A Deeper Look at Laughter Yoga
Sun
demands no reason to shine;
Water
demands no reason to flow;
A child demands no reason to smile;
Why
do we need a reason to laugh?
Laughter Yoga is a Life Changing Experience.
According to Dr Madan Kataria, Founder of Laughter Clubs Movement, “When you
laugh, you change and when you change, the whole world changes.”
Laughter Yoga combines unconditional laughter with
yogic breathing (Pranayama). Anyone can laugh for no reason, without relying
upon humour, jokes or comedy. In a session, laughter is simulated as a body
exercise in a group. The group maintains eye contact and childlike playfulness,
and laughter soon turns real and contagious. The concept of Laughter Yoga is
based on the scientific fact that the body cannot differentiate between fake
and real laughter.
According to a study by Dr Michael Titze, a German
Psychologist, people used to laugh 18 minutes a day in the 1950s, but today we
laugh not more than 6 minutes per day, despite the huge increase in the
standard of living. Children can laugh up to 300-400 times in a day, but as
adults this frequency drops to barely 10-15 times a day.
Adults use their cognitive ability to first
comprehend humour and then laugh. This is called the Mind-To-Body Model or the
Humour Model. The other model is the Childlike Model or the Body-To-Mind Model.
Children laugh the most while playing. Their laughter comes straight from the
body and does not make use of any intellectual capacity of the brain.
Laughter Yoga makes a clear distinction between
happiness and joyfulness. Happiness is a conditional response. It is dependent
on the fulfillment of certain desires of the mind and is related to happenings
in the past and the future and hardly ever deals with the present. Do you
remember how long you stayed happy after getting that diploma, car, job, or new
house that you had worked for so long?
In contrast, joyfulness is unconditional commitment
to be happy for the moment and to have fun despite life’s problems. Joyfulness
is easily triggered by joyful activities like laughing, dancing, singing and
playing. It is purely a physical phenomenon while happiness is a concept of the
mind.
In order to get scientifically proven benefits of
laughter, we need to laugh continuously for at least 10 to 15 minutes. To reap
the health benefits of laughter, laughter has to be loud and deep, coming from
the diaphragm. Natural laughter that courses through our life depends on many
reasons and conditions, but there are not many reasons which make us laugh.
Dr Madan Kataria, a medical doctor from Mumbai, is
the founder of Laughter Yoga Clubs movement. Started with just five people in a
public park in Mumbai in 1995, it has grown into a worldwide movement of
thousands of laughter clubs in more than 65 countries.
The most frequently asked question is, “How do you
laugh when you are in no mood to laugh or you don’t have any reason to laugh?”
The answer is quite simple. Motion creates emotion, and vice versa.
Did you know that we can actually learn to laugh?
Our body and mind can be trained to laugh at will. It’s like learning to ride a
bicycle. It’s like muscle memory; once you learn it, you never forget it.
The most important factor in Laughter Clubs is the
willingness of the participants to laugh. The members laugh voluntarily, with
full commitment. All you need to do is to give yourself permission to laugh –
and nobody can stop you.
Laughter Yoga goes beyond just laughing. It not
only fosters a feeling of physical well being, it enhances the spirit and
touches the emotional core. It cultivates positive thinking and promotes
understanding. Laughter Yoga gives participants the opportunity to actively
enhance the lives of others.
Even when one exhales completely, there is some
amount of air left in the lungs, called residual air. During inhalation we
breathe in 500 to 700 ml of air and almost the same amount is exhaled. This
500-700ml constitutes only 25% of our lung capacity. But there is a huge volume
of residual stale air in our lungs that has more carbon dioxide.
Both laughter and yogic breathing exercises are
intended to stimulate the movement of the diaphragm and the abdominal muscles
which helps to activate the parasympathetic system – the calming branch of the
autonomic nervous system. This is opposite to the sympathetic system – the
stress arousal system. One can turn off the stress arousal system by simply
learning to move the diaphragm.
Dr Otto Warburg, Nobel Laureate said,”Deep
breathing techniques increase oxygen to the cells and are the most important
factors in living a disease-free and energetic life. When cells get enough
oxygen, cancer will not and cannot occur.”
Laughter Yoga goes beyond laughter and physical
wellbeing. It enhances the inner spirit and makes people change for the better.
Unconditional laughter connects people from different cultures, countries, no
matter what language they speak or how they live.
In Laughter Clubs, we have different styles of
belly laughter that exercise the abdominal muscles and the diaphragm
simultaneously. Scientists have referred to laughter as internal jogging.
Regular laughter exercise strengthens the abdominal muscles and gives a
constant massage.
Laughing promotes a healthy heart. In a good bout
of laughter, there is a dilation of blood vessels all over the body. We’ve all
seen or experienced this as a flushed appearance and feeling of warmth. Pulse
rate and blood pressure rise as the circulatory system is stimulated before
settling down, below the original levels. In a nutshell, laughter helps tone
the circulatory system of the body.
Laughter and breathing exercises help to increase
the breathing capacity of the lungs and increase the net supply of oxygen to
the body. Laughter sessions, along with deep breathing, are like chest
physiotherapy – especially for those who smoke and suffer from bronchitis and
respiratory airway obstruction.
The foremost benefit of laughing is that one
remains cheerful throughout the day. This sense of wellbeing comes from the
release of feel good hormones called endorphins. One also develops the ability
to laugh at small things. Laughter Yoga helps to develop sense of humour and
bring more childlike playfulness.
According to Dr William Fry, 10 minutes of hearty
laughter is equal to 30 minutes on the rowing machine. This is in respect of cardiopulmonary
endurance. Laughter Yoga is ideally suited for busy professionals who have very
little time to exercise. 20 minutes of Laughter Yoga can give you similar
results as those of going to gym for one hour.
Stress is the number one killer today, and most
illnesses are stress related. Laughter Yoga is an instant stress buster which
takes care of physical, mental and emotional stress simultaneously. It has been
scientifically proven that laughter reduces the level of stress hormones like
cortisol and epinephrine and enhances positive emotions.
The practice of using unconditional laughter to
prepare for stressful events is known as Laughter Boosting and is gaining
popularity with speakers, actors and other performers to prepare themselves for
presentations to audiences of all sizes.
Laughter Yoga has proved to be very effective as a
personal development tool. It enhances mental skills and abilities that help a
person to improve their performance in every sphere of life. It is a powerful
means for self confidence as it helps to overcome inhibition and shyness and
eases out awkwardness.
Laughter has an infinite potential to enhance right
brain functionality, which is the seat of creativity, intuition, imagination,
inventions, music, art, meditation and healing. Laughter is an excellent
exercise for toning facial muscles and improving expressions. Laughter enhances
communication skills and cultivates positive emotions.
A weak immune system is a major cause for almost
all sickness and ill health. Laughter boosts immune system. Oxygen is one of
the primary catalysts for all metabolic reactions in the human body. Ongoing
scientific studies show that lack of oxygen is the major cause of most
diseases. Laughter Yoga flushes the lungs and fully oxygenates the blood and
major organs leaving one bursting with energy and vitality and free from
disease.
Scientific studies have proved that a few days of
laughter exercises and deep breathing lowers blood pressure thus reducing the
risk of a heart attack. Having too much cholesterol in the blood can lead to
the hardening and narrowing of the arteries in the major vascular systems. A
daily dose of laughter opens the arteries and allows the blood to flow freely
to all parts of the body thus preventing a cardiac failure.
Diabetes is emerging as a major health hazard
worldwide. Japanese scientist Murakami’s experiment to ascertain the effect of
laughter on the blood sugar levels has affirmed that laughter has a lowering
impact on blood sugar. Murakami indentified 23 genes that can be activated with
laughter. In addition, it also reduces the stress hormone cortisol responsible
for increase in sugar levels and stabilizes the immune system, which if
weakened, can affect the production of insulin in the pancreas.
Laughter has a profound positive impact on
allergies, with many practitioners reporting complete disappearance of all
symptoms of asthma, skin and other allergies. Though not an intervention for
countering physical causes of allergies; Laughter Yoga is a definite tool to
remedy stress. It helps to reduce the risk factors by boosting the immune
system, encouraging deep breathing and flushing the lungs of stale air and
generating a feeling of wellness.
Those suffering from life threatening diseases not
only go through physical pain; they also face immense psychological trauma. Not
just the patient, but family, friends and care givers all need positive
reinforcement. Having a positive mental attitude greatly influences the course
of the disease. We have had many members suffering from cancer, immune
disorders, multiple sclerosis and other chronic diseases who have reported
relief from their symptoms, thereby reducing their medications.
Depression is often associated with physical pain,
feelings of despair, loss of appetite, immobility, insomnia and other
cardiovascular problems. Practicing Laughter Yoga regularly helps to resolve
most of these ailments as it is one of the fastest ways of boosting heart rate,
reducing blood pressure, providing an excellent cardio workout and alleviating
pain. Extended hearty laughter is a body exercise with powerful body-mind
healing effects.
The combination of natural pain killers with
movements in laughter exercises makes Laughter Yoga a powerful tool for
physiotherapy. Many practitioners have reported reversal of frozen shoulder and
other movement limitations due to stroke, arthritis, and injury. Endorphins
released as a result of laughter help in reducing the intensity of pain in
those suffering from arthritis, spondylitis and muscular spasms of the body.
Members of Laughter Clubs are engaged as active and
interactive participants, and not as passive audience being entertained. It has
been proved that people who actively participate in any humour and laughter
activity get more benefits, than those who inertly receive humour and laughter.
The source of laughter is within the body, and one can generate laughter with
conscious effort and commitment, anytime he or she wants to.
Laughter exercises are short and easy and can be
added to your existing fitness programme. It can be a value addition to Yoga
groups, Tai-Chi groups, aerobic centres, meditation centres, health clubs,
sports and fun activities.
The whole world is an extended family. Let us join
through Love and Laughter..
Compiled by
Jagat Singh
Bisht, Laughter Yoga Master Trainer
Source
book
Laugh For No Reason by Dr Madan Kataria
