The Hoho Haha Dance

Hello Everyone!

So, I just sat down to up-date the blog when I was swept up into the fastest birth I have every seen! When i sat down, the woman who was in labor was not very far along, but then one of the midwives came in and told me she was already ready to push. I rushed into the room and a baby girl was born within three minutes! Three minutes! WOW! I have seen some pretty fast deliveries but this is definitely the fastest by far! The clinic has been slow lately, but everyone is bracing themselves for the flood because there are 75 babies due in March. We are halfway through the month and the clinic has been pretty quiet, so its looking like a ton of babies are going to come at once!

Its been amazing to be back in the birth energy. Its so powerful. Every time I enter the birth room I learn something new, and every time I leave I feel elated and exuberant. Once you enter that room there is no telling what could happen or how long it will be until you come out again. In addition to births, the clinic has been thriving with activity. One morning I walked over to check in before breakfast and found myself involved in a minor surgery for the next few hours. A young girl was there with a cyst on her arm the size of a ping pong ball. Robin (the founder of Bumi Sehat) and Sara, a visiting midwife from the States, were bustling around excitedly preparing to remove the cyst. Only in a place like this do you find people who thoroughly enjoy cutting tumors out of peoples arms and then stitching them back up again. I watched wide-eyed as Sara made an incision on top of the cyst and then carefully removed the mass. It looked like a sack full of gray cottage cheese. Surprisingly I made it through the surgery with out getting queasy, (I'm not sure how I managed this feat) but I was very glad that I had not eaten breakfast before hand.

But not every wild experience at Bumi Sehat is bloody and gory. A few nights later, I was sitting in the acupuncture room taking blood pressures for prenatals when I notice that everyone is gathering in the parking lot in front of the clinic. I follow along and watch as a smiling, bald, Indian man leads everyone in these ridiculous activities. I notice that all of the exercises have to do with laughing. Soon everyone in the parking lot is laughing. Robin spots me and tells me this is laughter yoga. Its happening up the street right now and I have to go. No don't worry about the blood pressures, someone else will take care of those, but I must go to this. Bewildered, I walk to the yoga center up the road and join at least 100 hysterically laughing Balinese. The Balinese people there are ranging from energetic little kids to stooped over, withered grandmas. And everyone is practically rolling on the floor with laughter. I join the crowd and watch as the Indian man, who largely resembles Uncle Fester from the Adam's Family, leads everyone in more of the laughter exercises. I felt like I stepped into the twilight zone, it was so bazaar. The sound of the laughter was deafening. I could not help but start laughing myself.

Eventually, someone put music on and everyone started dancing. I mean everyone. No one in the room was standing on the sides looking awkward, every person was jumping and moving to the music. After a few songs, the Indian man had us all sit down for what he called "free laughter." Its where you merely sit and laugh. That's all there is too it. After about 5 minutes of this, he has us close our eyes and take deep breaths, but even he cannot stay serious and starts to giggle and laugh again. I later learned that this man is the one who invented laughing yoga and the Laughter Club. It started in India with only one Laughter club gathering everyday to laugh with each other and now there are over 6,000 different laughing clubs all over India. People claim it has cured them of all sorts of pain and ailments. In India when a doctor has a patient who it suffering from depression he calls up this man to find out where the nearest laughter club is. I have never been a part of something so strange and amazing in my life. If any of you ever gets the chance to take part in laughter yoga, seize the opportunity. Its not something to miss. And it makes you feel incredibly good afterwards.

I just never know what the day will bring when I wake up in the morning.

Love Misra