Have you heard the one about the Indian yogi who teaches laughing yoga? At first glance, this "fake" laughing seems more weird than funny, but it's apparently no joke. More than a few serious scientists have been looking into the physical effects of laughter, and have found that not only does it feel good, it’s very good for your health. You don’t even need a sense of humor to reap the health benefits of laughing. If you’re the sort who finds it hard to spontaneously break out in a major belly laugh, you can always try a little “non-humor-dependent aerobic laughter” (leave it to the scientists to come up with a name like that!). If you're not exactly sure how to do it, you could join one of the 5000+ laughter clubs that have sprung up around the world to teach people how to do aerobic laughing, also known as laughter yoga. Seriously. Classes are led by certified laughter teachers like Gail Robinson, who teaches laughter yoga in Sutton’s Bay, Michigan, and has this to say about it... “Laughter causes the inner lining of blood vessels–the endothelium–to dilate,” says Robinson. This reduces resistance in the arteries and increases blood flow, “which lowers blood pressure and cholesterol buildup and reduces your heart rate and your chances of having heart disease.” Dr. Lee Berk at Loma Linda University in California has published research demonstrating that laughter “diminishes the secretion of cortisol and epinephrine [the stress hormones], while enhancing immune system reactivity...[it] boosts secretion of growth hormone, an enhancer of key immune responses.” And all while you’re having a good time. As reported in the latest issue of Fitness Matters (a bi-monthly newsletter for fitness professionals published by the American Council on Exercise), laughter yoga is an outgrowth of work done by Dr. Madan Kataria, who created the first laughter club in 1995. It’s based partly on the fact that, as Kataria says, “The body does not know the difference between simulated laughter and real laughter, and produces the same “happy” body chemistry” in response to either. So, you don’t need a reason to laugh in order to get the benefits of laughter yoga. In laughter yoga classes, laughter is used as a form of breath work aimed at helping the student breath deeper into the abdomen. Some basic (and fairly easy) hatha yoga poses may also be utilized, but this isn’t a typical yoga class. Laughter yoga classes often begin with participants greeting each other and talking gibberish until people start breaking down in laughter, which as we all know, tends to be highly contagious. So, the next time you’re feeling a little blue or stressed out, think about doing some laughter yoga. It may be just what you need. For more info on Dr. Kataria’s laughter yoga program and classes, visit their website here. Or if you want to go straight to the laughing part without a class, you can just visit this video featuring Allie, daughter of SP’s own tech master Jeremy, who is obviously quite accomplished at teaching people how to laugh. So, what do you think? Is laughter your best medicine? I know that when I'm having a hard time (like today, when the hotel lost my reservation but somehow managed to charge me twice for it), stepping back and having a good laugh about the craziness of it all helps keep me from really going off the deep end. It's pretty hard to stay in a bad mood when you start laughing. |
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