LAUGHTER YOGA PUT A SMILE BACK ON MY FACE
TABITHA BEAVEN, 38, is a wellbeing and performance coach who lives in Maidenhead, Berks I’D ALWAYS enjoyed my high-flying job in HR but when my company relocated from London to Reading I found myself living alone in a new city with an enormous workload.
At first I thought I could cope but after months of leaving work late into the night, cancelling plans with friends and being exhausted when I did see anyone, the long hours and loneliness caught up with me.
I started having chest pains and when I went to the GP, the doctor put it down to stress.
Several weeks later I hit rock bottom. Sitting in the car park after another late night, tears rolled down my face and I could barely move. Compiled by HANNAH BRITT I had completely burnt out. I knew that I had to make a change.
The next day I spoke to my bosses about taking a two-month unpaid sabbatical and thankfully they agreed.
Then, although I’d never meditated before, I booked myself in for a 10-day silent retreat in Wiltshire.
Having that time out allowed me to hold a mirror up to myself and work out what was wrong.
I knew then that I had to quit my job and do more things that made me smile.
While I was browsing online one day I read about laughter yoga and decided to give it a go. During a class you laugh for no reason, which often then makes you laugh for real. Laughing, even fake laughing, releases chemicals that boost the mood. It was such a release and I loved it so much that I took a course to become a laughter yoga teacher. Now I have my own wellbeing company and go into corporate environments to help others so they don’t burn out as I did. For more information visit lightmind.me