MIDDLETON, Wis. — On a chilly November Saturday morning, chuckles poured out of the back door of Middleton VFW Post 8216.
At the front of the room, former U.S. Army intelligence collector Steven Lee laughed loudly, prompting others to do the same.
“What we do here is something we’ve been taught is silly, and maybe not appropriate for everyday life, and I think that’s a shame,” Lee said.
A shame because Lee said he needs something laughter provides: camaraderie and connection.
“I was in a rough place,” Lee said about how he felt after returning home from nearly a decade of overseas service. He said he found solace in Middleton’s VFW Post 8216. Lee now dedicates himself to offering his free monthly laughing yoga class.
“Veterans are a big part of who I want to help, but I also want to help the community at large,” Lee said. “Mental health and feeling happy are aspects we don’t focus on enough. We need to be silly and not worry about what the rest of the world might think, and just worry about how we’re feeling.”
Retired U.S. Air Force Veteran Bob Krenke takes the class and agrees that laughter is contagious and can be an attitude adjuster.
“You can laugh about anything you want, and it doesn’t have to be funny to someone else,” Krenke said. “It can just be something you want to do.”
Lee would like to spread the success of ‘Laughing Yoga’ beyond Middleton. He said he hopes to start similar classes at VFW posts across Wisconsin.
“It’s not really hard to lead these classes,” Lee said. “If anybody else wanted to, we could do this more often.”
As participants exited the 45-minute laughing yoga session, many said they were physically sore but also invigorated and more lighthearted.
