Laughter Yoga in a Nutshell
By Marelisa Fabrega
"Mirth is God's medicine. Everybody aught to bathe
in it" -- Henry Ward Beecher
Hasya or Laughter Yoga ("Hasya" means laughter
in Sanskrit) is an alternative healing technique that consists of exercises
designed to get people to laugh for no reason, combined with simple yoga
breathing techniques. It uses a blend of playful and tension-releasing
laughter exercises to improve health, reduce stress, and increase feelings
of wellbeing. Every day new studies are being published on the myriad
physiological and psychological benefits of laughter, and Laughter Yoga
can help anyone partake of these benefits.
Laughter exercises, even if begun by
faking it, almost always lead to real laughter, especially when done
in a group. However, research has shown that simulated laughter creates
the same physiological response in the body as spontaneous laughter.
So even if you're faking it when you laugh, your body does not know
the difference. Therefore, you don't need to be happy to laugh and you
don't need to have a reason to laugh; even fake laughter can help relieve
stress and bolster your mood.
Laughter Yoga encourages unconditional
laughter: it's possible for adults to laugh like children without the use
of jokes, humor, or comedy. In a Laughter Yoga session you won't find
people sitting in a circle taking turns telling jokes or using humor to
make each other laugh. Instead, a session of Laughter Yoga consists of a
series of exercises which include yoga breathing, funny gestures, systematic
giggling and guffawing, and improv-like activities.
A Laughter Yoga session will probably
begin with rhythmic clapping and chanting of "Ho-Ho-Ha-Ha-Ha" in unison,
followed by a mixture of stretching, breathing, and silliness. Some of the
exercises typical of a Laughter Yoga session are the following:
- People wandering around with their hands
in the air, laughing hysterically.
- People of all ages squawking like chickens.
- Men and women rotating their hips while talking gibberish.
- Improv-style exercises such as playing on an
imaginary swing set; flapping your arms and squealing like a seagull; and sitting
in an imaginary rocket ship getting ready for take-off.
- At one point you walk around to different
people with palms pressed together at the upper chest in the Namaste greeting--
place the hands together at the heart chakra, close the eyes and bow the head--or
shake hands and laugh, making sure to look into other people's eyes.
- A popular exercise is "Lion Laughter": thrust
out the tongue, widen the eyes, and stretch the hands out like claws while laughing.
- Another improv-style exercise is Airport Laughter:
people pretend they're at the airport and are late for check-in, running around with
their bags.
- There's also Regal Laughter: each person takes turns
walking like a king or queen between two rows of applauding subjects.
- If the group of people has become comfortable with
each other, you can come closer and hold each others' hands or hug and laugh.
All of these seemingly whacky exercises are meant to
induce laughter to help participants combat stress and boost their immune system.
Laughter Yoga is currently practiced by over 250,000 people in more than 50 countries
worldwide. Find a Laughter Club near you and join them.
About the
author:
For more information on Laughter Yoga visit http://www.squidoo.com/laughter-meets-yoga
.
From Marelisa Fabrega, Founder and CEO of http://www.marelisa-online.com.
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I wish you all the best on your yoga adventure!
To your health,
Thomas T :)
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