Laughter Yoga is practiced by millions of people. Here is why you should try it as well
Laughter Yoga is a combination of laughing and yoga breathing. It is a concept based on the idea that when you laugh it is highly beneficial to your organism and you can laugh as much as you want. It uses movements such as clapping, simple yoga postures, laughing and positive affirmations. Benefits are obvious as performing this on a daily basis can help you boost your immune system, reduce stress, and feel more joy in your life. As you can see Laughing Yoga is a simple but great concept.
Have you ever laughed without hearing a joke or watching a comedy? Most of the people when they become adults laugh quite rarely and need external stimulus to do so. So it can be described this way - when we hear a joke, we laugh when we find the joke funny and got it. Children's laughter, on the other hand, is instinctual and mostly physiological. Children laugh without reason, when they are playing, when they like something, in total up to 400 times a day. Adults laugh on average only 16 times a day. So the idea is to show the adults that they can laugh without a reason.
How was it originated?
In 1995, family physician in India had a great idea. Madan Kataria knew that laughter really is the best medicine, and formed a Laughing Club of just five people to laugh for twenty minutes each day. After a few weeks of meetings the results were terrific, everyone felt relaxed and happy. However they didn't have anymore jokes to tell.
Undaunted, Kataria did more research and found that the body cannot tell the difference between real laughter and fake laughter, so whether you bust a gut watching stand-up comedy or "fake it 'til you make it" by simply saying "ha ha ha" over and over, the physiological effects are the same. Madan Kataria had this idea that they should pretend to laugh while meeting in a group. This pretend laughter quickly turned into real laughter, and then became contagious, and next thing they knew, the group was in stitches. That's how Laughing Yoga was originated.
What are the benefits for your health?
Breathing is vital to our health, not to mention our existence, and yet most people don't breathe properly. They breathe so shallowly that carbon dioxide builds up in the lungs. But when you breathe deeply and slowly, you take in more oxygen. Laughter Yoga incorporates two great ways to bring in more oxygen: yoga breathing and laughing. When you practice Laughter Yoga regularly you can simply "trick your brain" into thinking it's happy and produce the same chemical reaction in your body that happens when you truly are happy. With the time passing by and more and more practice you will experience that you feel more and more happy.
Have you ever laughed without hearing a joke or watching a comedy? Most of the people when they become adults laugh quite rarely and need external stimulus to do so. So it can be described this way - when we hear a joke, we laugh when we find the joke funny and got it. Children's laughter, on the other hand, is instinctual and mostly physiological. Children laugh without reason, when they are playing, when they like something, in total up to 400 times a day. Adults laugh on average only 16 times a day. So the idea is to show the adults that they can laugh without a reason.
How was it originated?
In 1995, family physician in India had a great idea. Madan Kataria knew that laughter really is the best medicine, and formed a Laughing Club of just five people to laugh for twenty minutes each day. After a few weeks of meetings the results were terrific, everyone felt relaxed and happy. However they didn't have anymore jokes to tell.
Undaunted, Kataria did more research and found that the body cannot tell the difference between real laughter and fake laughter, so whether you bust a gut watching stand-up comedy or "fake it 'til you make it" by simply saying "ha ha ha" over and over, the physiological effects are the same. Madan Kataria had this idea that they should pretend to laugh while meeting in a group. This pretend laughter quickly turned into real laughter, and then became contagious, and next thing they knew, the group was in stitches. That's how Laughing Yoga was originated.
What are the benefits for your health?
Breathing is vital to our health, not to mention our existence, and yet most people don't breathe properly. They breathe so shallowly that carbon dioxide builds up in the lungs. But when you breathe deeply and slowly, you take in more oxygen. Laughter Yoga incorporates two great ways to bring in more oxygen: yoga breathing and laughing. When you practice Laughter Yoga regularly you can simply "trick your brain" into thinking it's happy and produce the same chemical reaction in your body that happens when you truly are happy. With the time passing by and more and more practice you will experience that you feel more and more happy.
