I love how blogging spreads ideas and brings them back in new form.

A few weeks ago, I had a posting about Laughter Yoga–gatherings for the sole purpose of laughing together. An official Laughter Yoga Leader, Elaine Helle, emailed me after reading my posting to tell me about her brainchild, Belly Laugh Day on January 24. In Elaine’s words:

"Last June, I thought, we celebrate love, give thanks, recognize flossing (day after Thanksgiving). Why don’t we celebrate the great gift of laughter? Thus Belly Laugh Day, January 24 was born. Celebrate Past Laugher. Create Positive Energy, Connection and Creativity with Positive Laughter.

How do you celebrate Belly Laugh Day? On January 24 at 1:24 p.m. smile, throw your arms in the air and laugh out loud. Join the Belly Laugh Bounce ‘Round the World."

What is really fascinating is the thinking behind picking January 24. Elaine attached an article from the BBC news about a researcher from Cardiff University, Dr. Chris Arnalls, determining that January 24 is the absolute worst day of the year, based on a complex formula. Leave it to the British to spend money researching this. No wonder their humor is so wacky. (Yes, my sons and husband love Mr. Bean as well as Monty Python.)

To quote the BBC:

The formula for the day of misery reads:

1/8W+(D-d)3/8xTQMxNA

Where:

• W is weather
• D is debt – minus the money (d) due on January’s pay day
• T is the time since Christmas.
• Q is the period since the failure to quit a bad habit
• M stands for general motivational levels
• NA is the need to take action and do something about it.

Dr Arnalls calculated the effects of cold, wet and dark January weather after the cosiness of Christmas coupled with extra spending in the sales. He found 24 January was especially dangerous, coming a whole month after Christmas festivities. Any energy from the holiday had worn off by the third week of January, he said.

By Monday, most people will have fallen off the wagon or abandoned the nicotine patches as they fail to keep New Year’s resolutions. That compounds a sense of failure and knocks confidence needed to get through January. The fact that the most depressing day fell on a Monday was not planned but a coincidence, he said.

The BBC then interviews average citizens, reacting to this finding of the worst day of the year. My favorite is a quote from Danny Harrison, "I dread January because I get really cold waiting for the pub to open. "

Now if all this doesn’t put you in the mood for Belly Laugh Day, I don’t know what will. Check out Elaine’s website, www.bellylaughday.com , where yours truly will be part of the Belly Laugh Bounce ‘Round the World in the Mountain Time Zone (a new version of
the Wave). Elaine also asked me to write a few words for a page on her website
entitled, "Why Celebrate Laughter?"

The simple answer is, "Why Not?" So you can guess what I’ll be doing on January 24 at 1:24pm MT.