How to Reclaim Your Vitality Through Laughter

Thank you so much for joining me on yet another episode of the Lighten Up Project. My name is Malcolm Grissom. I am the stand-up CEO and founder of the World Laughter Organization, and you're not. Today on the Lighten Up Project, we are going to be talking about energy. Energy, energy, energy, energy. Not the coffee energy, not the I'll sleep when I'm done energy, we're going to be talking about the actual life force energy. My guest today is Dr. Neja Zupan. She's a global energy master. She's international international speaker, she is the founder of the Mastering Energy Academy. It's a space where high-achieving professionals like you can, and visionary entrepreneurs like me, can recalibrate, recharge, and realign. Dr. Neya works with leaders who are successful on paper, but feel slightly fried in real life. She helps restore vitality, sharpen intuition, and lead with clarity and energetic authority without grinding people into dust or without without having them grind themselves into dust. So if you ever thought, I'm capable of more, but I don't want the burnout getting there, this episode is for you. So let's lighten up and welcome Dr. Neja Zupan.

Dr. Neja Zupan: Thank you, thank you, Malcolm, for having me in your podcast. I'm so honored to be here.

Well, I'm honored that you are here. Dr. Neya, would you would you join me in 20 seconds of spontaneous laughter? Yes, sure, sure. Okay, all right, okay. So 1 2 3, laugh. That's a that's a that's a It's catching. It's catching. I found myself hearing your laughter and I was laughing more and it's just catching. I love laughing.

Dr. Neja Zupan: I just finished one seminar and as a final suggestion to participants, there were almost 100 participants, I said to them, My advice is to laugh every day at least one hour. Because laughter, it's a half of your vitality, half of your health. It brings a lot of space to find solutions for the next version of yourself. Uh-huh. Uh-huh.

Yes. Yes. Beautiful. Beautiful. So, I thank thank you for for sharing that. What How do you laugh every day, and how do you find like an hour a day? How do you find that time for yourself?

Dr. Neja Zupan: It's not that I find the time that I set apart the time that I laugh, but when I cook, I laugh. When I go for a walk, I laugh. When I sing, I, you know, it's this joyful inner feeling. When I get up, it's first in the morning. It's this laughter. It's not set something that would be separated, but it's already incorporated in my life. Mm,

I love it.

Dr. Neja Zupan: This morning, for example, I got up. I I thought it was so it it is one song that speaks about the presence of the universe, how this permeates our bodies and our entire existence, and I started to sing this. And at the end, you know, it was such a gratefulness that just started to to develop into into smiling and laughter. How blessed actually I am that I can be here and I can celebrate another day on Earth.

I love it. I love it. I was actually planning on asking you about this a little later, but this is the perfect opportunity in the conversation. Could you share with our listeners a little more about your personal struggles with health and whatnot and your relationship with energy?

Dr. Neja Zupan: Yeah, that is a really good question. How I really came to this laughter. There was time in my in my life when things were not very smooth. First of all, all my female ancestors passed away for cancer and I was just next one on the row. At age of 42, I was diagnosed with aggressive form, hormone-dependent ductal cancer. I was given only 5% chances to survive if I don't take chemotherapy, hormonal therapy, radiation, and I was BRCA gene positive. But observing all these deaths of my female ancestors, I said really with easy heart no to the orthodox, to allopathic medicine. And the first thing that I have decided to start practicing is one hour per day laughing, singing, and dancing. It was always more than one hour, but even now, you know, because I got so used to this kind of experiencing this really light energy flowing through me through laughter, so I just keep, you know, it became a part of my of my identity. So, has I like to bring vitality into my life to through laughter and good, good vibrations.

Yeah. Yes. Okay. Could you tell us what what is your definition of lighten up?

Dr. Neja Zupan: That doesn't mean that my life is without problems. I have problems, you know, and even my teacher said to me I studied with first-lineage holder Swami Ananda Kapila, and he said, You know, Naya, you know, if you don't have problems, that just means that you are dead because problems will exist until the end of our days, and no problems mean that you are dead walking. So, I appreciate actually problems because that means, first, that I'm alive and I that I have possibility that I can resolve that I can resolve these these problems. So, vitality goes very much along with my own feeling well in my skin. And, of course, I do a lot of also meditation and and energy practices, good food, and everything contributes towards a good a good inner feeling, a good vitality, good vibration.

Mm-hmm. Mm. Laughter, yes. So, could you share with us a brief I mean, you you did share you shared the the moment of the health scare that you had. Is there another moment that you could share with us that you have genuinely laughed? Like one of you So, you're explaining the laughter that you have throughout the day, and some laughter is I mean, you're laughing. There are different levels of laughter, right? And so, sometimes you can you can have the the forced laughter, you know, sort of like we began the episode with the the forced laughter that could turn into a genuine laughter, but it's still surface-level genuine laughter. And then there's that belly laugh, that laughter that you just you're you're it almost it sometimes brings you to tears, you know, bodily functions like snot, you could actually, you know, there's there's some people that just lose control. And so, that that belly laughter, can you tell us about a moment when you have experienced that genuine belly laugh?

Dr. Neja Zupan: Actually, the belly laughter always comes. Also, you you mentioned like forced laughter, but when I start to laugh, when I practice this laughter, it's belly laughter. So, I start to move my belly muscles, and the brain does not differentiate whether this is the true laughter or this is just imagined laughter, and because it doesn't differentiate, starts to produce the same hormones, like dopamine, and serotonin, and these hormones of joy. So, for me, actually, laughter can Yes, I can start to laugh with intentionally, but it can develop in the laughter, as you said. You know, laughter that also my tears come down, and just because I start to move my belly muscles. Yeah.

Okay. Very

Dr. Neja Zupan: good. And because your question was when I I laugh so much that I get tears. This is for me very much connected with mindset. So this champion mindset, when you, even if you have problems in your life, you you know that you can resolve everything only if you put yourself in a state where resolution is possible, and this is laughter.

Hm, I love it. I love it. Great, great stuff. Great stuff. Very good, very good. So, is there a joy that you are recently experiencing that you have experienced as a child? So, a joy that you experienced as a child, but life has squashed it out of you. You know, life has I can't think of the word. It has dampered. It's put a damper on you. It says, you know, Don't play as much. And this is something that you're recently reconnecting to.

Dr. Neja Zupan: I connected to that sort of laughter while I was diagnosed with the cancer. So now it's very easy for me to connect with this sort of laughter. Example: about one week back, I just returned from India where I was in one very deep retreat, and I was working as a volunteer also in certain certain tasks like Seva person. So giving people, delivering lunch or breakfast. And you know, people were in a row and coming for me to to give to them, to to give fruits and different other things. And I joked and and laughed and, you know, and some people just literally, they asked me, Are you cuckoo, a bit a bit cuckoo? You know, what that means, you know? And fortunately, I just made myself stupid so that I so somehow that I didn't understand what they were what they were asking myself, you know, and then they just passed. But then I was thinking, how actually contracted these people were. I was laughing and joking and, you know, telling different, asking different things for them also to laugh, to start to laugh. What's she doing? Cuckoo, a bit a bit crazy person, you know. Yes, laughter

is very very very close to me. Could you describe for our listeners what the what vital energy, what this laughter, this energy that you get from laughter and singing and play, could you describe how this vitality feels in your body?

Dr. Neja Zupan: Yes, another very amazing question. Yes, laughter supports your digestion so that your small intestine absorbs nutrients better, so everything what you eat gets better better used for your your body, for your renovation of cells, for vitality, because cells are functioning better. And then another another another point, so laughter also helps your your heart to function better. So you start to radiate more love, more compassion, more more authentic authority in your in your company, in your family, or in your society. People surround go better or people are attracted more to people who are in a better mood. So and those people have more open heart. And another one, many people have thyroid problems. Laughter resolves thyroid problems. Can you imagine? No, for me it's very easy to imagine because this I'm teaching in my academy. So how actually different in internal organs can be stimulated by different energy exercises, or with laughter, or with different thoughts, you know, how your body begin, begins to function much better when you use these ferments to support your vitality. And another one, it's your blood and your sexual organs get vitalized with this really original, vital energy. So you, with laughter, you get a lot of this primary source energy that is there for you to use. And of course, sexual energy is our primary energy, and if your sexual energy functions really good, then you are really in a good, really condition, and you also attract people towards yourself. Mm.

I love it. I love this interview. You're saying some wonderful gems, wonderful gems. If you could send a message of hope through laughter, who would it be for, and why?

Dr. Neja Zupan: Yeah, laughter is half of health. There is expression also in English, in Slovenian language. I'm from Slovenia, and in our language, it's the quote: Laughter is half of health. So, laughter I would send for anybody who has any problems, any symptoms. Not just These symptoms are not just health symptoms like physical health, because health is also relationship health. It's also financial financial health. It's also business health. So whatever health, in whatever context you need health, laughter is half of way towards resolution. Right.

Yes. All right, so I have links in our show notes about how to get in touch with you, links about the Master Mastering Energy Academy, but would you please share with us more information about the Mastering Energy Academy? Yes,

Dr. Neja Zupan: sure. I This is This is my like my dessert, sharing this information. In This is for people who really want to have a good quality energy in themselves, whether for healing, or for business, or for good relationship, no matter what. And everything just starts with energy. No energy, no health. No No good feeling, no vitality, no well-being. And when you start to know or to get different techniques and approaches how to get more energy in order to get better results in your life, then you can use it in whatever context, and you start to attract also wealth because with laughter energy Laughter energy is connected also with fire energy that I teach in my Energy Masters Academy. So I'm producing masters of energy so that you can you know how to use energy in your favor.

Okay, okay. Do you work with Do you work with people all over the world? Do you work with people online, for for instance?

Dr. Neja Zupan: Sure. Sure, I work online. That is really very very easy, you know? Since 2020, working online was never so easy than from that time on. So yes, everything is accessible online, so we have meetings. This is a one year school. Why? Usually people ask me why one year, because in one year studying and practicing, I give you guarantee that you have change in your life. That is really rare that with somebody working with an energy field that you get a guarantee. But yes, this is written in agreement that you have a guarantee. Now,

there are there are people out there who are skeptical. A little bit who are tongue-tied like me. There are people out there who are skeptical about energy and, you know, if if they can, I'm sure they can get the same results as working with you in person and then working with you online. So there are people who are skeptical that they can get that that same energy transference or growth, I guess, for lack of a better term, working with you online or working with someone online. What what do you say to those people?

Dr. Neja Zupan: Yeah, I actually empower people. I I'm not working for them. I I'm not like giving people energy, but I empower people. I empower business people. I empower changemakers, soul-led individuals to start using their inner energy so that they can attract more more right people to or for their partnership, or to their business, or even and embody even greater health. So, I teach you. I give you what I did in order to get this amount of energy and vitality so that you can do just the same. And as I said, it's a guarantee behind. It's not something woo woo, but we know all we all of all of us, we have energy.

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Dr. Neja Zupan: And sometimes in the morning we get up grumpy, you know. No, we don't have energy! That doesn't mean that we are ill, but just energy is a bit disharmonized, and when you again harmonize all the energies and do some energy practices, then you get this amount of energy, and life You're like like you would put on your eyes different type of glasses. Mm-hmm. everything everything everything changes around you because you have different amount of energy, and we all know, whether you are skeptical or you are not skeptical, all of us, we know we have energy. And one another thing, we all know that we have body, and yes, body is very tangible. We all have emotions. Already emotions, we cannot grab emotions. And we have thoughts, and you cannot even perceive thoughts of somebody. And the same way we have energy. It's not tangible energy, intangible, but yes, we all perceive we have energy. Mm. And whether you want to have more energy, or you want just to stay with that energy that you have. I, of course, myself personally, and so many people, as I said, just almost 100 people attend this seminar, and they just want more energy, not less energy, because with life, with aging, we are losing energy. But if you know certain techniques, you can get replenish energy. Exactly.

So, what exactly does it look like to work with you? So, so you give these seminars. Do you take us through lessons and, like you said, techniques and tools that we could use to find more energy within ourselves?

Dr. Neja Zupan: Exactly what just you just said. It's not just exercises, you know, because in Energy Masters Academy, we work on five levels. First, is physical level, so that that your body get gets more energy. Yes, these are exercises, energy exercises. And food, what food you discover, what food is better for you because you start to sense what is better to you, not what your mind is telling, what is good for you, but what your body says, Yes, this is good for you. And everything, of course, is supported with science behind because science, you know, it's so much ahead of everything what is in the mainstream. So, everything is backed up with science. So, on physical level is energy exercises and and foods and what to drink. And then on emotional level, so I empower you to to recognize what emotions are behind or below the surface and they accommodate you, so they they prevent you to progress, to to flourish, to to find everything to get everything what you want. And we teach you also how to transcend these emotions. And this is the same way with the mind. So, we teach participants, so, led individuals, advanced, changemakers, business owners, so we we teach and power them how to find these really limiting beliefs through energy flow. Yes, there are many coaches on on this planet, mind coaches, that help you to find limiting beliefs, but we find them through finding where the energy is blocked, and then you can find, Yes, here is my mindset blocked, and here I need to change my mindset, and to help you with this. And of course, we help you also to connect with the universe because universe is the source of infinite energy. So, you just like plug in and and already flows through you. So, very easy, and all this is in one package. That's why is one year, because in one year, practicing this, we can guarantee that by regular practicing, you sense the difference. You get the difference.

Yeah. So, could you share with us who was the first person in your life that made you feel connected to to them, to yourself, to the universe, but the first person that truly made you feel connected to something?

Dr. Neja Zupan: Yeah, probably that was my first teachers. that I was still a teenager when I started to study things, and they both actually helped me to open this awareness that we are much more than just physical bodies. We are actually spiritual beings with just occasional physical experience.

Now, earlier you said when we were talking about energy and your academy, you had mentioned very quickly woo-woo, and there are people out there who would think, you know, whenever whenever people start thinking and talking about energy, you know, and the universe, they think, Oh wow, okay. That's just some woo-woo stuff. That's woo-woo. So, could you share more to those people, to those specific people out there who think that energy work is woo-woo? What would you say to that?

Dr. Neja Zupan: Think about the day when you were without energy. What was possible for you? What was possible? Could you get out of your bed, or you felt immediately in the morning you need to drink coffee because you were so tired? Yes, tiredness is without energy, that means without energy, and then another coffee in the morning or some some other shot because you are so tired. No, you are without energy. I don't drink coffee. I don't drink or take any other substances. I don't have I don't take any pill, sleeping pills. I I sleep at my age, I sleep really so well and so deep, because even for sleeping, person needs energy, and without energy, even sleep is disturbed. So, just think about how much your sleep is disturbed. If you are not sleeping well, that just means that your body lacks so much energy that you cannot even fall asleep.

Oh my goodness, Dr. Naya, this is so. there's so many wonderful gems in this episode. I encourage everybody to. It's a good thing that this is evergreen, so people can keep listening to it and come back years later and listen again because there's so many great things that you're you're saying to us. So, I understand that you have a gift that you would like to share with our audience.

Dr. Neja Zupan: Yes, we spoke about the Energy Masters Academy, and you can get a taste of what is in this Energy Masters Academy, and this is through the book, Seven Steps: Energetic Alignment in Action, so that you get energy, that you get this initiation into into the day already in the morning with really high frequency energy. So, I give you this seven steps, this ebook accessible online, ebook Seven Steps: Energetic Alignment in Action, and you can get it on the web page high frequency energy formula.com. So, high frequency energy formula.com, and when you really boost your energy, sometimes, you know, people say, Yeah, I cannot laugh like just like that. With high frequency energy, you can easily laugh. So, I really invite you to grab this book, start to do practicing practices over there, in this book seven practices, so you can even better enhance or incorporate laughter into your life.

Wonderful! Thank you. Thank you very much.

Dr. Neja Zupan: Welcome. Welcome.

So, as a last question to wrap this up, could you finish this sentence for us? Healing doesn't have to be heavy because

Dr. Neja Zupan: because laughter is the best medicine.

Yes, thank you, thank you very much, Doctor Neya Zupan. Thank you very much for this interview. Thank you very much for doing what you do. I'm everybody. I am going to encourage all of our listeners to please find out some more about the the Mastering Energy Academy, and until next week, remember every smile can open a door, every heart. Can open our every heart, every laugh can open a heart, and every step can be your next victory. Thanks so much for tuning in, and until next week, take care. Thank

Dr. Neja Zupan: Thank you.

Thank you.