Yoga is Key to Happiness!
Yoga & Happiness — What is ‘Laughter Yoga’ & What’s the Need?
Laughter yoga is based on the belief that voluntary laughter provides similar physiological and psychological benefits as spontaneous laughter, let’s simple and learn more- how!?
Over the past four decades, scientific research has proved that laughter has a profound effect on our bodies and minds. People have forgotten to laugh, and consequently, they frequently fall sick.
Maintaining good health has become a challenge, but laughter yoga has come to the rescue of thousands in coping with stress and dealing with difficulties with a smile.
Why Have People Forgotten How to Laugh?
1. Depression: According to World Health Organization (WHO), 300 million people suffer from depression worldwide. It’s one of the primary causes of disability and affects over 15 million Americans or about 6.7 percent of the US population above the age of eighteen in a given year.
Trying to cope with life’s challenges, people often find themselves alone. With no one to chat to or share their feelings with, they sink into depression.
Laughter is a powerful antidote to depression as it releases endorphins, or the feel-good hormone, and raises the levels of dopamine and serotonin, which help maintain a good mood.
Depressed people laugh rarely, but one is less likely to be depressed with laughter yoga.
2. Stress: Laughter is fast disappearing from our high-pressure, high-tension modern world. Today, most illnesses include high blood pressure, heart diseases, anxiety, depression, frequent cough and cold, nervous breakdowns, peptic ulcers, insomnia, allergies, asthma, irritable bowel syndrome, colitis, menstrual abnormalities, migraine, and even cancer, are stress-related.
People find it difficult to laugh amidst these endless stressors. Though many methods are available to release stress, most of them are time-consuming and expensive.
Laughter yoga is cost-effective and will help you reduce stress. The technique itself is simple, and everyone can practice it.
RELATED READ: Stress & Exercise — How Exercise Routine Helps You Alleviate Stress?
What is Laughter Yoga?
What is the relationship between a sense of humor and laughter? Is it possible to laugh for no reason?
Most people believe that one must have a sense of humor to laugh, but laughter yoga has proved otherwise. Laughing without any reason is the core philosophy of laughter yoga.
No one is born with a sense of humor, which is the brain’s capacity to perceive, relate to and experience a situation and judge if it is funny or not. We acquire this skill as our mental abilities develop.
Sense of humor is essentially a mental and intellectual phenomenon. It depends upon an individual’s academic ability, state of mind, level of happiness, and satisfaction. Laughter, which arises from humor, is conditional. However, laughter can be achieved unconditionally.
Children laugh without any reason, and they usually never get the humor. Thus, be like a child at heart, don’t look out for reasons to laugh. Smile more often and laugh at random life events that amuse you.
ALSO READ : 3 Phase Restorative Yoga Practice & My Sports Trauma Recovery Story!
Five ways to incorporate Laughter Yoga in your life
- Lion Laughter — Open your mouth, thrust your tongue out, widen your eyes, and stretch the hands out like lion claws. Now, laugh your heart out.
- Greeting Laughter — As you walk around, make this a habit of greeting everyone with a wide smile. Don’t be so shy in saying hello, namaste, or hi with friendly shake hands and laugh.
- Humming Laughter — Close your mouth and laugh with a sound of hum. You can also close your eyes and think about something that brings a smile or instant laughter to your face.
- Gradient Laughter — Start with a small smile, then slowly laugh with a gentle chuckle. Increase the intensity as you start to enjoy this process and then start laughing your heart out.
- Heart to Heart with People Laughter — Sit or stand in a circle by grasping each other hands and start laughing. If people around you feel comfortable, you can stroke or hug each other as well.
Perform any of these laughing yoga practices daily, for at least 10 to 15 minutes a day. However, the more you indulge in laughing yoga, the less you will sink in traumatizing emotions.
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