Most of us have heard of yoga and many people practice it regularly as a form of physical exercise and a way of bringing balance to their lives. There are a number of different kinds of yoga styles, however it is the forms that involve contorting the body into a variety of different poses that most of us are familiar with. That being said, you may at one time have witnessed a group of people laughing their heads off for no apparent reason and wondered what on earth they found so amusing. What you may have been witnessing was laughter yoga being practiced.
Laughter yoga is a recent style of yoga that originated in the Nineties and was first seen practised in public parks in India. It is based on the notion that the body cannot tell the difference between spontaneous laughter and laughter that is consciously produced. The physical, mental and emotional benefits, however, are the same. Laughter yoga is sometimes called ‘laughter coaching’ or ‘laughter therapy’ but no matter what it is called it can contribute considerably towards improving a person’s overall wellbeing.
Laughter yoga makes use of the same kind of yoga breathing techniques employed by other yoga arts like Hatha, Ashtanga and Bikram to name but a few and, as such, makes it a new version of an ancient practice. The combination of deliberately induced laughter and yogic breathing techniques helps to increase oxygen in the body, making laughter yoga an excellent form of aerobic exercise. Moreover, laughter is a great stress reliever as well as an effective way of breaking the ice in social situations. As such, is can be used in corporate wellness programmes not only to improve the wellbeing of personnel but to break down possible barriers between people and thus promote team work and co-operation.
The interesting thing about deliberate laughter is that it soon becomes genuine, allowing people to relax and become fully engaged with others, and happy, relaxed people tend to feel rejuvenated and positive in their outlook on life. Moreover, it is hard to remain in a state of conflict when all the parties are laughing. With this many benefits it is hardly surprising that laughter yoga is becoming increasingly popular around the world.
