People say that laughter heals. Ask Gita, a hatha yoga instructor (and “recovered” tax attorney) who has added a laughter yoga club to her classes since being diagnosed with Parkinson’s at age 54 in 2004. Check out her website at Laughter Yoga with Gita.

She offers a FREE laughter yoga class every Sunday at Curves for Women, 2816 N. Campbell (NE corner of Glenn and Campbell, facing Glenn). The class starts at 5:30 p.m. for an hour, and is open to both men and women, of all ages.

Instructor Gita (Jill) Fendelman lives in Tucson and trained with India’s Dr. Madan Kataria, founder of the World Laughter Movement. She is certified by and affiliated with the Dr. Kataria School of Laughter Yoga, whose mission is Good Health, Joy and World Peace through Laughter. Gita is a member of the Tucson Laughter Club, and a founding member of the Curves Laughter YogHA Club. (Note the creative spelling of yoga.)

Dr. Kataria and Gita

“Laughter Yoga is based on the simple, yet revolutionary idea that anyone, anywhere, can laugh for no reason! You don’t need jokes, comedy or even a sense of humor. You don’t even need to be in the mood to laugh. In fact, if you’re feeling depressed, the depression will have a hard time hanging around!” (from Gita’s website)

I dropped by a few Sundays ago and it was hilarious, to do deep breathing exercises and some meditation, all lead by Gita, while laughing with about 12 others. I have taken mostly hatha yoga in the past and blogged about the recent yoga movie “Enlighten Up” on September 2, where I first learned about laughter yoga.

Try laughter YogHA, you might get a laugh out of it (and a lot more).

Asian food market

Where do we Asian Americans shop for our exotic foods?

Blogger Karyn Zoldan (“To Market to Food Market”) wrote a previous blog about Sandyi Oriental Market so I thought I would inform our readers about the other markets that we sometimes shop at.

Here’s a comprehensive (more of less) list of the twelve markets in Tucson, most of which carry general Asian food, others are more specialty shops for cuisine of Korea, China, the Philippines, etc.

G & L Imports: 4828 E. 22nd (east of Swan), 790-9016

Grantstone Supermarket: 8 W. Grant (NW corner of Stone), 628-7445

India Dukkan: 2754 N. Campbell (SE corner of Glenn), 321-0408

India Food & Gifts: 863 E. Grant Rd. (east of 1st Ave.), 624-2474

Joy Asian Market, 6261 N. Oracle (south of Orange Grove), 531-1121

Kimpo Oriental Market: 5595 E. 5th St. (east of Craycroft), 750-9009

Mabuhay Filipino Food Store, 2023 S. Craycroft (south of 29th Street), 747-2233

Moan’s Oriental Market: 2022 S. Craycroft (south of 29th Street), 747-7892

Pinoy Fast Food (and market): 7159 E. Broadway (NE corner of Kolb), 722-7399

Sandyi Oriental Market: 4270 E. Pima St. (SW corner of Columbus), 320-0389, 320-0414

17th Street Farmer’s Market: 840 E. 17th Street (west of Park Ave.), 792-2588

Sun Oriental Market: 2205 S. Craycroft (south of 29th Street), 790-6945

…and coming soon (for about a year now), Lee Lee Oriental Supermart, 1990 W. Orange Grove (NE corner of La Cholla), 638-8328, www.leeleesupermarket.com. Check the website for the update on the grand opening.

Enjoy shopping for the foods and cooking the cuisine of our diverse Asian American and Pacific Islander communities.

As for me, I prefer mostly Japanese and/or Hawaiian food, but I do love Chinese, Thai, Korean, Indian, Vietnamese, Filipino, Samoan meals as well, having been born/raised in Hawaii where we eat foods from all cultures.

26 year old motivational speaker Jessica Cox is half Filipina/half white, and truly an amazing young woman. She was born without arms but can do many things with her feet and toes –write, eat, earn a black belt in tae kwon do, drive a car & pump gas, and last year became the first woman pilot to fly a plane with her feet. And recently she was in Hawaii (my home state) learning to board surf! (click here to see You Tube surfing video).

Check out her inspiring website– Jessica Cox Motivational Services: www.rightfooted.com .

Jessica Cox

Now there’s a new one hour documentary entitled “Born Without Arms” in which three people born without arms “reveal their daily struggles as well as their artistic and professional accomplishments.” Jessica is one of those accomplished people, along with Nadia and Mark in the film.

The film premiers on The Learning Channel (TLC) tomorrow Sunday, Dec. 13, 10 p.m.,Tucson time, and again at 1 a.m. the next day. Not the best family viewing times, but try to stay up for it.

I’ve met Jessica a few times at Asian Pacific American events and she is a lovely, sweet person as well. Being born without arms (with no explanation given by the doctors) has been a supreme challenge to Jessica, but not an impediment.

She’s already done more without arms than most of us with our two.

Go girl! We’re proud of you.