Posted Dec 18, 2011
It may appear silly to see a room full of adults clapping their hands and making forced laughing sounds, such as “hoho haha” while practicing obscure poses or sitting on the floor, but forcing yourself to laugh can actually have many physical health benefits, as well as being emotionally therapeutic.
Research has shown that the body cannot tell the difference between a fake, self-generated laugh and a real, externally activated laugh, which means that both are equally good for you, and the fake laugh usually turns into a heartfelt laugh, if you allow yourself to embrace it.
Laughter Yoga instructor Beth Le Blanc said her class integrates both laughter and gentle yoga poses to create better breathing within the body.
“Laughter Yoga produces a healthy breathing pattern and increases the oxygen flow to the body, and that results in a healthier, more positive state of mind,” she said.
Le Blanc leads the class through free-flowing, playful movements that encourage laughter and some traditional yoga breathing to relax the breath when needed between exercises.
Le Blanc said it is common for people to breathe shallowly due to stress, and in turn, this shallow breathing causes stress and anxiety.
Yoga in general aims to relieve people of shallow breathing, she said, and teaches people how to breath deeply, relieving stress in the process.
Adding forced laughter along with yoga and deep breathing exercises may seem odd, but Laughter Yoga is actually based on
research that reveals the benefits laughter has on the mind and body.
Laughter Yoga was first created in 1995, by Dr. Madan Kataria, an American-educated physician in India, in collaboration with his wife, Madhuri Kataria, a yoga teacher. Madan Kataria found that laughter is the fastest and easiest method of regulating the breathing pattern and increasing the net supply of oxygen. Regular practice of laughing was also found to improve lung capacity, build endurance and make breathing easier as one ages.
“(Kataria) discovered that simply by laughing — producing the sounds of “hoho haha,” it expels air, flushes the lungs and therefore allows one to be able to inhale with a longer, deeper breathe,” Le Blanc said.
Le Blanc said though it may seem like a weird concept to some, people genuinely feel better after attending a Laughter Yoga class. In fact, Le Blanc compared the class to being a child on the playground, because of the fun, playful, childlike exercises involved in Laughter Yoga.
“It sounds kind of silly for adults to do that, so it takes one of like-mind, I think,” she said. “It takes curiosity to actually want to open themselves up to do that.”
Lorie Measure, who just started taking Laughter Yoga classes at MountainView Regional Medical Center, instructed by Le Blanc, said she enjoys the class because it is a relaxed atmosphere, and you do not need to be able to do difficult poses to participate.
“It’s a little silly, but everyone in the class is doing the same thing,” Measure said.
Measure said the Laughter Yoga is a great way to brighten your mood, as well as get a good abdominal workout.
“It’s a relaxed class,” she said. “There are no difficult poses, and you don’t even have to sit on the floor.”
Le Blanc said Laughter Yoga can be taught with or without poses, and that she usually begins each class with a 10-minute warm-up consisting of breathing and body movement, followed by 20 minutes of laughter exercises.
“Then we start with some clapping, and it’s a particular type of clapping — it’s using all parts of your palm and your fingers coming together.”
Le Blanc said we have acupuncture points throughout the palms of our hands and that these acupuncture points are very energizing to the brain and the body.
During her classes, Le Blanc said she combines the chanting of “hoho haha” with this clapping technique to promote playfulness and energy.
“When you say ‘hoho haha’ it pulls in the lower abdominal, and then we can go into using movement with the breath,” she said.
Le Blanc said Laughter Yoga is just like any other beginner yoga class, and starts with easy, gentle movements.
“You’re going to be eased into it,” she said. “We start with some breathing and easy stretching, and then before you know it, you’re actually doing full, more energetic poses.”
Le Blanc said some people may be intimidated to try Laughter Yoga because of the somewhat social awkwardness of it, but as we get older, our lung capacity tends to decrease, which is why an exercise like Laughter Yoga is so important. It also teaches people how to laugh at themselves, act silly and make fun of themselves.
“By going to one class, (participants) feel better the rest of the day,” she said.
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Copyright © 2011, Las Cruces Sun-News, N.M.
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