Laughter Yoga...is REAL!!

by Awilda Rivera

Originally published in Sept. 2016 In Aquarius Magazine for her long running column "Under The Bodhi Tree" under the heading 'Yoga and Change'

Have you laughed recently?  Laughter is important and essential to our health. However, we find our selves living in uncertain times full of contention and disharmony.  Many are calling for a return to compassion and understanding, I also believe we need to promote Joy. Laughter Yoga is one way to increase your Joy quotient immediately. Believe it or not this in not a new age Western practice but an Eastern Original.
 
Laughter Yoga is real. It’s the practice of combining Laughter Sounds, Mudras (hand postures) and in some cases light asana. Studies examining the effectiveness of laughter yoga in the work place found that when employees participated in laughter yoga they experienced a 6% reduction in stress level, a 27% decrease in negative feelings and a 17% increase in positive feelings. [1] Those percentages indicate significant & measurable changes.
 
I have experienced the benefits of laughter yoga personally. My younger students LOVE it when I incorporate laughter yoga poses into their classes.  Not surprisingly, adults also enjoy laughter yoga.  Adults often look surprised at their level of enjoyment once they let themselves surrender to the activity.
 
Laughter is said to hyper oxygenate the brain and release twice as much carbon dioxide as regular respiration. Life is tough, we should laugh as much as we possibly can.  Any exercise that promotes more stress reduction, decreased negative emotional & increased positive feelings is at least worth trying once.
 
Of course, before I send you off to dive into this practice there are a few things I need to tell you.  When you begin to practice laughter yoga you are actively unblocking energy channels and performing what can be categorized as an energetic  cleanse. When we endeavor to cleanse our selves energetically it can result in all manner of emotions coming to the surface that have been stuck in our energy channels for an unidentified extent of time. As a result, people may be moved to tears after a laughter yoga session, because the body is getting rid of the heavy energies to make room for the  lighter energies ushered in through your laughter yoga practice.  Its completely normal, embrace the release and lean into the lighter energy.
 
Interested in trying some laughter yoga yourself? Here are 3 laughter yoga exercises from Laughter Online University[2] that are guaranteed to get you going:
 
1.  Age Laughter: Imagine how your laugh would sound when you are double your current age; half of your current age; 10/20/30 years older; ten years younger; as a child; as an infant; 95 / 5.
 
2.  Bored Laughter: Fake it until you make it (sic).


3. Animal Laughter: donkey; pig snorts; dog woofs; Cheshire cat caterwauls; hoot owls; chimpanzees; gorillas
 
Give it a try and see what happens. You may enjoy it more than you expect. If you need help letting go, do the exercise with someone under 10. Kids are great at laughter yoga.
 
Until Next time Yogis….



Footnotes:
[1] http://laughteryoga.org/laughteryoga-in-business/

[2] http://www.laughteronlineuniversity.com/150-laughter-exercises/

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