Elva was a pleasure to work with. She understood the tasks at hand very well, was always professional and over-delivered on expectations. She ran two session with our group of 30 high achieving and highly ambitious delegates on day 3 and 4 of our event. Most of the delegates had not been exposed to Creative Meditation or Laughter Yoga, so I was initially apprehensive as to how this group would react to these sessions. Feedback was overwhelmingly positive. Firstly, they found Elva to be an incredibly calming individual who was natural at guiding the group through a new and sometimes confronting experience. Secondly, the exercises opened their minds up to thinking differently about how they approach their life. On my way back to Australia with a delegate who noticed that I was not in the present quoted "Are you a human doing Jade, or a human being?" (which is a quote from Elva). Finally, the group genuinely had a lot of fun with the laughter yoga - I had one guy next to me who literally could not stop laughing, which then infected myself with laughter and those around him! We certainly plan to invite Elva back for future ACYD events.
Jade Little, Executive Director of Australia - China Youth Dialogue (2017), recipient of Boss Young Executives Award 2017
Elva's work through Peace Lab is a refreshing approach to mindfulness; bringing people's focus back to the present. Her practice is charming, calming and humorous, which appeals to many. We have engaged Elva in many high profile activities including the Lord Mayor's Student Welcome (LMSW 2017) and the Melbourne International Student Conference (MISC 2017) and her workshops are always delightful and appealing. She is highly experienced in engaging participants from all walks of life, including international students. Her laughter yoga workshops are especially popular and much needed in our busy lives.
Gary Lee, International Student & Youth Project Officer - City of Melbourne, New Australian of the Year 2016
Elva has taught very successful Laughter Zen Playshop classes (combining laughter yoga and creative meditation) at Laneway Learning. She had solid science to explain and support the principles that she was teaching, mixed in with lots of fun and interactive activities.
Elva's teaching style was well-suited to the material -- she was excited and energetic during the laughter exercises part of the Playshop and very calm and soothing for guiding the meditations at the end of the Playshop.
Lucie Bradley, Laneway Learning co-founder and Melbourne coordinator
Laughter yoga is like nothing I have done before and it is brilliant. After trying many different methods to ease my anxiety I attended Elva’s Playshop laughter yoga classes at University. I felt a little nervous at first, because it feels strange to start laughing intentionally without something funny happening. However, through Elva’s classes, I came to realise that letting go of the ‘normal’ way to behave as an adult for a short period of time and laughing at everyday life was a great way to fight fears and stressors.
Elva inspired me to see life from a different angle and, as a result, feel a sense of calmness, self-acceptance and gratitude. She was very understanding of the pressures of work, study and relationships and how they could cause feelings of anxiety and discontent. But she showed me, through laughter yoga, how we can change our perspectives and surpass these feelings. I am very thankful and grateful for Elva’s guidance and her passion for helping us find our inner peace.
SA, final year JD student at Melbourne Law School, participant of 6-Week Laughter Zen Programme