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Name: American Cowboy
Level of Vigor*: 3 – 8
How to Lead:
- 1. Declare: “The next exercise is called ‘American Cowboy.”
- 2. Demonstrate: “You’re a rootin’-tootin’, six-gun shootin’, laughing cowboy from the wild west. You can raise your hat, shoot your pistols, spur your horse or rope a cow.”
- 3. Do: “Are you ready? Get on your horse and – GIDDYUP!”
Benefits: Can be performed as vigorously as desired, riding/running around the space (for aerobic benefits); or the laugher can just gently tip their hat.
Variations: Half of the group can be Cowboys, the other half Laughing Ladies (or Saloon Girls, or Indians, or Cows, or Wild Horses being roped). Laugh for 20-40 seconds, then switch roles. Find American Cowboy in Dr. Kataria’s Foundation Exercises. Click here to download.
Origin: One of Kataria’s Forty Foundation Exercises under the title “American Laughter,” but many Americans didn’t know what it meant. Clarified in 2008 for production of the Laughter Exercise Photo Flash Cards (click to download) and renamed “American Cowboy Laughter.”
Notes: The Leader can encourage playful interaction by participating creatively and with enthusiasm.
See on the web: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7f27Vih1Ww
* All sessions begin with the advice that participants may engage at whatever level they wish. The “Level of Vigor” offered is a suggestion of the intensity range at which the exercise is typically performed.
