Effective Power of Laughter Yoga exercises
Laughter exercises with yoga breathing techniques (Pranayama) or Laughter Yoga which brings more oxygen to our body and brain making us feel more energetic and healthy. 10 to 15 minutes of LY exercises can reduce stress, make your immune system stronger and keep your mind positiv
Written by
WG
Editorial Team
Reviewed By: Dr. Vadivel Dhatchanamoorthy, BNYS
Laughter yoga is a practice utilizing humor to alleviate pain, and stress, and enhance overall well-being, even aiding individuals in coping with serious illnesses such as cancer.
Incorporating breathing exercises alongside laughter, this form of yoga can effectively reduce stress, strengthen the immune system, and promote a sense of connection and community. Indeed, it underscores the adage that “laughter may indeed be the best medicine.
Introduction of Laughter Yoga exercises
Regular practice of yoga has countless health benefits. While there are many forms of yoga and types of asanas, there is also a branch of yoga called Laughter yoga or Laughing yoga (LY).
This is believed to be beneficial to individuals because it reduces anxiety and stress, renders pain manageable, and bolsters the immune system. By laughing, the theory goes, you’re able to keep your cool in a stressful work situation, make peace with the hurt and pain in your past, or deal with the stress of a serious illness.
This yoga involves a series of movements and breathing exercises that promote deliberate laughter. Laughter therapy can’t take the place of conventional therapies entirely, but there is increasing evidence that a few hearty chuckles can help you along the road to recovery.
Theory of Laughter Therapy
The healing properties of laughter have been extolled since biblical times; “Anatomy of an Illness (As Perceived by the Patient),” written by Norman Cousins in 1979. When Cousins was diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis, he was given very slim odds of recovery. He was unable to move and was in constant pain. He credits his recovery to a prescription of “Candid Camera” episodes, Marx Brothers movies, and funny stories read by nurses. With 10 minutes of laughter, he wrote, two hours of pain-free sleep could be procured.
That could be because this yoga has been called internal jogging, and it may confer all the psychological benefits of a good workout. The act of laughing stimulates hormones called catecholamines, which in turn release the happy juice — endorphins. With endorphins surging through our bloodstream, we’re more apt to feel happy and relaxed. With each laugh, therefore, we’re relieving stress, reducing anxiety, and increasing our stores of personal energy. All of these psychological and physiological results are wonderful tools in coping with illness, a hospital stay, or even just a cranky coworker.
Though laughing therapy has been used for decades, Laughter Yoga was discovered by Dr. Madan Kataria, a family physician in Mumbai, India, in 1995. Dr. Kataria claims that laughing yoga will help lift your mood, reduce stress, strengthen your immune system, increase energy levels, improve your quality of life, and help you better manage hardship. Since you cannot always rely on external influences to make you laugh, learning to laugh on your own can be a valuable tool.
