Many have given credit for this to Norman Cousins, an American journalist, who after years of prolonged pain from chronic illness of back “ankylosing spondylitis”, claims to have cured himself with self-invented regimen of Laughter. In his book “Anatomy of an Illness”, Cousins describes how watching comic movies helped him recover from his illness.

Research has shown that laughter has profound physical, psychological, social, mental and spiritual benefits.

Laughter Yoga or Laughter Therapy, a reliable and effective system to promote and deliver laughter is the brainchild of Dr. Madan Kataria, Guru of Giggling, Guru of Laughter, and the founder of Laughter Yoga Clubs worldwide. He started the first laughter club in Mumbai 1995.

The laughter yoga/ therapy is a new revolution in body and mind medicine that combines clapping, gentle stretching exercises, breathing (pranayama), laughter exercises, yoga postures and playfulness to enhance health and happiness. Anyone can laugh for no reason without relying on jokes, comedy or humour for 10-15 minutes.

The whole concept of laughter yoga is based on scientific fact that the body cannot differentiate between the real and fake laughter and one gets the same physiological and psychological benefits either way.

This concept has been widely accepted worldwide and is being practised in hospitals, health clubs, corporate world, schools, senior citizen forums, physically and mentally challenged, prisons, very popular with tourists who visit India.

Laughter therapy, a complementary therapy in addition to conventional treatments provides immeasurable benefits to body and mind through various scientifically proved mechanisms which help in healing. It is a powerful antidote to stress, pain, and conflict. Humour lightens the burden, inspires hopes, connects to others and keeps one grounded, focused and alert.

Laughter triggers the release of Endorphins, the body’s natural feel good chemicals, which are natural pain killers, in turn helps to relieve pain and promotes an overall sense of wellbeing.

Laughter also boosts the immune system by reducing the release of stress hormone (cortisol). It increases numbers of the immune cells (the natural killer cells) T cells, Gamma Inferone and infections fighting antibodies, thus improving the resistance to diseases.( Dr.Lee Berk)

Laughter protects the heart, increases the oxygenation of tissues, improves the function of blood vessels and increases blood flow, which protects the heart against attacks and other cardiac problems. It acts as aerobic exercise just like “internal jogging”, in which the heart, lungs, digestive track, are all massaged. It is a good cardio-workout. It helps in lowering the blood pressure. Laughter also relaxes the whole body. A hearty laugh relieves the physical tension and stress and leaves muscles relaxed.

The mental health benefits of laughter are numerous, it relieves stress, improves moods, eases anxiety, fears and adds joys and zest to life also encouraging positive thinking, clarity and creativity.

Laughing in the Face of Cancer- Studies show that cancer patients who laugh, live longer. It is all scientific and related with the body chemistry. When one loves and laughs in the face of cancer, the body gets a message and does all that it can to help the survivor. The release of endorphins, dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, the cocktail of happy hormones, which changes the moods and one, feels good and cheerful which helps in healing.

Pranayama during the Laughter Exercises increase the oxygen supply to body and brain and helps in healing. When cells get oxygen; cancer will not and cannot occur (Dr.Otto Wanburg Institute of Cell Physiology, Noble Prize winner [twice])

Laughter raises the resistance against infections by boosting the immune system which improves the quality of life and chances of survival. Laughter, a very positive emotion, promotes a positive outlook and helps in the coping mechanism to defuse stress, fear, anxiety, depression, denial and anger which accompanied with cancer.

Laughter also helps to lift up the spirit and makes one feel happy, more active and empowered, boosts self-esteem and helps in healing process. As “Humour is the fastest and fleetest way of giving; It can change pain to joy in a mere millisecond”
Laugher is a great connector, laughing with friends and care givers, boosts the relationship and proves to be a strong element in healing mechanism as it keeps the relationships fresh and strong.

Laughter therapy sessions are being conducted for cancer survivors, children and caregivers once a week at Prasanthi, a rehabilitation centre of

Indian Cancer Society and twice a week at St Jude Children Centre, Noida, U.P.

Best of all this priceless medicine is fun, free, and easy to use.

Dr.Santosh Sahi, M.D.OBGY
Certified Laughter Yoga Teacher Laughter Ambassador; International Laughter Movement
Founder; Delhi Academy of Laughter Yoga
Volunteer; Indian Cancer Society
www.laughteryogadelhi.com

Fantastic Laughter Yoga session with Cancer Survivors & Caregivers at Max Oncology Hospital, Lajpat Nagar New Delhi.All were very enthusiastic as it first time exposure to Laughter Therapy. They all enjoyed and felt very energized, light and relaxed after the session. Very good , very good Yeah

Grief is a natural reaction when one suffers a loss. People get emotionally distressed at losing someone they loved and cherished and it is not easy to overcome this anguish. In fact, it is essential that people talk and express their feelings. This is where Laughter Yoga helps as it is the most effective method to heal emotional distress, pain and mental agony. It is a great connector of people and helps to express emotions freely, thereby reducing suffering.

Yes, it is difficult to laugh while grieving, but Laughter Yoga makes it easier as it is a physical phenomenon, not a mental process. Laughter exercises coupled with deep breathing changes the physiology, thereby changing the mood state and helping a person to view the situation differently. The group dynamics of laughter facilitates an easy outflow of stress and depression thereby promoting healing and reducing the sense of grief.

Read this beautiful story of how a laughter teacher helped her participants get over the grief of losing their fellow member at a senior center.

Sylvie Dagenais-Douville: One of my regular participants in the senior residence, a retired medical doctor, with whom I have been laughing for the last four years, recently passed away leaving behind a legacy of laughter and joy. He was my “ambassador- in- residence”, who believed in the power of laughter so much that one day after a laughter session he walked into the office of the Activity Director and “demanded” I be on the schedule more often in the name of “health”!..And so I started going weekly to the residence to conduct laughter sessions for the members.

He always showed up just a few minutes before the beginning of the session because he would fit his nap before my arrival. After the session, he would always thank me for bringing laughter and sunshine in their residence. He would often add a comment to reinforce the scientific facts of the benefits of laughter. At the end of every year he would thank me for having brought laughter to them for a full year.

Being a man of science the very first year he referred to Laughter Yoga as my “non-sense”…Insisting on how much he loved Sylvie’s “Non-sense”!!! After every session we would have a short chat, about the ups and downs of life and he would share with me his great wisdom of 95 years. On his recommendation, the whole group would usually request extra “Laughter Cream” for their back to last until my next visit.

Last week, I waited for him before starting the session, thinking he might have had a longer nap, but he never came. Instead, his son came and gave me the sad news. The other participants assumed that it would be tough to lead a session. But they all wanted laughter desperately! So we did our laughter exercises.

I know that’s just the way he would have wanted to be remembered – not with tears but with a smile. Even as we laugh together in his memory, I can feel an angel watching over me and my Non-sense!!

Laughter Yoga Enhanced My Self-Esteem & Social Skills

I first heard about Laughter Yoga when I was working for a community clinic. I was preparing for a wellness group especially for women and I decided to include a laughter session to see what it was. After seeing the session in action, I thought it was a neat and unique exercise but after hearing the participants’ comments about how much they had enjoyed the session, I decided to look more into it and decided it was something I wanted to do. It took me about a year to finally obtain my certification.

I have struggled with low self-esteem issues for years, as far as I can remember and just the fact of becoming a Laughter Yoga leader was a big challenge for me. I never thought I could stand in front of others or even lead a group and obtain full attention. But after my training, I began offering free sessions. I started realizing that not only was I helping others but was also helping myself in my personal and professional life. After every laughter session, I feel more centered and with more energy to work or be mentally present for my family. Also, my mood is balanced and I am able to enjoy little things in life that I would take for granted. For example, now, I enjoy going to a circus, walking in the rain, making new friends and more than anything, laughing at life stressors.

Being a Laughter Yoga teacher has helped my confidence level and I feel that I am ready to face any life challenges. I have decided to make Laughter Yoga as my focus in the near future and will continue to teach others the importance of adding laughter to their day. Standing in front of crowds is easy for me now and I feel calm and comfortable talking, laughing, playing, singing and even dancing in front of others. I have regained joy in my life and it has helped my life in many different aspects. I have a healthy self-esteem, better communication and social skills thanks to the work I have done with Laughter Yoga.

With the 2 1/2 years that I have been practicing Laughter Yoga, I have noticed that I love my life regardless of my situation. Others have noticed a different me and I love being a role model to other individuals that are facing low self-esteem issues. I have seen a change in most of the individuals that attend my laughter sessions since many of them learn to cope with different life stressors or mental health issues. Even, my toddle daughter practices Laughter Yoga with me haha!

I am very thankful for my community that has believed in me and did not let me down when I was the only one practicing Laughter Yoga in my area. It was challenging to offer a session and people were initially puzzled about what I was doing. Now, everything has changed. Laughter Yoga is being more recognized and known for all the good benefits that it has to offer.

Mayra L. Avila, LCSW
Volunteer
Hope Family Health Center
2332 Jordan Rd.
McAllen, TX 78503
Phone: (956) 994-3319
Fax: (956) 971-9377
mavila.hfhc@gmail.com
www.hopefamilyhealthcenter.org

The story of a mindfully mindless laughter yogi

To share this story I need to go back in time to 2008 when I arrived at a point when I had to make some big changes. Every aspect of my life had painfully come to an end, and I asked myself, “What would really and truly make me happy?”

The answer appeared to come out of nowhere. I wanted to move to Thailand and teach English. I made a firm decision and resigned from my very serious architectural job, I sold all my earthly belongings, I said goodbye to security patrolled city, Johannesburg in South Africa, and I left my very serious life of military style perfectionism. Shortly after I arrived in Thailand I went to see a shaman because I knew something was very wrong with me. I had an unusual and uncomfortable physical condition that had remained undiagnosed, as well as general feelings of depletion and melancholy.

When the shaman saw me, she was absolutely horrified. “You need to teach yourself how to laugh and have fun”, she said. I was terrified. How was I to do this? I was the most unfun person I knew. Initially I tried to watch some funny movies, but I was indeed unsuccessful. And then a miracle happened! I started teaching English to my Thai students using songs and games and soon I noticed their spontaneous joy and willingness to become excited about the smallest and silliest of things. Their playfulness was infectious and although I was still a very serious teacher, I could feel myself changing just a little bit. At the end of each lesson they were smiling and full of energy.

Perhaps I was onto something! On one auspicious day in 2011 I experienced my first taste of Laughter Yoga from a visiting teacher in Chiang Mai, and I was completely awestruck at how light and liberated I felt after only one class. So inspired was I, in fact, that soon afterwards I traveled to Bangalore in India to study Laughter Yoga with Dr Madan Kataria, the founder and master of Laughter Yoga. Upon returning to Thailand, together with a fellow laughter teacher, the first Laughter Club was born in 2011 in Chiang Mai, and it continues to thrive. There has been a lot of laughing since then, as well as all sorts of twists and turns in this little laughing adventure. Along the way I discovered so many benefits of laughing that I never knew.

I discovered that if I laugh continuously for at least ten minutes, my body saturates with joyful energy at the very deepest cellular level, which serves as a washing out and releasing of my old stuck negative emotions. This is proving to be life changing; as I continue to practice my own energy continues to melt, become lighter and freer, my ego is diminishing ever more which is opening my heart. Over the years, I’ve had the great joy of meeting other laughter yogis from different walks of life, and always we have felt an instant recognition and comradery between us, having been initiated into the practice of laughing mindlessly, without the use of jokes or humour, our laughter has been liberated from the confines of the mind, and we knowingly and secretly share this understanding between us, it goes beyond any spoken words.

Among the highlights of this journey have included laughing together with enormous groups of people in Thailand, China and India, and well as groups from different spheres, ages and abilities. The impact of laughing in such groups has had an effect of reverberating in the inner recesses within me, touched by the gift of connecting so heartfully and playfully with others that I had never before spoken to and yet formed instant connections that traversed across culture and language.

In September 2014 I organized and facilitated the first ever laughter yoga leader training in Chiang Mai Thailand, it was purely magical as well as deeply challenging, having never done anything like that before, I felt stretched well beyond my limits, and it stirred up huge fears within me, which I had to let go of. This year October I am so delighted and excited to share laughter yoga leader training No.5, endorsed and certified by Laughter Yoga International. There are several things I love the most about a laughter session! I simply love that I get to move around and be silly and theatrical and express myself playfully with other people.

I get to express the notions of celebration and joy outwardly, which I may not ordinarily get to express in daily life. I get to connect with people in a very joyful, natural and upbeat way. I get to move out of my comfort zone and challenge myself. It appeals to my dry sense of humour and sometimes, still today, I pack out laughing simply because of the idea of getting together in a group and laughing! It is a highly creative and right brained activity as there is nothing rigid to follow, one has to be willing to be free to enjoy it. I love that shows people how to relax, and that they often leave a session looking more radiant than before. In many laughter sessions I have felt myself entering into a state of unstoppable, cathartic laughter, whereby the laughter has taken over the experience, it is a feeling of having arrived in a place of emptiness, egolessness and surrender.

I see this as a state of mindlessness or ‘no mind’, as opposed to mindfulness, or perhaps it is like mindfully choosing to be mindless, knowing of the huge benefit this has on the mind, body and spirit Having learnt certain life lessons the hard way, by placing obligation, money, ego and fear ahead of my own happiness and authenticity, I recognize on an intrinsic level the essential functioning of a happy and healthy life resides in living playfully, joyfully and truthfully.

I became vigilantly mindful to make play, joy and truth the central defining points of every single decision I have made ever since, and I have built my life around these key criteria. I now know that I have the power to create happiness from within, regardless of any external circumstances. I can influence my own life with positive energy through the practice of mindfully choosing to mindlessly laugh and play. If you would like to become a master of your own laugh along with me, have a look at http://www.ganapatilaughs.com

Laughter Yoga Eased My Labor Pains

Eight years ago my son Cedar was born, changing my life forever. I had a water birth at home and during the last hours of labor, I got the giggles! Just when the labor got intense, it suddenly struck me as absurd that an entire person was coming out of my body and I started laughing and laughing with every contraction.

By the time he was born, I’d been laughing with every contraction for three hours, and was high as a kite on natural endorphins. Laughter seemed to have eased all my pain and all I could feel was an inspirational experience of infinity and bliss.

In that moment, I knew that we have an infinite power to create anything, not just babies but our reality and our lives. I realized that Laughter Yoga had helped me achieve this state of mind. It is a great tool to alleviate all stress and anxieties, and helps us cope with almost any challenge that life throws up, by keeping us positive and joyful.

And ever since, I’ve been trying to bring more consciousness to the moments of my life, and expanding to allow even more creative life force to flow through me. May we all know our infinite power as creators and embody our magnificence more fully in every moment, as are reborn anew each day!

Laughter Yoga is a great way to enhance the endorphins or the feel-good chemicals in the body without actually having anything humorous to laugh about. Psychotherapists and clinical hypnotherapists by profession, Denise and Deb run a ‘giggle gym’ in Mansfield on the first Friday of every month where everyone can learn how to de-stress through laughter.

The duo also teaches managers and employees in workplaces how to deal with stress and pressure of work and focus on reducing cortisol levels through a range of laughter techniques. Both women even work with young people and school children who suffer with mental health problems, which lead them to feel isolated and depressed. They believe Laughter Yoga can generate a positive mental attitude, which will help them to combat the many challenges they face today and prevent them from resorting to any kind of self harm.

To read the article online please Click Here.

At the age of 13, Liu was diagnosed with a kind of inflammatory arthritis, which forced her to take a year off from school. She had to use a walking stick and became dependent on her mother for all her daily needs. The disease made her feel so lonely and miserable that she even contemplated suicide.

Liu’s case was not unusual among the 20,000 to 30,000 people in Hong Kong who suffer from various kinds of rheumatism, muscle disease, joint disease and problems in their immune system. These patients face a lot of psychological and social problems, such as depression and anxiety, as they suffer from pain that affects their mobility. This is where Laughter Yoga is an ideal solution. It not only reduces pain; it strengthens the immune system, alleviates depression by changing the mood state and generates a feeling of well being.

Laughter Yoga not only helps release mental stress, but also encourages people to do exercises that improve the joints and limb movements. It provides a complete massage of all mid-body organs and improves circulation. The combination of natural pain killers with movements in laughter exercises makes it a powerful tool for physiotherapy. Most importantly, Laughter Yoga helps to build strong connections with others facing similar problems, thereby generating a feeling of acceptance and understanding.

Source: http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education-community/article/2051457/hong-kongs-rheumatic-disease-patients-laugh-pain

Engstrom runs these Laughter Yoga classes for local businesses, senior centers, assisted living communities, community organizations and health groups. Being different from other regimes, Laughter Yoga combines deep yogic breathing and laughter exercises to generate a complete feeling of wellbeing. It is all about cultivating laughter and consciously laughing in a group. It doesn’t matter whether or not the laughter is real or fake — one gets the same health benefits.

Engstrom encourages the participants to bring out their inner child and cultivate childlike playfulness.  For example, class members pretend to type on imaginary computers, pretend to randomly laugh at something funny and even pretend to take showers with “laughter soap”. This helps to loosen them up and make them laugh like never before.

The session ends with laughter meditation and the chanting of, “We do not laugh because we are happy,” we are happy because we laugh” – This being the main principle of Laughter Yoga.

Source: http://www.dailytarheel.com/article/2016/12/laughter-yoga-has-benefits-beyond-giggles

Laughter Yoga has a tremendous healing power because it is really difficult to feel anger, tension, and stress while one is laughing. “It helps people adopt a more positive attitude to life,” said Julie Whitehead, who has practiced Laughter Yoga for 14 years. Now based in Hampshire, Julie conducts laughter sessions for hundreds of people from businessmen and care home residents to schoolchildren.

Scientific research also reveals that Laughter Yoga strengthens the immune system and increases a person’s pain threshold. It combines fun and easy laughter exercises with deep yogic breathing to provide physiological and emotional benefits and stress reduction for complete body – mind wellbeing.

According to Julie Laughter Yoga isn’t just for those with funny bones. Anyone can do it and one doesn’t even need a sense of humor. As long as you have the intention to laugh, you can receive the same psychological benefits as if you were laughing naturally. Regular practice of Laughter Yoga will keep you happy and energized and will change the way you feel. So start your day with a laugh! Ha hahaha!!!

Source: http://www.swlondoner.co.uk/secret-ha-ha-happiness-getting-giggles-laughter-yoga-perfect-stress-antidote/

Article & Image Courtesy: Phoebe Southworth