The Yoga of laughter: a Yoga that gives you a banana!
It’s a proven scientific fact: laughter is good for our physical and mental health. However, getting your recommended weekly dose of laughter can be tricky, which is why the Laughter Yoga exists! Discover all about this practice that will give you a banana in this Yogom article!
Introduction to Laughter Yoga
Before we begin to trace the history of Laughter Yoga, here are some interesting some interesting information to know if you have never heard of if you have never heard of it.
- Laughter Yoga is a unique unique concept in which everyone can laugh laugh without reasonWithout using jokes and without having a sense of humor. It is therefore a practice open to all.
- Laughter is primarily a group exercise where eye contact must be maintained. It then helps to find the carefree spirit of our childhood by quickly becoming a real contagious laugh.
- It is called Laughter Yoga because it is based on a mixture of laughter and yoga breaths (pranayama). Laughter is a very good breathing exercise.
- The concept of Laughter Yoga is based on a scientific fact: our body is not able to distinguish between a simulated laugh and a spontaneous laugh. The same benefits are therefore observed.
- The phenomenon is now global, with thousands of thousands of centers are listed in in more than 115 countries.
History of Laughter Yoga
- Laughter Yoga was invented by general practitioner Madan Kataria who practiced in Mumbay. In 1995he realized all the health benefits of the benefits of laughter on the health of his patients and decided to invent a method to help them laugh more regularly.
- He then decided to go to a park just down the street from his house where many stressed out city dwellers meet to do yoga or Thai Chi exercises before going to work. He suggests that they all get together to laugh, but only three of them agree. This is how the first Laughter Club in the world was born.
- At first, participants told each other funny funny stories to make each other laugh, but after a few weeks, the method showed its limits because their stock of anecdotes was exhausted. So Dr. Kataria set out to find another technique. It was when he observed children in a playground that he realized that the laughter was not caused by humor but came from the bodyIt was this laughter that he wanted to reproduce. He then created Laughter Yoga, which combines laughter mimes and traditional yoga breaths. He then closed his medical practice and trained facilitators, which allowed the discipline to multiply in India.
The development of Laughter Yoga in the West
The development of Laughter Yoga in the West owes its success to American psychologist Steve Wilson. Indeed, he intervenes with managers with programs based on humor when he discovers these clubs somewhat surprising. He then invited Dr. Madan Kataria and his wife to a tour of the United States which will allow them to propagate this practice throughout the world. The method arrives in particular in France at the end of 2002 by the request of an Alsatian company manager. Since then, the practice has developed to the point of becoming a new way of life more than a simple way to relax.
Laughter Yoga has become very popular because of its ability to create a sense of well-being.
The Principles of Laughter Yoga
Laughter Yoga has several overriding principles:
- It is intended to be an easy and easy and accessible practice for all. No prerequisites are necessary to start Laughter Yoga.
- Its principle is to cleaning up food and mental residues. Indeed, laughter is a series of small exhalations, which means that the belly inflates and deflates rapidly and continuously.
It is in fact an unconscious way to practice fire breathingalso called kapalabhati pranayama. You then ignite the digestive fire that is located inside the navel. The belly is known to be the mirror of the brain, your toxic thoughts and feelings are then burned by this technique. In addition, you massage and relax your organs and strengthen your abdominal muscles. - Another of its principles is to reveal your inner child. Through laughter, food and mental residues are cleansed and the ego is also driven out. In this way, each participant can discover his or her true self, which is his or her inner child and is not afraid of the gaze and criticism coming from the outside but also from the inside.
The benefits of Laughter Yoga
Laughter Yoga is a practice that brings a very large number of benefits. It allows to to free oneself from stress, anxiety, sadness, conscious and unconscious fears, shyness but also from the behaviors that society imposes on us. It is therefore a beneficial discipline for our body and our mind, here are other benefits in more detail:
- The release of endorphins. This happiness hormone has a primary role in the central nervous system and is involved in the reward and pleasure circuits. The endorphins then lead to a reduction in stress and physical and mental pain.
- The spread of joy. When you laugh, it causes other people around you to laugh, and this contagion goes back to the first person who laughed, creating a circle of fun and joy.
- Improving overall health. Indeed, laughing is an endurance activity that benefits the heart, the diaphragm, the abdominal muscles, the stomach organs, the respiratory system and also the facial muscles.
- A face lift. The expression on your face when you laugh allows for an upward movement of the mouth, cheekbones and eyes. The face becomes more muscular and the skin becomes more toned as it is tightened. Your wrinkles are reduced and you prevent the appearance of new ones. The inner youthfulness that this practice provides is therefore also reflected on the outside.
- Improving your relationships. As you radiate on the inside, this has repercussions on the outside and on your relationships in love, friends, family and even work, which become impregnated with your euphoria.
- The increase of your vibratory rate. By feeling intense joy, you change your state of mind which illuminates the 7 bodies of your energy field which are linked to the 7 main chakras. The increase in the vibratory rate allows one to feel more in shape and to maintain a resonance between oneself and high energies.
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How does a Laughter Yoga class work?
Laughter Yoga is mostly practiced in groupsThis is the same as for a club or a workshop, all led by a qualified instructor. The instructor then helps coach the participants and guide them through exercises to stimulate their fun and laughter. A session usually lasts between 30 minutes and one hour. The course then begins with warm-ups which include stretching, singing, clapping and breathing. Then come the series of laughter exercises interspersed with breathing techniques.
The animations are repeated several times, becoming more and more childish. Forced laughter slowly becomes genuine laughter as individuals begin to relax and enjoy themselves. Often, from the meditation on laughter is proposed after all these exercises. The group can then sit or lie down laughing in a fluid and spontaneous way. The course ends with relaxation techniques. A session may also include improvisational exercises, positive affirmations, gentle stretching, breathing yoga and meditation.
With what material should I practice Laughter Yoga?
Laughter Yoga is not an intense sports practice, it focuses more on the psychological work. We then propose you to discover the Gentle Range which is made for this kind of soft yoga.
Meditation and breathing exercises are practiced during these sessions, so having a comfortable mat to sit for 1 hour and lie down is essential! The Natural Yoga Mat is therefore ideal! Its coating in Oeko-tex certified merino wool, its thickness of 4 mm and its extra large dimensions (200 x 75 cm) will bring you a maximum comfort.. In addition, this carpet ecological made in Europe is suitable for indoor and outdoor use! Something to follow you in all your adventures!
You will be putting a lot of your belly a lot during a Laughter Yoga session. So it’s not very comfortable to wear tight clothes around your waist like sports leggings. The Shakti Yoga Suit is much more suitable! His fluid material makes it very pleasant to wear and its loose fabric lets your body breathe without oppressing it. This combination is also ideal for to dress in a chic and comfortable way every day ! All you have to do is choose from the 2 colors!
Finally, think of the accessories of the Douceur range ! These soft accessories, made of merino wool and made in Europe will put you in the best conditions to enter a meditative state! The wool bolster is also useful for help you stretch deeply. Finally, you can sit on your meditation zafu for another more comfort during your sessions.
Examples of Laughter Yoga exercises
Although some of the exercises may seem strange or silly to you, remember that the purpose of the practice is to clear any internal judgments you may have about yourself and to let go of your ego for a session.
The classic exercises of a Laughing Yoga class are:
- Cell Phone Laughing Just hold an imaginary cell phone to your ear and laugh.
- Graduated laughter This is a sequence of a false smile and a laugh in which the tempo and volume are gradually increased.
- Greeting Greeting: greet all participants as you normally would, replacing words with laughter.
- Electric shock laughter Imagine that each contact with a participant gives you a shock of static electricity. Jump back while laughing as soon as it happens.
There is then a variety of exercises. In addition, there are also specific exercises that target a type of person such as for children or the elderly. Laughter Yoga is truly suitable for everyone!
Laughter Yoga did not convince you? Go to our article “What type of yoga to practice? “to find out which yoga is right for you!
