Laughter is the Best Medicine!

Recently at a yoga class I met a woman who told me that she goes to 'Laughter Yoga' every Saturday morning.  She said that it was a hoot and that I should go along and find out just how funny it could be.  I had never heard of Laughter Yoga so I immediately came home and looked it up.  Much to my amazement I found that there are 6000 laughter clubs in 60 countries.  There were a few groups in Melbourne and there was one just around the corner from me in my local park.

Armed with a friend for moral support I set off for the park on Saturday morning.  Having telephoned beforehand I understood that we were to meet at the bandstand.  

Sure enough at the alloted hour a a pot-bellied jolly looking little fellow approached us - he was the laughter leader.  We were soon joined by two other women.  This was it.  Just a small group of us five.  Our leader - lets just call him J (I actually cannot remember his name in any case) led us to an open spot in the park.  We stood in a circle and J instructed us to "laugh in the fashion of a bodybuilder."  We had to strike various body building type poses - flexing our muscles - and at the same time forcing ourselves to chortle hysterically.  Next J instructed us to laugh in an evil way.  We had to rub our hands together and look as evil as we could whilst sniggering.  Many other laughing exercises followed - laughing behind our hands as if we had a secret, laughing whilst we twirled around like ballerinas, laughing as we pretended to pick insects of eachothers backs monkey style and so on.  

Now before I went I understood that the idea with laughter yoga was to at first simulate the laughter.  The body apparently cannot tell the difference between faked laughter and the real thing.   I can honestly say that I spent 30 minutes laughing my head off for real.  It was one of the most bizarre and ridiculous experiences of my life.  There we were in the middle of  a public park with people gathering around to watch us!  The leader J was just brilliant - he had the kind of face that made you want to smile anyway - a really joyful individual.  I felt as though he was my new best friend by the end of the session!

So what is this laughter yoga all about?  Well, it is based on the idea that laughing gets the blood flowing and gets oxygen to the brain.  The laughter which may initially be fake turns to genuine laughter with the eye contact and the silliness of the situation and the laughter exercises.  Apparently they have been practicing group laughter in India for years but the movement wasn't really formalized and didn't start to spread until the mid 1990s when Indian doctor, Madan Kataria started to promote it.

Dr Kataria believed that laughter really was the best medicine for a number of things.  He thought that for people who were feeling depressed or stressed laughter would aid in the following ways:

1. By changing the mood.  Having a good laugh makes your brain release endorphins and really does change your mood for the better.
2. By gently exercising the body.  Through the laughter and the breathing and the gentle movements one performs whilst going through the routine.
3. By strengthening the immune system.  This helps to prevent you from getting sick as well as helping to improve a number of conditions.  Conditions like hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, depression, arthritis, allergies, asthma, bronchitis, back ache, fibromyalgia, headaches, cancer and many more.
4. Improving the quality of life.  Laughter creates a positive energy which helps you to connect with people and attract friends.
5. By helping to create a positive mental state which is beneficial when times are rough.
   

After my laughter session in the park I can certainly report that I felt fantastic.  My friend and I went for coffee with aching facial muscles - barely able to converse. But we had both had a great time.  Unfortunately I didn't go back because I have family commitments on Saturdays and then I moved house.  But I can heartily recommend it to anyone.  Maybe I will get to go again some day.