History of Elena and how the yoga of laughter saved her life: “I no longer want to be held hostage of a pain that has been there and is, but it cannot prevent me from going on. I learned to forgive “

“Learning to laugh literally saved my life.” He feels that he is not exaggerating while he says it, Elena Biazzi. His voice is hot and ringing like the sun that pierces the window, full of true serenity, but granitic and firm, like those who really looked in the face.

“I have the sclerodermiaa rare and autoimmune pathology, which means that my immune system attacks my body. It is a systemic inflammatory disease of the connective tissue, characterized by a progressive thickening of the skin, preceded by the phenomenon of Raynaud (according to which hands and feet, and less often, ears and nose, become cold and change color, following a vasospasm, editor’s note). Mine is the variant limited to external fabricsbut this pathology foresees the hardening of the fabrics of the internal organs: in fact, I started manifesting a Interest of the disease at the pulmonary levelwhich though It is not degenerated, also thanks to the yoga of laughter, that I have been practicing for ten years in a regular basis ».

Elena is Yoga teacher For many years, but In 2015, “the lowest point of my life”, breathing and meditation techniques were no longer enough to make them find inner peace, who had lost. We start from here to tell his story and how a laugh can save you life. “2015 was the turning point: either he could fall everything, or I started flying again. I chose the second, or rather, life led me to the second option ».

What happened in that fateful 2015?
“I seriously thought about taking my life. I had already premeditated everything. I was sick, I had been married to Giancarlo for 25 years and We dreamed of expanding the nest, but life had other programs for us: after ten years trying to have a son naturally, who did not arrive; After carrying out in a bankrupt way also the path of custody and adoption, and after not even the medically assisted procreation (SME) went well, I felt useless, emptied. In addition, At that time I suffered a serious wrong from a family member, who made me feel wrong, rejected, annihilated».

Did you want motherhood so much?
«If there is one thing I have clear inside me, even now, it’s that I was born to be a mother. My son or daughter I had already conceived it inside me: He already had a name, a face, I had already imagined my life with him or her. Because of my pathology, I was aware that he would be the only childalthough I wanted more, but it was fine. I imagined myself with the baby bump, I was caressing the belly … When my womb, after all those attempts at maternity, remained empty, something inside me broke. And the rest of the problems, encountered in the family, gave me the coup de grace. I had hell inside meyou can do that not even the yoga that I practiced and taught was able to soothe those scorching Total failure sensations, which I took inside».

How did the yoga of laughter arrive in his life?
“I participated almost by chance – but we know that the case does not exist – To my first yoga session of laughter, improvised within a Buddhist meditation retreat. Being able to laugh when my only thought at that moment was to make her literally finished it widened a world of possibilities. The door of hope opened up again. At the beginning, I thought I was in a cage of crazy: Laughing without a reason, just for the sake of doing it, seemed madness to me. But then my laugh has become real, of belly. I didn’t care anymore that there were no reason to laugh: I was laughing, I was finally contacted that enthusiasm, that joy of life that I had been missing for some time. I thought: “If despite this great pain, this great emptiness, the myriads of things that did not go as I wanted, I can laugh – and I can really laugh – then there is hope” “.

The light had rekindled …
“Literally. I fell in love with it. I also feared it a bit as a practice because I felt it was going to touch deep ropes, but I sensed the great potential. So in November 2015 I participated in the leader training together with Lara Lucaccioni And immediately in January 2016 at Teacher Training. I said to myself: “I have nothing more to lose. Come on, let’s do the total immersion, so as to go to see in depth what this practice has to offer me”. I started with the 40 -day challenge Which is, let’s say, the classic task for every leader: laugh at least 10 minutes daily. Until the tenth day everything is fine, I started my exercises, The “spintaneous” laugh soon became spontaneous. But on the tenth day he changed everything… “

What happened at that juncture?
“The laughter exercises brought me a cry, which lasted, I believe, at least a week, In which I think I gave the bottom and bringing out all my pain, everything I had never managed to bring out and express up to that moment. From that moment, continuing the 40 -day challenge, My laugh became perhaps more true, deeper; He had completely different characteristics and connotations. From there, I practically no longer stopped laughing».

What benefits has brought the yoga of laughter in his life?
«Let’s start with my pathology: Sclerodermia mainly causes great problems at the peripheral circulation levels. The fingers of the hands and feet become cyanotic, cold; In a ramdomic way, a vasoconstriction is often caused by the cold, but also by intense emotions, especially those of fear, of unease. And then, Great tiredness, great drops in energy, widespread pain. Laughing every day allows me to lower the perception of pain, It gives me energy to face with a smile especially those “no” days in which I already get up to me and It allows me to better oxygenate my body and fabrics, also reactivating energy circulation».

He said he also benefited on a lung level …
“Sclerodermia also attacks the lungs, So until 2015 the results of spirometry had always been in falling, worse. Instead, Since I started laughing the values ​​have stabilized. It means that the oxygenation brought to the lungs through laugh has prevented further degradation. And then, Since I laugh, I’ve never been happier to cry... »

What does it mean?
“Sclerodermia also involves Sjögren’s syndrome, which mainly affects the esocrine glands, causing dryness of the eyes and mouth. I have a dry, tremendously dry eye. I tell you that in the Somer test, which measure the amount of tear emitted by the eye in normal conditions and which has a range from 1 to 10 (in which normality is around 7/8, editor’s note), I have the value of 1. So Whenever I slam the eyelids, it is literally as if I had glass paper that passes on my eye surface. They are subject to corneal abrasions, lowering of sight, double and blurred vision and numerous athri discomfort, linked to the pathology. Here you are, laughing allows me to increase a little, for what my body can, tearing, So give me a little more relief than this problem. And these are “only” the benefits on a physical level. Those at the character/behavioral level are also more significant ».

For example?
“It is not only a question of improving the mood, but of the” renamed “my life, in the right way everything that happened to me. Meanwhile, I understood that I am “full”, although I felt empty for a long time, and to be honest, that void every now and then comes to knock on me. The laugh helped me to understand that I still haven’t let my baby gothat as I said, it existed in me. I will make a farewell ritual to greet and bless it for everything he has given me, even just on the energy level. I understand deeply those mothers who have spontaneously aborted or who had to do it: It is an unbridgeable void, especially when you don’t have a body to return to the earth, therefore to the sky. However I no longer want to be held hostage to a pain that has been there and is, but it cannot prevent me from going on. And then, I knew how to forgive … »

And how did he understand that he really forgiven?
“I realized that staying in the anger of the wrong immediately, weakened me: I wanted to be seen and recognized in the pain that had been given to me, but until I recognized me, no one would have done it. So, I welcomed what happened, I understood the limits of those in front of me and I put everyone’s responsibilities back on the pitch, forgiving and giving me the liberation from waiting for me something that would never have arrived. The tools to go on, I had them, so it was up to me to act for my good and others. Since then, Peace in the family has returned, and I learned to put precise stakes, which delimit my space: I am no longer empty, I exist. And since then, I have raised my head ».

Do you believe in someone or something?
«I have a Catholic imprint, but since I practical yoga, I have also opened up to other philosophies. Well, I believe that there is something very powerful, an energy that I like to call love creator: we are all sparks of this energy; At a certain point, we wear a dress – our physical body – to experience earthly life, and then, Let’s go back to being drop in the ocean, restoring the love received».

So what did the laugh teach you? And what does she bring to the world with her laugh?
“Which is a stupid say to those in the dark: “Come on, be positive, look at the beautiful things you have”. When someone is overlooked by the black hole he carries inside, on the white sheet of life, he can do nothing but be obsessed with a black point. And then, laughter taught me to not impose: “try this because it worked with me”. No. But: “I am here, next to you. Maybe I don’t understand exactly what’s going on, but in silence, I’m next to you and listen to your pain.” The proximity makes you feel understood and less alone: ​​if someone suffers with me, without speaking and judging, only standing next to me, then I have a value. Then, perhaps it makes sense that I remain a little more here. We will never know how much a silence is worth, until we live it ».

May 4: Laughter yoga celebrates World Round Day for Peace in the World

Smiling Father and Mother Laughing and Playing With Their Daughter While Lying On A Bed.miniseries

Laughter is one of the most genuine and liberating expressions of the human being which, however growing, practice less and less: according to studies, Children laugh between 300 and 400 times a day, while adults do it only between 15 and 20 times. The Italian Yoga Institute of Laughter, Founded by the Macerata Trainer Trainer Lara Lucaccioni and Matteo Ficara, Together with a group of trainers, he launches a double invitation to rediscover this powerful tool of physical and mental well -being at no cost: participate in the World Round Day for Peace in the Worldfree event to be held Sunday 4th May 2025 at the Parc Hotel Paradiso in Peschiera del Garda (VR), e start training immediately in the Laughter club, Now easily traceable thanks to the new interactive map available online. For more information, just visit the site “Laughter yoga”.