These one-hour sessions offer participants the opportunity to release and restore through the healing art of laughter, breathwork and relaxation.
What is laughter yoga?
Laughter yoga is an exercise programme which draws on the healing capacities of laughter. Without using jokes, or comedy, the process allows us to access laughter as a way of managing the stress of daily life.
Laughter yoga is used in organisations, education, and healthcare. It draws on deep breathing techniques and play. Studies show that the body and brain cannot differentiate between real and voluntary laughter. In fact, we can benefit even from simulated laughter. Deep laughter over a period of time promotes increased oxygen and blood circulation.
Laughter yoga was popularized by family physician Madan Kataria who wrote about his experience in his 2002 book Laugh for No Reason. It is found in 53 countries and in thousands of laughter clubs world-wide.
A meta-analysis published in 2020 concludes that laughter yoga has no adverse effect and could have benefit for adults in terms of physical function (blood pressure, cortisol level, sleep quality) and psychosocial health (life satisfaction, quality of life, loneliness, death anxiety, depression, mood, happiness).