Lori Stein might never have learnedhow to laugh if her husband hadn’t losthis job.
“Right after he was laid off, hehad to go back east, so I was left herewith lots of time on my hands,” recallsthe accountant from Pasadena, CA.Already battling clinical depression,and feeling lonely and overwhelmed by her circumstances, Lori remembereda woman who’d mentioned a LaughterYoga club that met on Friday nights.With nothing to lose, she decided tocheck it out.
“From the moment I walked in, Iknew this was for me,” says Lori. “Itwas so not who I usually am. I am soanalytical and serious and literal, andthis was the opposite of that. It waschildlike and carefree. It was absolutelyfreeing for me.”
Lori made it her Friday night ritual,and when her husband returned home a few weeks later, he began attending withher. Now, almost seven years later, theyboth are staunch believers in the powerof Laughter Yoga, making it a priority toattend weekly sessions. Not only has it improved their marriage, Lori says, butit has helped her reclaim a sense of joyand youthfulness that she had forgottenexisted. It has also helped her manageher depression, she says.
Lori is one of a growing numberof devotees worldwide who havediscovered the power of Laughter Yoga.Launched with just five participantsin 1995 by Madan Kataria, a medicaldoctor in Mumbai, India, today themovement has grown to include morethan 7,000 clubs worldwide.
This isn’t a simple chuckle or a quietgiggle; it employs what experts referto as “mirthful laughter”—the kind ofdeep, shaking laughter that puts thewhole body in motion. It is that fullbody motion, according to the Mayo Clinic, that unleashes laughter’sgreatest benefits.
In addition to freeing the mind,which provides instant stress relief,hearty, mirthful laughter stimulates the heart, lungs and other organs; itincreases the endorphins released bythe brain and heightens the intake ofoxygen-rich air. Over the long term,evidence suggests, it also strengthensthe immune system by releasingneuropeptides that help fight stress andother more serious illnesses.
Bridging Breathand Laughter
The notion that laughter has healingproperties is nothing new; in his 1979book, Anatomy of an Illness, NormanCousins wrote about combating lifethreatening illness with humor. As farback as the 1960s, Dr. William Fry of Stanford University began publishingstudies about the physiological processesthat occur during laughter, also notingthat they had a powerful effect on healthand survival.
Inspired by existing research,Madan was writing an article about thebenefits of laughter for a medical journalin the mid-’90s and, as he did moreresearch, decided to start a laughterclub in Mumbai. Gathering a handfulof friends, they met in a park andtold jokes.
“It didn’t take long for us to run outof jokes, so I knew that humor was notenough,” he says. “I started searchingfor ways to laugh without humor.”
William’s research indicated that the human body cannot differentiate between genuine laughter and fakedlaughter, so Madan began looking atways to create laughter—even in theabsence of something to laugh about.
“If you act like a happy person, yourbody responds,” he says, “so I startedtrying different laughter exercises.”
His wife, Madhuri, was a yogainstructor and both of them werelong-time yoga practitioners, so theyimplemented gentle yoga breathing,called pranayama, with the laughter toboost its health benefits.
“I never in my life thought itwould become so popular,” he says.“However, there was a need for peoplethat [Laughter Yoga] met. The stressin this world is too much, and peoplefeel lonely. And they like LaughterYoga because it’s simple—that’s whyit works.”Better Living Through Laughter
Madan isn’t the only one who istaking laughter—and its effect on themind and body—seriously these days.Swedish Covenant Hospital in Chicagois one of many hospitals worldwide thatuses Laughter Yoga as complementarymedicine. The hospital uses it as partof its pulmonary rehabilitation programin addition to implementing it into chemotherapy sessions for cancerpatients. While cancer is no laughingmatter, studies indicate that laughtermight be just what patients need.
A 2003 study of cancer patients atIndiana State University SycamoreNursing Center looked at howhumor affected patients from botha psychological and physiologicalstandpoint. The study showed thatlaughter had the ability to reduce stressand improve NK, or natural killer, cellactivity. The study’s final conclusionwas that, since low NK cell activityis linked to a lowered resistance todisease and an increased morbidity ratefor individuals with cancer and HIV,“laughter may be a useful cognitive behavioralintervention.”
“Even after all this time, I remainshocked in a positive way by what I see,”says Sebastien Gendry, founder of theAmerican School of Laughter Yoga inLos Angeles, CA. Sebastien trainedwith Madan to become aLaughterYogateacher in 2004, then worked alongsideMadan in India for two years.
“I can’t prove that laughter really isthe best medicine, but I have seen manyexamples of people who have had results that are nothing short of miraculous,”he says. “The doctors can’t explainit, but they can’t deny that somethinghappened in those sessions that had amajor impact [on the person’s health].There is something of real substancethat takes place when you experiencelaughter like that.”
Laughing – particularly whencombined with the breathing techniquesused in Laughter Yoga—also expandsthe capacity of the lungs and oxygenatesthe body. As more oxygen reaches theorgans, it helps flush out toxins while at the same time generating more energyand promoting overall relaxation.And as much as it does for the body,Sebastien says, it’s even better for themind and soul.
“Healing the body is secondary to healing the mind,” he says. “Butthe research is valid. In the pastfour decades, over 400 medical research studies and more than 4,000psychological studies have beenpublished about the healing power oflaughter. The data is there.”
Dr. Andrew Weil, one of the world’smost respected experts on holistic healthand founder of the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine, even testifiedbefore a Senate committee in 2010that laughing —and Laughter Yogain particular—could have a dramaticeffect on the overall health of the nationand could help lower America’s healthcare costs.
Andrew isn’t alone in believinglaughter could help lessen the effects of awide range of ailments. A Japanese studypublished in the journal Diabetes Carediscovered that test subjects with Type 2diabetes – the most common form of the disease – were able to significantly lower their blood sugar levels after a meal bywatching a 40-minute comedy showthat induced laughter.
Dr. Lee S. Berk, a well-respectedresearcher at Loma Linda (CA)University’s School of Allied HealthProfessions and a pioneer in the field oflaughter research, was one of the firstto discover the positive effects laughterhas on the endocrine system. Lee haspublished multiple studies showingthat laughter can decrease cortisol levels, which leads to stress reduction,and increase production of antibodiesfor greater immunity. One of his morerecent studies, presented at the 2010 Experimental Biology Conference inAnaheim, CA, even indicated thatlaughter may be useful in restoring theappetites of elderly patients who havebecome depressed and lost interest infood. His study found it could be an“accessible alternative starting point forthese patients to regain appetite and, consequently, improve and enhancetheir recovery to health.”
Laughing With Class
Sebastien says the growing evidenceabout the benefits of laughter havemade people more eager to exploreLaughter Yoga.
Classes follow the same basicstructure, although each instructor maythrow in his or her favorite “tricks” forgenerating laughter. Classes generallylast for 45 to 60 minutes, and require nospecial equipment other than a bottleof water (laughing so much can drythe throat) and a willingness to leaveinhibitions at the door.
There’s plenty of clapping whilechanting, “Ho, ho, ha, ha, ha!” followedby different exercises, done with apartner or as a group, designed toinduce laughter. Fake laughter oftenerupts into uncontrollable giggles asparticipants let down their guard andbegin playing—and laughing—likechildren. Much of the time, it feels morelike an improv comedy class than ayoga session.
“Each class is different becauseDr. Kataria encourages teachers to becreative, but the basics of every classwill be clapping, breathing, laughing,stretching—and of course, a childlike playfulness,” explains Judi A. Winall, acertified Laughter Yoga instructor andleader of the Joyful Healing LaughterClub in Cincinnati. “It helps people, through play and laughter, get in touch with the joy that is in each of us. And when we tap back into that, it helpsus stay connected, stay healthier and be happier.”
“Laughter is a cathartic way to release emotions. It stimulates the parasympathetic system, which allows you to be able to let go. And that letseverything in our lives flow better,”she says.
Patrick Murphy Welage of WorldPeace Laughter in Cincinnati, a teacherwho discovered Laughter Yoga inMumbai and learned it from Madan while it was still in its early days, hasheld workshops and retreats around theworld. He also has taken it into prisons, universities and other high-stress environments to help release tension.
“People want to feel valued and validated. When you look into someone’s eyes and laugh with them, you recognize one another’s humanity,”Patrick explains. “It’s non threateningandnon-judgemental. It’s like music; ittranscends your culture, race, gender orsex and reminds you that we are all inthis life together.”
Some have sought to push the fitnessaspects of Laughter Yoga, claiming that it burns up to 500 calories anhour. Others have equated laughing 20 times consecutively to working out with a rowing machine. Sebastien, however, is quick to dismiss such claims, noting their vague citations and lack of supporting data.
“The idea is correct, but the numbers are not,” he says, adding thatthere is nothing that can specificallymeasure calories burned through ahearty session of laughter. And, justas with any other form of activity,individual results may vary. However,he also recommends that people don’t get too hung up on the numbers; whatwe do know, he says, is that it has apositive effect on the cardiovascular andimmune systems, as well as the mind.
In other words, it can’t hurt.
Sebastien predicts that the Laughter Yoga movement will continue growing and become more accepted in the U.S.Just as it has in India and other partsof the world, he expects to see it entermore mainstream settings. Part of thereason is that laughter feels good, it isan inexpensive form of stress relief and,as people discover its many benefits,he says they are hard-pressed to findreasons not to try it.
“At this point, there are so manystudies on the impact of laughter thatit’s no longer a matter of whether or notlaughter works,” he says.
“It’s a matter of when you’re going to accept it.”
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