found that it at UCSF they have free Laughter Yoga classes. So I attended one, and it was so amazing. It was actually full of recovering cancer patients.

And it really touched my heart actually because my mother passed away from cancer when I was 15—and just seeing how much joy laughter brought to these people. Like I felt a sense of my mother being in that room. And I just knew it was part of my calling to start teaching Laughter Yoga. And I was already a certified yoga teacher, and I was thinking, okay, I’m going to combine teaching Laughter Yoga and yoga. But then, there was also the whole stressed out at work aspect. So I’m really just so passionate about helping employees reduce stress because I don’t want anyone to go through what I went through. You know, having repetitive stress and just being, you know, in, in physical pain.

So for those that don’t know repetitive stress. For me, I was experiencing it in my wrist, and it was like kinda like carpal tunnel, but it would run, it was a shooting pain that ran up from my wrist up to the back of my neck. And it was just from being so stressed out and also just, you know, repetitively typing all day. So now I teach Laughter Yoga, and I love it. It’s so much fun. And for those that don’t know what Laughter Yoga is. Laughter yoga is an alternative form of yoga, where we incorporate laughter and breathing exercises. So there’s actually no yoga mats, no yoga poses. It’s really accessible and easy for anyone to do. I know a lot of people, you know, are intimidated by yoga or just think, you know, yoga is not for me, or they say I’m not flexible. But if you can laugh, you can practice Laughter Yoga.

Repetitive Stress Syndrome

Jenn DeWall:

I love that. It’s so inclusive because I know that I’m absolutely one of those people that, well, I appreciate what yoga does. I definitely focus on some of my limitations. I’m curious, Jenna, I want to go back to understanding the kind of stress that you even observed within yourself. And how the heck did you know that it was affiliated with stress? Like how do you start to put those pieces and those dots together to recognize something is not right? And it’s actually as a result of work-related stress, how do you create that awareness or how did you find out?

Jenna Pascual:

So I actually did. I had no idea. I didn’t even know what repetitive stress syndrome was. I went to the doctor, told him all my symptoms, and I was just diagnosed with it. It wasn’t classified as carpal tunnel syndrome. So, you know, the medical professionals are just able to tell, but I was telling him about, you know, how many hours—these were probably the clues— just working a lot of hours and not taking breaks. Because one of the questions that my doctor asked me was, you know, do you take breaks throughout the day? And I actually said, no, I would take a lunch break, but that was pretty much it. And so he really recommended that I set a timer every 50 minutes to get out of my chair to get, you know, away from my desk. Like, stop typing to give me, my wrists and my fingers a rest.

Jenn DeWall:

No kidding. And I know that that is something that probably some of our listeners are hearing. They might identify that with that, especially if they’re maybe working remote right now where they’re not necessarily creating those boundaries or giving themselves that opportunity for a break, but for you, I’m so happy that you went to the doctor and that they found that there is something that you could do in addition, obviously to what unfolded into Laughter Yoga. But so thank you for giving that because I’m sure in tech like you likely see, you know, you’re in the epicenter of all of these kinds of prestigious companies that are, people are sought after they really want to work for. But what they may not realize is that in exchange for getting to work for such a great organization, there are higher expectations for how you’re going to maybe interact with the organization or how you’re going to show up.

And so, and I’m sure it’s just competitive in general because you have the best and the brightest that are like, well, well they’re working longer. Maybe I’ll work longer, and I’ll work longer. As I said, I’m sure there are a ton of variables that can create an environment where people maybe are just, you know, at their wit’s end or like just really stressed out, not necessarily taking care of their self-care. I don’t know if you’ve seen anything more in tech. Like I just feel like you hear about that. It’s kind of like the work hard play hard. Is that fair, I guess assumption or description of what I’ve heard?

Jenna Pascual:

Yes. And you know, most of my friends still work in tech, and I know they still work a lot of long hours and especially working at home now, you know, I, I hear that it’s really hard to separate, you know, work-life and personal life now that they are working from home.

Laughing to Reduce Stress

Jenn DeWall:

Yeah. It’s, that’s why I hope that they are listening to this because this is going to be a way that they’re going to be able to bring some more play, to reduce some stress into their organization. I love it. You shared when we were prepping this, and you had shared that there were two facts, you know if we’re going into Laughter Yoga and what it is like, what is Laughter Yoga? Like I know, you briefly described it, but thinking about those facts that you also shared, like what is Laughter Yoga? Because I’m sure that there is someone that’s like, what are they talking about? This is bananas. Like we’re not supposed to laugh more. We don’t need to do that. Like we need to be focused.

Jenna Pascual:

Right? So there are two facts that I love sharing with people. And one of them, this is what convinced me to really get into Laughter Yoga, learning that studies have shown that our bodies actually can’t tell the difference between simulated laughter and real laughter. And so, you know, just knowing that our bodies are- part of the reason why laughter is so important is because of all the health benefits. You know, we hear that laughter is the best medicine, but one of the best or the most important health benefits of it, I think, is that it helps reduce stress. So, number one, it helps reduce stress. Number two it also helps boost our immunity. You know, so with COVID going around, we all could use a little immunity and immunity boost, and then another great health benefit of it is it helps spark our creativity and innovation, which I believe is so important, especially in the workplace. So those are just a few of the health benefits. There are other ones as well. It really helps stimulate all of the organs. It helps the blood flow and oxygen in our bodies. There are just so many benefits, but those are my top three, especially in the workplace.

Jenn DeWall:

Yeah, and I think those are ones that typically people don’t, you know, it’s easy when we first think of laughter, maybe we’re like, Oh, they’re really goofing around, but instead we could look at it, Hey, this is what they’re doing to reduce some stress. This is actually going to make them more resilient, keep them healthier, boost your immunity. I mean, for those that might be questioning how this could work, what benefit it is, laughing can boost your immunity, which absolutely in the middle of a pandemic, we need the strongest immunity that we can get. And I also love just that, like our bodies can’t tell the difference. They can’t tell if you’re laughing because something is funny. Or if you’re just laughing because you’re actually doing the practice of Laughter Yoga.

Jenna Pascual:

I forgot to mention this, but that’s, that’s what Laughter Yoga is all about. It’s all about voluntary laughter. So it’s very, very different from using jokes, comedy or humor. So when we use jokes, comedy or humor, we’re actually activating the left side of our brain. And so, you know, the left side of our brain is like our analytical side. And through the workday, we’re constantly analyzing, criticizing, judging, you know, using that left side of the brain, and through Laughter Yoga and voluntary laughter. We actually activate the right side of our brain. So that’s why Laughter Yoga really helps spark innovation and creativity in the workplace. And then the second fact that I love to share with people too is studies have also shown that if we just laugh voluntarily for 10 to 15 minutes a day, that’s how we reap all these health benefits.

So it’s not just, you know, watching, you know, a sitcom or a movie. Cause when we just watch a sitcom or a movie, we might have little bursts of laughter for a few seconds. And then we’re also still using the left side of our brain to analyze if it is funny or not to us. And everyone has a different sense of humor. So a joke might be funny to one person, but it might not be funny to another. So in Laughter Yoga, we take all the jokes, all the comedy, and humor out of it. And we voluntarily laugh to really activate that right side of the brain, that side of the brain, that a lot of us don’t get to activate as much as the left side of the brain.

Try Some Laughter Yoga

Jenn DeWall:

This is just mind-blowing to me because I, you know when you talk about just the stimulation of the right brain, some people are a little bit more, right-brain leading. Some people are a little bit more left-brained, and this is just, it sounds like cross-training for your brain. This is another opportunity to operate at your peak performance, especially with those benefits like creativity and innovation. All right. Well, let’s do, I mean, I know we talked about this, like let’s do the example of Laughter Yoga, which please bear with us. I, this is not a practice that I actively gonna actively do, but I encourage you as you’re listening to also follow a log. All right, then a guide us through a brief exercise or an example of Laughter Yoga.

Jenna Pascual:

So one that I love to do, especially in the workplace, is you know, a lot of us are typing all day, or we even use our phones. So this is a great one for our hands and our fingers. So you want to spread your fingers nice and wide. And what we’re gonna do is we’re gonna add our laughter with the movement, but I just want to first explain that we actually have acupressure points in our finger beds. So as we press down, we’re actually activating all of the acupressure points in our body, and this helps stimulate our organs. And it again helps the blood flow and oxygen and oxygen flow through our bodies and to our brains, which is really important. So as we do this exercise, it’s really important to press down on the, and for the people that are just listening. What I’m doing is I’m going to be pressing down my thumb and my index finger with a ho, and then we’re going to press our thumb and the middle finger with a “ho.” And then we’re going to press the thumb and the ring finger with a “ha” and then the thumb and the pinky with a “ha” and then we’re going to spread our hands nice and wide with another “ha.” So just to combine it, it’ll look like this, ho, ho, ha, ha, ha! So it’s a fun way to laugh and also stimulate all those acupressure points so we can do it together.

Jenn DeWall:

I love that I’m laughing already, but like ridiculous, but it’s okay. That’s part of the practice.

Jenna Pascual:

And the Laughter Yoga practice is also about just releasing what other people think of you.

Jenn DeWall:

We need that sometimes. Right? Angry customers, maybe making that mistake. We’re talking stress. So we’ve got, okay, I’m ready for it.

(LAUGHTER)

Jenn DeWall:

Oh, I love that because it is just even the belly laugh. I feel like I notice just my body like relaxing in this uptight pose. I, I love that and that, what did that take us 30 seconds to do.

Jenna Pascual:

Exactly. And you know, as adults, especially in the workplace, we’re so serious, and I’ve been reading so many articles now about laughter in the workplace, and it just really helps with productivity and engagement. So that’s why I love bringing it to the workplace.

Why Bring Laughter Yoga to the Workplace?

Jenn DeWall:

Yeah. Let me think. And I know I’ve touched on this. I remember early on in my career when I was having a conversation with a VP, and he was a lovely man, a lovely man, and an absolutely empathetic to the new generations entering the workforce. And he was just always kind of laughed. Like I cannot believe that millennials want to have fun at work! Because he was a baby boomer. And that wasn’t something that was just not that you showed up. You came in, you did your job, and you showed that you were there, you know, obviously to make an impact and you were more serious about it. And he was really intrigued by how the generational shifts have really almost, not forced, but like asked organizations to expand the way that they look at how employees interact in the workplace. So that might be allowing people to have play and fun at work, even though yeah, 20, 30 years ago, maybe that was a sign that you weren’t serious. But now it’s actually an indication or an opportunity to reduce stress, work on your organs I feel like that’s the easiest workout I can get. To get the vitality, but, but what’s the business case.

I know we talked about this already like what’s more of that business case. Like if we still have some people that aren’t really bought in, right. They’re still like, Hey, I don’t know if I want to sound ridiculous for 10 minutes laughing. He didn’t do that cute. Well, you could do it for a group exercise. Why should you care? Like why should the people that are listening? The ones that are working longer hours, the ones that do not have that division between work and personal life, why should they care? Because this is a health issue. I would argue this is the more serious part of what we’re probably going to talk about today. Why should they care?

Laughter Can Reduce Healthcare Costs, Reduces Stress, Boosts Immunity and More

Jenna Pascual:

So one huge thing is it really helps reduce healthcare costs, you know, not only for the individual employee but also for the company, the companies that are paying for insurance. So it’s really, it’s it helps with, you know, reducing healthcare costs. It also helps reduce absenteeism. Like that’s a huge one. The healthier you are, the happier you are, the more satisfied you are with your job- the less likely you are to call in sick. So you know that, and when you call in sick, it not only affects your own work, but it affects the whole team that you work on. So it really trickles out to the entire team, to the entire company. I mentioned job satisfaction. You know, the more, the more we laugh, the more we play it really, it activates the endorphins in your brain, and it really helps with your job satisfaction.

We mentioned engagement, you know, the more breaks that you can take, and the more that you can laugh throughout your workday, the more energy you’ll have to put into your work and be more focused throughout the workday in a sustainable way. And then corporate and team culture. Like that’s a huge one, especially with COVID, you know, everyone’s, most people are working from home. And so I really highly encourage companies to have fun ways that they can bring their employees together. You know, and so I come from a tech background and, you know, we would have a lot of happy hours with alcohol and things like that. And it was great, but I really believe that Laughter Yoga is the way to create more wellness along with play. Because when we have a work happy hour with alcohol. Like alcohol, you know, I don’t think it’s very good for your health, but if you could have like a laughter happy hour, you know, you’re not only creating that team and corporate culture. You know, that fun culture that most companies are trying to create, but you’re also balancing it out with wellness. So it’s like a great way to not only take care of your wellness and your health but also to create a positive team culture at the same time.

Jenn DeWall:

I love that. Because even now, where we aren’t necessarily able to get together face to face that this is a way that we can still laugh together and play together. When we may not be able to just pop by someone’s cube or meet them in the cafeteria, this is a way that we can connect with our team. And I think, you know, as long as even that activity, the finger activity that we did, everyone can do that together. It doesn’t matter. And I think that’s just so neat that there’s not a lot right now in remote settings that are able to bring that about or that community sense. So that just sounds like a really great way. And it obviously, it’s only, you said in the beginning, you only have to do it for, you know, 10 to 15 minutes. Like this could be, I guess, how do you see companies using this out of curiosity, you work a lot with organizations to bring this into the workplace. How do you, how do you see them using it?

Bring Some Laughter Yoga to Zoom Meetings

Jenna Pascual:

Yes. So I do a lot of weekly wellness classes for most companies. A lot of companies also hire me for all-hands team meetings for their off-sites, which are now virtual off-sites and also like new hire onboarding, new hire training like an ice breaker. So I typically do 30-minute and one-hour sessions, and it’s just a great fun way to be on zoom without having it be so serious. Cause I, I understand a lot of people have back to back zoom meetings, and they really don’t want to be on zoom anymore. But with a laughter class virtually through zoom, it’s like a nice break from your typical zoom meeting.

Jenn DeWall:

Right. And it’s something that’s short. I love that you can bring that into a team meeting, or you could make it, you know, a full session. But it doesn’t, you know, if you are, you’re really restricted on time, or if you’re a team meeting, you have a lot to get through, you could still bring this in even for a few minutes. And that could be the perfect stress-buster if you will, that your team might need at the moment. How do you think the pandemic? I mean, you know, we’ve been talking a lot about stress, the pandemic, obviously the shift and just so many changes that organizations and leaders have gone through. How do you think that the pandemic has impacted how we respond to stress?

Laughing as Meditation

Jenna Pascual:

Yeah. I think more people are stressed. And more people don’t know the tools. You know I, I feel pretty blessed that I discovered yoga and meditation before the pandemic hit. But I know a lot of people out there just don’t have the tools. So I think that people are super stressed and are looking for tools, which is great. And which is why I feel like I’m really here to serve. I’m here to share the gift of laughter with people, especially those who aren’t really into meditation. Because for me, laughter has really been my favorite form of meditation. People don’t consider laughter form of meditation, but it truly is. Because when you, when you have to laugh, you have to be present. Like there’s no way that you can laugh and be somewhere else, you know, just try to laugh. It’s impossible, but you know, so when you laugh, it’s, it’s a full meditation practice and back, you know, back in the day I didn’t use to meditate, but I would, I would still practice laughter meditation. And I really think of it as a gateway into other forms of meditation. The laughter meditation really created that space for me to really sit still after. So like one of my common practices is I actually, I laugh for one minute to let everything out, and then I’ll actually just stay quiet for another minute. And I’m really able to tap in.

Jenn DeWall:

I was, I was going to ask you so when you laugh for a minute, cause I know when we did the fingers like “Ho, Ho, ha, ha, ha.” That felt more structured. But when you say laughing for a minute, is it just kind of the free-flowing? Like ah, like, yeah. Okay. Okay, cool. So it’s one minute of just like allowing yourself that freedom of expression in terms of laughter followed by that one minute of silence and then, sorry I cut you off. And then what do you notice from that? From doing even those two together?

Jenna Pascual:

Yeah. So I love the way you phrase that- freedom of expression- and that’s pretty much, you know, what laughter is all about being able to use your voice and your laugh to express yourself. Because at work, sometimes we know, we feel like constricted. We feel like we can’t be our true selves at work. So through laughter, we just get to be ourselves. We get to let our inner child come out and play. So it’s just a way to honor your inner child and really your authentic self. But what it really helps me with is what I’ve noticed in my own body is when I laugh- like free form laugh- for a minute. And then when I move into the silent meditation, I’m really able to be more in my body and connect with my breath more as opposed to if I were just to start right away with the silent meditation, you know, there still might be a lot of like thoughts and chaos going on. But and I, you know, for those out there who are new to meditation, meditation is not about staying still or staying quiet. I’m not saying that that’s what meditation is, but when I laugh first, and then I move into the silent meditation, I do feel more at ease.

Jenn DeWall:

Well, it’s probably easier to get into it because you’ve kind of already focused your attention on something else. As you said, it grounds you. You get it all out. Like all the goofiness, the frustration may be that you’re pushing through. And then you can probably reflect or just sit in peace. I’m one of those people, that’s still a work in progress when it comes to meditation. But I feel like with Laughter Yoga— I can get behind that. That’s much more like I could laugh for a minute far easier than I could be still for a minute. So like that to me is just, I love how you describe it as a gateway because it does seem so much more approachable, accessible, and hey if I can then add on 30 seconds of silence, I will absolutely try that. But this is a way that I feel like I can try meditation without the pressure of all right, Jenn, you’ve got to take 10 minutes, make sure that you get all of your thoughts out. So you sit still. Like on what planet? I’m just not there yet. So I love that this is just a way that I can build on that. Yeah,

Jenna Pascual:

Yeah. For me, meditation is really just connecting with the breath. And so in Laughter Yoga, we connect with the laugh. And so once you’re really able to connect with your own laugh, you can then really connect with your own breath, which is meditating.

Jenn DeWall:

Yes. Well, and we talk about that too. In our classes that we (Crestcom) teach, you know, we talk about emotional intelligence. Obviously, one of the first things that we need to do is recognize the trigger but connect to the breath. And this is just another way that we can calm ourselves down. Okay. Where are the secret places that you recommend people doing this? If they’re at work and they don’t necessarily want someone to see them or hear them or think that they’re weird, like where do people go to do this? If maybe there’s a little shy about that expression of laughter. Maybe that’s when they bring it to their team, and they all do that together.

Teambuilding with Laughter

Jenna Pascual:

I’m going to suggest, you know, team laughter is really the key because I’m even making eye contact with people that brings so much joy. So it’s, and it’s hearing everyone’s lap. But if you, if you, if you are still shy, which is perfectly fine, you know, I suggest going into a small meeting room, or you can even go outside and laugh. Silent laughter is also a real thing. So silent laughter would just look like this, and it’s so fun. I love doing silent laughter!

Jenn DeWall:

Like emulating what it looks like to laugh, but not producing a sound.

Jenna Pascual:

I also, I also love laughter-buddies like laughter texting buddies. So sometimes I’ll just text my laughter-buddy, “Ha, ha, ha.” And she’ll know what I mean without even needing to laugh, but just, you know, typing out ha ha ha brings so much joy. And that shocked me that, you know, there’s, there’s, we’re really laughing for no reason, which is, you know, again, stimulating the right side of the brain.

Jenn DeWall:

Right. Which is what we need because it takes away probably all of the blocks that we might have, especially. I mean, I imagine how this could even really just help accelerate problem-solving or decision-making because we’re shifting out of that logic where we keep running into those same roadblocks. But then by moving into our right side, we’re able to see the problem as an opportunity or just look at it in a different way. Like this could be really the thing that can help people accelerate the results that they want. What advice would you give for a leader to bring this into their organization?

Jenna Pascual:

Yeah. So for me, you know, again, it’s all about creating a really fun, productive, engaging team culture. So I highly encourage leaders to add more laughter into their day. You know, whether it’s working with me or even just creating laughter exercises in your own team meetings. You are creating structured breaks and times to laugh. I think that you know, that’s what I really recommend.

Jenn DeWall:

Oh my gosh. And maybe it is for those that are like, okay, we’re not there yet, but maybe it’s on your Thursdays. You get together, and it’s your des-tress Thursday. I can’t think of anything more creative on the spot, but where they incorporate that into their Thursday activity. And then maybe it goes to a practice where before a big meeting is coming up and they know that people need to just calm down a little bit, but there are so many opportunities.

Laughing at Lunchtime

Jenna Pascual:

I was going to say if you want specific examples of how leaders can bring it in. Yes. So some, some things that I do are like it’s called lunchtime laughter. So I offer lunchtime classes where people can laugh as part of their afternoon, you know, a little break. I’m finding that lunchtime is a really good time to do it. And then also, you know, the mid-afternoon so like around two or three, like that’s another time period where most of my classes are just because people need that little mid-afternoon pick-me-up. Right?

Jenn DeWall:

Yeah. Oh my gosh. I am absolutely one of those people that sometimes at two o’clock if it’s been a day, that’s absolutely the time that I probably need the break, but how can we do this? So we talked about how we can bring it into the office. How can we do it at home? If we want to teach our kids or if we want to share it with our spouses who are stressed out and working in the next room since we’re all working from home.

Jenna Pascual:

I do have a lot of laughter videos on my YouTube channel, which is bit.ly/laughwithjenna. And I have a lot of laughter videos on my Instagram account, which is at https://www.instagram.com/jennapascual/. But if you want to just, you know, do it at home, it’s really easy. You just create these laughter exercises, and you can use my videos as inspiration. But yes, please invite your family, invite your friends. I can also teach more laughter exercises here if we have time. But one, one that I love to do is actually it’s called mental floss, and I love to start my day with this. So, you know, start and end the day actually. So, you know, with dental floss, we floss our teeth. But with mental floss, we are really, you know, just releasing all the negative thoughts that may come up.

Jenn DeWall:

So this is what we’re doing. I’m trying to follow along if you’re watching this on video,

Don’t Forget Your Mental Floss

Jenna Pascual:

Our mental floss and we’re actually gonna like squeegee our brains out to clear our minds from all the stress and all the worries, but we’re going to do it with laughter. So it’ll look like this, You know, flossing, our teeth we’re flossing our minds. All right, you want to try it?

Jenn DeWall:

Yes, I am ready. I am ready. Ready.

Laugh with Jenna Laughter Yoga Mental Floss [laughter]

Jenn DeWall:

I find myself like initially it’s forced, but then I feel like I laugh at myself laughing. So I’m like, this is just got to be the most, I don’t know, comedic. Like the look that I’m giving today, but it doesn’t feel so good. I know that I look ridiculous, but it feels so good. It feels lighter. It feels like I do have more connection with like my breath. I just feel calmer. And it’s all from even just forcing a laugh. And I think it’s something that we just overlook is something that we have within ourselves that we can use as another tool to combat or stress. It doesn’t matter how loud you go. Like, is there any type of benefit if you like it more of the dramatic or if it’s, you know, does that matter? Like is, are you supposed to put more of oomph in it to help feel that benefit? Or does that not matter at all?

Jenna Pascual:

It doesn’t matter. Yeah. Because our, again, our bodies can’t tell the difference between a simulated laugh and a real laugh. So even the silent laughter is simulating laughter. So our bodies still are, our bodies still register it as laughter. Another great tip for laughing at home is also while you’re cleaning. So this one has actually been really helpful for me during, you know, staying at home. But I’ll vacuum while laughing, Oh, you know, wash my dishes while laughing. So it’s a great way to add laughter and easily. Because you know, a lot of us clean throughout the day anyway. So you might as well add laughter while you’re doing it. So it doesn’t even need to be a separate practice. You can combine it with the things that you do. Or I even love to dance, and I love to roller-skate. So I’ll laugh as I’m roller-skating or dancing, you can really add it in throughout your day.

Laughing While You Work

Jenn DeWall:

No kidding. Well, yeah, even if you are just running the vacuum, like instead of playing your music, look at that because what, who doesn’t want that? If you are someone that is multitasking, you’ve got a lot on your plate and the fact that you even need to carve out a few minutes for meditation, which sometimes that’s me where I’m like, I don’t know if I have time. The ability to layer that into things makes me feel like, okay, I can do that. That’s approachable, and I can clean and do this at the same time and recognize that I’m not only like making my house better or how I want to live in it, but also myself better and taking care of my well-being. And then maybe it’s a great thing to do also at the end of your day like before you go home, I’m just thinking out loud.

Like I practice that if you’re going to shut down your computer for the day, maybe that’s the thing that you do to transition into your personal space. So you can have, you know, let go some of the stresses of the day. What, what do you say to the people that are – because you, I know you have to meet resistors. Like you have to either jump, go into those meetings or go into the zoom call, and someone is just like, who is this crazy person? Like what, and I don’t mean crazy in a bad way. I’m just, you know, maybe I’ll say that it a different way, but who is this person that’s telling me that I need to laugh? Like, how do you address the people that are resisting it? What are you? What’s your message to them?

Jenna Pascual:

I tell them it’s all about surrendering and letting go. You know, as adults where we like to control things, you know, we don’t like to just surrender to the moment. So I invite them to just take it as an opportunity to really surrender and let go and see what happens.

Jenn DeWall:

Oh my gosh. So this is your opportunity to surrender- to that person that might be thinking, this is something that I’ve never tried, I’ll look ridiculous, insert whatever your thought is. This is just your opportunity to let go. And I think that’s a last, very strong point to make that as we do enter adulthood, as we get further into our careers, we do have that tendency to take things more seriously, which can create more stress. And I’m not saying that we don’t have to take things seriously, but we do need to understand that there’s a balance. So we can not only create the right environment for our organization or our team and ourselves to operate it because stress is real. We know that the impact of stress can have some longterm consequences. And part of that starts with just allowing yourself to experience play, and not take things so seriously.

I think that’s a really strong yeah, I think a lot of adults might need to hear that. Like we, you know, we spend a third of our lives at work, so to be able to bring some joy into that instead of maybe just living through a deadline or focusing on that frustrating colleague. And to be able to bring something different into our workday, it’s just so inspiring. And I love that it’s new. And I really hope that people have stayed with us for this and really embrace this as a new tool, as a new way that we can connect our teams, have better relationships with yourself. I mean, I imagine even how people deal with conflict could be different if you put that into a conflict situation and you’re like, do this first, then we can talk about it. I feel like there are so many different ways that you could leverage the power of laughter, and it’s just accessible to all. So I love that!

Laugh Like No One is Watching

Jenna Pascual:

Jenn, I do want to add one more thing too. So today, I led a Laughter Yoga class for a company, and a man was saying that he was doing his Laughter Yoga in his little office. And he was said, he said that he was worried about what people thought outside of his office. And I invited him to, to take that as an opportunity to let go of what other people think. Do you know? So it’s not only just letting go of, you know, your own environment and letting go of how you see yourself in the laughter practice, but also just letting go of what others think of you. Because I think in life, you know, we are, we’re always so worried about what people think of us. If people are judging us, and I just, I want to help more people release that, you know, as long as you’re having fun, that’s all that really matters.

Jenn DeWall:

Absolutely! Comparison is the thief of joy. Like there’s that expression. I totally agree with you. Like we need to focus on ourselves because that’s where our own, you know when we can strengthen our own values and see that value, that’s when we can become more resilient leaders, that’s when we can become more inspiring and influential leaders. There are so many benefits when we can just like suspend that judgment. Jenna, I’m going to ask you the final question that we ask everyone, that’s a guest on our podcast. And that question is this, what is your leadership habit for success?

Jenna Pascual:

Scheduling breaks for sure. You know, whether it’s a laughter break or whether it’s just to take a few deep breaths. You know, in today’s society, we value, you know, this go, go, go productive lifestyle. But I truly believe that it’s really the breaks that matter because when we slow down and when we take breaks, that’s when we really get to turn inward, we get to connect to our breath. So I really highly, highly, highly recommended it. For me, personally, I actually set daily alarms. You know, they go off at 11:11, and no matter what I’m doing at 11:11, unless I’m teaching at that time, you know, I will stop whatever I’m doing. And I’ll either take a quick one-minute laughter break, or I will just do some deep breathing for a minute. And so it’s really just carving out the time to slow down.

Jenn DeWall:

Yes. That is a fantastic tip. Especially leveraging your own technology that you can set alarms. You don’t have to just remind yourself. You can, right now, if you’re listening, you can just say, Hey, maybe it’s 11:11, or maybe it’s 9:05. You know, whatever that is. But you can set a reminder just to help yourself be more present, step out from maybe what you’re looking at, and give yourself a break. And these are all things just to help you have a better quality of life, especially at work. Jenna, thank you so much for joining us on The Leadership Habit podcast. It has been a joy to interview you, and I’ve loved all the laughter. I like, you know, there are parts of me that are still like Holy cow! And I even struggle. Right? But I know that there’s a benefit. So I agree— everyone, give it a shot! Try out Laughter Yoga. I think it’s something different, and this is what we need right now. We’re in the middle of a pandemic, and people need more laughter because we’ve got a lot of stressors in our heads. Jenna, thank you so much for joining us. Be sure to stay tuned because I’ll give you notes in the outro for anyone that wants to connect with Jenna to find out how they can bring laughter or how you can bring laughter into your workforce. Thank you, Jenna.

Jenna Pascual:

Thanks for everyone out there listening.

Jenn DeWall:

Thank you so much for tuning into this week’s episode of the leadership habit podcast with Jenna Pascual. If you want to connect with Jenna, you book a laughter class with her or your company or your team by visiting laughwithjenna.com, Or you can find the link in our show notes right now she’s offering virtual sessions. It’s great for your company all-hands meetings, weekly wellness offerings, new hire onboarding, etc.. You can also watch Jenna’s laughter videos on instagram@jennaPascual, and you can visit her youtube channel at bit.ly/laughwithjenna to practice voluntary laughter at home. If you enjoyed today’s episode, please be sure to share this with your friends. Let’s spread the laughs, and don’t forget to write us a review on your favorite podcast streaming service.

 

The post Episode 37: How to Reduce Stress and Burnout with Laughter Yoga with Jenna Pascual, RYT appeared first on Crestcom International.