I LOVE to laugh, don’t you? It’s so energizing and exhilarating and liberating. And I also LOVE yoga for the balance and peace and strength it gives me. Both were godsends for me during my divorce. So when I heard about laughter yoga last year I thought...
what a brilliant marriage!
An Indian doctor who was searching for a way to bring the benefits of laughing, and yogic breathing to modern man developed laughter yoga. Years ago people used to laugh 20 minutes a day – now the average person cackles less than 5 minutes a day – huge difference and it’s showing up in our level of stress and disease.
Laughing releases the healthiest cocktail you’ve ever imbibed – tons of hormones and chemicals that have an amazingly positive effect on our body – lifting depression and sadness and anxiety to name a few. Yogic breathing clears the same culprits.
So you’re probably wondering, how the heck do you practice laughter yoga? It’s akin to contagious laughing. Anyone can guffaw without reason and laughter exercises almost always lead to real mirth, especially when in a group.
My first experience was in a group of 6 – all strangers but one.
We each had to voice a situation that was stressing us out and then everyone engages in loud billowing laughter and before you know it you are laughing at the crazy sounds surrounding you – the snorting and cackling is hilarious. The end result is fantastic -your problem seems miles away.
No drugs or alcohol, just clean fun – a great reminder we all need to spend more time playing.
Make a play-date this Sunday, May 4th, for World Laughter Day, and get your daily dose by joining the globe in spreading the word of happiness and joy. www.laughteryoga.com
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