Santa Claus isn’t wrong: Belly laughing does a body good

Hang out with Hugh McClelland for very long, and he will try to tip you over. No, he isn’t going to push you over. He is going to try to get you to giggle.

"(The tipping point is) when it goes from simulated laughter, to real laughter," McClelland said, with a chuckle.

McClelland is starting a new club in the South Okanagan. It’s called a laughter club, and it’s all about – you guessed it – laughing.

"Everybody has heard laughter is really good for you," he said. "It is physically good for you. It releases endorphins. It releases the neuro-transmitters that are responsible for cleaning up the effects of stress on your body.

"In most people, it brings blood pressure into the normal range, and helps to keep it there. It provides the same benefit as if you breathe smoothly and deeply for 15 minutes."

Those are physical benefits. But there are mental benefits too. It reduces stress, and it helps to forge connections between people.

"When you laugh with somebody, you become almost instant buddies," said McClelland. "We like to call it ‘Laughter is the shortest distance between two people.’"

He said laughter is an intrinsic bodily function – almost a reflex, except we can control it.

"Think about, for instance, newborns. Within six to eight months, they are laughing."

In fact, babies laugh without even understanding the joke – and that’s the kind of laughter McClelland trains group members to do.

"Humour is not dependable," he said. That means that you can’t always count on something funny to make you chuckle. "The joke that cracked them up last night? Might not work at breakfast."

And sometimes, you might need to laugh especially when there’s nothing around to pull your giggle-chain.

"When you really need to laugh, that flow of endorphins, is in a situation when there is not much funny going on. What we do is we give people the skills to be able to laugh when there is nothing funny, so they can experience that re-energizing boost that laughing gives you."

Essentially, it’s a fake-it-till-you-make-it proposition.

"We call it simulating laughter to generate real laughter," McClelland said. "We teach people how to simulate healthy laughter."

That’s the genuine mirthful laughter, a kind of a contagious Santa Claus "Ho-ho-ho."

There are essentially three keys, covered in the club’s training sessions, to get people to the tipping point.

First, McClelland teaches you how to smile properly.

"Everybody knows how to smile – but they are not aware of it," he said. He’s talking about a genuine smile, one that involves the entire face.

After class members master the smile, they move on to learning about belly-laughing. That’s a deep, significant laugh, right from the diaphragm.

The third step – and maybe the most important one – is learning to let go and not hold back.

"When you laugh, you allow yourself to laugh."

It doesn’t take long for the simulated laughter to turn into real giggles – especially in a room full of people cackling away.

Laughter yoga isn’t a new concept.

"As near as we can tell, people have been using laughter therapy for thousands of years."

But about 12 years ago, a man named Madan Kataria formalized the process, in India, and started the movement called laughter clubs. From there, the trend moved to Western Europe, then to North America.

McClelland discovered the concept in 1996, after reading an article in National Geographic. He is now trained to lead the classes, and offers them for free.

"We see it as kind of a community service," he said. Donations are accepted at the door, and they cover expenses, like gas, flyers, and the rental of meeting space.

For a fee, McClelland also offers corporate meetings and business seminars.

Ultimately, he is just trying to increase the sound of laughter in the area.

"There is an urban myth that children laugh 150 times a day, and adults only laugh five times," he said. "It’s not strictly true, but it is generally true. As adults, we are taught laughing is rude, and that often comes from laughing at something."

That is one of the more important points. Laughter can be toxic.

"If you are laughing in a way that is excluding someone or being hurtful, the effect is actually the same as if you got mad," he said. "Instead of having a relaxing effect, it will actually tense you up."

Club meetings – where you will learn the tricks of healthy laughter - can include anywhere from five to about 300 people, and are pretty similar wherever you might attend. Meetings are now held all over the world.

He is hosting an introductory class in Penticton on Monday, August 21, from 7:30 p.m. to 8:45 p.m., at the Leir House, at 220 Manor Park Avenue. More information can be found at www.laughalive.com. If there are enough interested people in Oliver, he will do classes here.

Ultimately, it’s all about letting loose with a good belly laugh, a lot more often, McClelland said.

"Everybody should laugh for 15 minutes a day, and they should do it in five minute chunks … for optimum health and wellbeing. Plus, eat an apple."

Meteor man coming to area, wants to see your rocks

Adrian Karolko wants to see your rocks.

That’s right, your rocks. But only if they have a few unique characteristics about them.

"I am going from town to town, telling people what meteorites are and how to identify them," said Karolko, a fourth-year-geology student from the University of Calgary.

His summer job is to travel throughout BC, educating the public about what a meteorite is, and hopefully finding a few along the way. He is setting up in the South Okanagan, and he hopes people might bring in suspicious items.

"People are welcome to bring in their strange rocks they think might be meteorites," he said.

Meteorites are a conglomeration of cosmic dust, said Karaolko.

"They fall from the sky. The reason meteorites come into our planet’s atmosphere, is they bump into each other."

The ricochet knocks the rock out of orbit, sending it toward earth.

"It’s like pool. You hit the cue ball, it hits a ball, and that gets pushed off into another direction."

There is a difference between a shooting star and a meteorite. A shooting star is cosmic dust, coming into the atmosphere. It looks like a very brief, thin line.

But a meteorite is much larger, and has a cone-shaped light. That is why they are sometimes called fireballs. The light is generated from friction, when the rock comes toward earth through the atmosphere.

It has to be travelling at least 11 km per second in order to get through the atmosphere.

"Otherwise it would just bounce off," he said. That’s why, to find one on the ground – one that didn’t get burned up by the friction – is rare.

"Only 69 have been found in Canada," Karolko said. "They are 4.6 billion years old. They are the oldest things you will ever touch."

In the ten years the University has been conducting the summertime search for meteorites, only 10 have ever been found. In this area, the closest one discovered was in Kelowna – but that one was found by its owner in Prince Rupert in 1968.

Karolko has a few samples along, and he is eager to let people know what to look for to decide if the item may be what they are looking for.

"There are four ways to identify a meteorite."

The first is by its weight. Meteorites are much heavier than you would expect from a rock of their size.

"Second, all meteorites are attracted by a magnet," he said, pulling out a tiny fridge magnet to prove it.

The third way to identify one is by the "fusion crust." That is a marked black outer coating, caused by the friction and high heat when it comes through the atmosphere.

"This is why you see a fireball in the night – it’s due to the friction," he said, adding the crust is very unique, and won’t be found on any other rocks.

The last defining factor is meteorites have dimpled impressions, kind of like thumb prints all over them. That is from hot spots, which burn away portions of the rock.

The University is hoping to identify meteorites found in BC, and potentially borrow them from the owners, in order to classify and study them.

"Meteorites are actually planets that have never had a chance to develop," he said. The composition of the rocks helps scientists to further identify the composition of other planets.

The rocks will be returned to the owners after being lent to the University. They do hold some value, and are sought after by private collectors. After they are positively identified, their value becomes more evident. Currently, collectors are buying them for between one and $10 per gram.

Anyone who thinks they have a meteorite in their possession can call Karolko at 403-852-5613, and make arrangements for it to be looked at.

Sweet peach crop in the South Okanagan this year

The verdict is in…2006 has turned out to be a good year for local peaches. The growers and sellers are happy, and sales are showing that customers are also happy with the sweet and delicious fruit.

"There’s a high sugar level in the peaches this year because of the heat in the early summer," said Roger Borges, owner of Borges Orchards in Osoyoos. "They’re all sweet. I haven’t had them like this for a long time. Our peaches taste like peaches (should)."

Jessey Brar, local grower and owner of the Panorama fruit and vegetable stand in Oliver (just north of town on highway 97), agrees. "So far it’s a nice, sweet peach," he said. Brar, who owns two orchards in Osoyoos as well, grows nine varieties of peaches. "All the (early) varieties are nice. I grow a lot and I sell a lot."

Brar thought that it was a little too hot earlier in the summer, but his peaches turned out to be a good size anyway, whereas Borges, in Osoyoos, says the size isn’t there this year. "Certain varieties are okay, but others are smaller," he said. "I don’t understand why that is."

Borges said that you usually need the heat to get the size, and the heat source was good in July. "If it’s too hot, the fruit would ripen too quickly, but the weather’s actually been perfect," he said. "Thirty-six, thirty-eight is the best."

Borges, who’s been in the business for eighteen years, explains that peaches are most affected during the bloom. "It was hot during the bloom (of early varieties), so there were no split stones, and there were quite a few peaches. We had a good set." But he said that if had rained instead, like last year, then funguses, such as brown rot, become a worry and out comes the sprays. "Spores from the ground fly into the trees and cause brown rot," he said. "We’re not spraying at all for it this year."

As far as hail goes, Borges said that he does know of a few orchardists who had hail damage this year. "But peaches can take a little bit. The fuzz kind of protects the fruit. They’ll mark up, but it (damage) won’t be as distinctive as say apples. They (orchardists) can still sell the product."

All in all, 2006 is a better peach season than 2005. No only was there too much rainfall last season, but there was also a glut of peaches, meaning supply exceeded demand—there was an excess of fruit—and the prices fell.

"Ours (Okanagan) weren’t as good last year, and states, such as Washington, were dumping produce into BC so there was too much volume," Borges explained. "Wholesalers panic and drop the price."

This season is different. "I think California got wiped out or something," said Borges, "so it’s helping us in the soft fruit business (apricots, cherries, peaches, etc.). The peaches are in demand right now—there’s no glut—and they’re selling well. They’re going through two to four bins of peaches a day. I’m not sure if people are eating healthier or if there are more people in town."

Borges added that the crop was about eight days later than last year. "I’ve been picking since the late part of June, and they go until September. I think the later varieties of peaches should be done by September 15^th."

Although Borges is a little concerned about August, which he said seems more like September (weather). "It’s been a bit cool, so that may have an affect on the late peaches. If it gets any cooler than now, than the later peaches won’t do as well—they’ll be smaller. But if the heat comes back, everything will be okay. Every year is different," said Borges. "It’s never the same."

Borges believes that there will be a big change in the valley in the future. "The sad part is that the majority of the orchardists are pulling out their fruit (mainly apples but some soft fruits) to grow grapes," he said. "They’re fed up." He believes they’ll still be fruit stands and fruit farmers but not as many.

"Even I’m pulling out some apples and some peaches as well," said Borges. "Peaches are labour intensive, and we’ve been at the same price for fifteen years." Although he said it has gone up about five cents this year because of the demand. "People are pulling out their acreages, saying, ‘Forget it; I can’t make a living’, and they’re planting grapes instead."

Peaches are currently ranging in price from about fifty-five cents a pound to about seventy-five cents a pound (usually spray-free) at the fruit stands and about thirty-five cents a pound at the U-picks, depending where you go.

A little good news

Laughing. It’s one of my favourite things to do.

That’s why we decided to write about it, and put it on the front page of this week’s newspaper. Sometimes it seems like front-page news – in order to qualify for this most serious section of the paper – is always the bad news. Stories about sex slaves, controversy, drug busts, and robberies usually fight for space on the front.

Hopefully, this week’s front page story about Hugh McClelland and his laughter club made you smile. We hope it even made you laugh out loud. Even the photograph was enough to make us smile at the Chronicle office. Some of us actually chuckled audibly.

It’s mid-August. The heat, the smoke in the air, and the incessant tourist-traffic might be getting to a few of us and causing a case of the mid-summer crankies. It is easy to lose sight of the lighter side of life.

But the fun stuff – and the funny stuff – is still there, just slightly buried under the stress of every-day. Take some time to think about something amusing. Or, if you have to, take a deep breath and fake it. Before you know it, you will be ho-ho-hoeing with the best of them.

Why did we put a happy story on the front page? Because we thought maybe you could use a little good news.