I forgot I was allowed to laugh.
Priya M.
Bangalore · Age 34
I walked in as a project manager who hadn't laughed freely in three years. I walked out as someone who remembered what her body felt like when it wasn't carrying the weight of the world.
I came to HOPE skeptical. I'm not a dancer. I'm not expressive. I'm the kind of person who manages spreadsheets and attends back-to-back meetings. My therapist suggested I try something playful and I thought she was joking.
But something strange happened in the No Mind Zone. When the music started and someone just started moving — not performing, just moving — I felt something loosen in my chest. Like a knot I'd forgotten was there.
I didn't transform that day. I didn't have a breakthrough. But I laughed. Actually laughed. And I realized I hadn't done that in so long I'd forgotten what it felt like.
I've been coming back every month since. Not because something is wrong with me. Because something is right about this.
— Priya M.
No Mind Zone · Bangalore