டுனீஸியாவில் சிரிப்பு யோகா பிரபலமடைகிறது

டுனீஸியாவில் சிரிப்பு யோகா பிரபலமடைகிறது. அங்கு யோகா குருவாக இருக்கும் டாலிலா காரியானி அவர்கள் சிரிப்பு யோகாமூலம் மனம் நிச்சலனமாக ஆகி இறுக்கம் தளர்கிறது என்று கூறுகிறார்கள்.

பொங்கும் மங்களம் எங்கும் தங்குக!
வன்முறை மிகுந்த சூழலை சிரிப்பின் மூலம் வெல்லும் ஆன்மீகம் வளர்க!


Laughter Yoga appeases strain in Tunisia

By Iman Zayat*

-Tunis-

In a vivid room, part of the British council headquarters in Tunisia, a group of women sit relaxed listening to the engaging voice of their guide, Dalila Ghariani, who sprays some perfume in the air and puts some mild notes on the recorder, then speaks in an easygoing way to guide her students into meditation.

Ghariani is the first woman in North Africa and in the Arab world to become a laughter yoga teacher. All those who have known this woman tell of her permanent pleasant mood, her sweet smile and her wittiness.

Talking to Alarabonline about her future projects, Ghariani unveiled her attention to contact all the Arab television networks to offer a new language and techniques which will help transform peoples' inside world.

According to the yoga teacher, television as a media outlet is reaching a wider portion of the population and offering a better means to make her work and positive attention accessible to those in need of her support.

"It is enough to see stressed, aggressive and depressed people.... I am very positive and confident about doing a good job and creating a happy generation. We should do something for the planet!" said Ghariani.

Speaking about her laughter's club website: www.rireentunisie.com, the yoga teacher revealed to Alarabonline her plan to provide an English and probably an Arabic version to web visitors.

The aim of all this, Ghariani made clear, is to revive spirituality and our awareness of the existence of a positive inner self.

"The laughter releases all the negativity within and helps us hit upon our heart of a child", said the yoga teacher.

Sitting with their body hassle-free, their eyes closed, and their hands on their knees, the students breathe deeply in a rhythmical way as they seek out the positive within, and try to salvage the innocent and pure essence in them.

"Don't wait for happiness to come from outside -- it exists within you," Ghariani told her students.

Meditation, said the laughter yoga teacher, is the one of the most important steps in the therapy and is a good means to feel detached from the material world, strain and trauma. One should feel weightless and absolutely relaxed, says the guide, as meditation is the first and most important step to discern the inner self, and the real essence of oneself.

Ghariani pointed that most of her students are women and that a number of men sometimes come to enjoy the therapy but that their number is still limited.

Asked by Alarabonline about the reason of the frequent participation of women, Ghariani said: "It may be the nature of women, in general, they are more sensitive and self-caring than men".

The meditation is followed by light moments as women begin moving, walk in a circle and clapping their hands to chase away distressing thoughts and retrieve an innocent child-like nature hidden within.

And the laugh comes out in a high pitch: "Haa ha haa haaa hahaha"; a "haha", provoked intentionally by each student, becomes spontaneous and impulsive as it is repeated.

Laughter yoga teacher Ghariani said that in our world of today which is characterized by materialism and individualism, we suffer because we have more responsibilities and we heed all our attention to time, time that is running fast.

"We want to do all things at the same time", she says. "Tunisians are always in a hurry," Ghiriani adds.

According to Ghariani, Tunisians consider their past and future with enthusiasm and always forget to enjoy the present moments.

Attending one of the courses Alarabonline listened to the thrilling experience of one of the students, "With laughter therapy I learned to overcome the painful and the sad in my life. My dad died a week ago, and thanks to the therapy, I succeeded in trouncing the pain and accepting the death of a dear as a natural end. I love my dad a lot but I controlled my sorrow so that I can stand by my family and carry on my life".

Ghariani set up her yoga club in Tunisia in 2004, after studying the technique in England, and since then the laughter yoga began to gain recognition thanks to the woman's motivation and conviction that we might be happy if we feel like.

According to experts in sociology, people in Tunisia, a country longing for development and a modernized society, have always been under pressure and hence they are showing more and more signs of anxiety.

Indeed nine percent of Tunisians, mainly women, are suffering from apprehension according to a study.

In moments when we concentrate on our material life and as a consequence of everyday problems laughter become an erratic commodity.

Pondering on a society that is longing for modernity at any price, Ghiriani told Alarabonline that many people are using sedatives to elude pressure and are not aware that laughing is a good and natural medicine.

Ghariani was in charge of the British Council library for years, a professional experience that contributed to her passion for books and her discovery of the domain of physical and psychological well-being. She studied Reiki, a Japanese technique for stress reduction and relaxation, and "the laughter yoga" initiated by Dr. Madan Katari'a School of Laughter Yoga.

Years ago Dr. Kataria, an Indian doctor and student of Yoga was writing a paper for a medical journal titled "Laughter is the best medicine".

In a moment of inspiration Laughter Yoga was born.

Many people all over the world are enjoying today the benefits of a daily dose of laughter practicing Laughter Yoga at laughter clubs.

In July 2006, Ghiriani was named Ambassadress of Laughter by Dr. Kataria in Tunisia, following the European Conference held in Berlin in October 2006.

Indeed the Ghariani's ultimate desire is to give a helping hand to those in need of love and happiness, and to those who feel uneasy about life.

Mother Theresa once said: "Let no one come to you without leaving better or happier. Be the living expression of God's kindness; kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile and kindness in your warm greeting."

* Iman Zayat: iman@alarab.co.uk