Laughter Yoga. What?????
In a few replies to people, I have mentioned Laughter Yoga. And often, I get the question: "What is that? I have never heard of that!!"
Don't worry, I am here to end that mystery for you!!
And there is no better way to explain Laughter Yoga than to show it to you all.
But before you watch the video, I want to tell you a few things about Laughter Yoga and why I love it so much!!
The Origin Story
Many, many years ago, when dinosaurs roamed the earth.... Just kidding. It was 1995 which almost qualifies as the stone ages, when an Indian Doctor - Dr. Kataria wanted to ease the stress and overall depression of his patients.
He had heard about Norman Cousins and read his book The Anatomy of Illness. Norman Cousins was a publicly known figure, a writer, and had been diagnosed with a disease which was supposed to kill him in less than 6 months.
He retreated from the world and spend much time watching movies. Pretty soon, he noticed that when he was laughing watching a comedy, he felt differently. For every 10 minutes of belly laughing, he was able to gain two hours of painless sleep.
He also took large doses of Vitamin C and ended up making a full recovery.
This inspired a few physicians as for example Dr. William Fry, a psychiatrist at Stanford University in California, to explore the impact of laughter on health. Dr. Fry demonstrated that mirthful laughter provides a good physical exercise. If you don't believe that, try laughing with me for an hour.
According to Fry, laughter also decreases the occurrence of respiratory infections and produces endorphins. Among other things, endorphins are known to be a natural painkiller.
Now, we know that laughter technically produces an endorphin-like hormone but for the ease of understanding, the word endorphin is widely used since most people know what that is.
Dr. Kataria
Dr. Kataria was fascinated by his readings about the health benefits of laughter and set out to bring more laughter to his patients and the citizens of Mumbai, his hometown.
I was common for people to take a daily morning walk in a public park and many of Dr. Kataria's patients were among the walkers. But, as Dr. Kataria put it, everyone was very serious. He and his wife Madhuri went to the park one morning and tried to persuade people in joining them in some laughter.
Finally, they had found three people who agreed to try out this crazy thing Dr. Kataria wanted them to do. They were telling each other jokes and had a great time laughing.
The next day, the group was more than double. And every day, it grew and grew.
But after two weeks, people started to be unhappy. The same joke told 10 times is just not that funny anymore. And as we all know, jokes can be quite offensive. People didn't want to come back.
Dr. Kataria begged them to give him another chance. He asked them all to come back the next day and see what he had come up with.
As he tells it, he was up most of the night trying to find a solution. Then, he got it!
Let's laugh without reason.
Laughter Yoga was born.
A Typical Laughter Yoga Session
In a Laughter Yoga session, especially when there is a new person present, the leader usually explains the origins of laughter yoga and the health benefits.
The Health Benefits of Laughter Yoga.
- reduces stress
- heart health
- aerobic exercise
- increased oxygen in the body
- digestive health
- decreases pain
- stimulates the immune system
Laughter Yoga also helps to overcome depression, decrease fear and anxiety, and helps people to relax.
Another great benefit is the social aspect. Laughter Yoga strengthens relationships, decreases tension and conflict and more.
It also is a form of meditation. The goal of meditation is to focus or empty the mind of chatter. If you laugh, there is nothing else in the mind but laughter.
The Exercises
Once the brain of the student is engaged, he or she understands why we are doing this laughter thing, the leader teaches some simple stretching exercises.
Then the Laughter Yoga Exercises are explained.
Since the early days in the park, and especially after Laughter Yoga came to the west, a few more rules and structures were developed which were absent in the beginning.
There is breathing and clapping and chanting Ho Ho Ha Ha Ha and Very good! Very good! Very good!
The laughter session typically ends with a laughter meditation which can be done laying on the ground or seated.
Another great benefit of Laughter Yoga is that anybody can do it. And usually, it is free!!
This photo was taken at a recent Yoga Retreat in Big Bear during my Laughter Yoga Session. As you can see, all ages were represented.
I hope this gives you a little bit of an idea what Laughter Yoga is. I am a Laughter Yoga Teacher and can train Laughter Yoga leaders and of course, lead Laughter clubs, classes, and seminars. So much fun!!
Ask me if you have any questions about Laughter Yoga.
Image by Kathy Crumpacker used with permission.
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