 aughter is nature’s best and fastest stress buster. It lifts
our spirits with a happy high that makes us feel good
and improves our behavior towards others. Laughter-Yoga
members believe that “the whole world is an extended family.”
Aside from hearty laughter, a combination of some yoga and
breathing exercises, is added to enhance the laughter-yoga
session for more healthful benefits. Laughter-Yoga is
value-based, with moral dimensions to help sooth the mind,
body and spirit.
 Laughter-Yoga is physically-oriented, as it employs “a
perfect blend of playful, empowering and otherwise “tension-releasing” simple laughter exercises,
interspersed with gentle breathing, warm up and stretching exercises, rhythmic clapping and
chanting in unison.
These exercises are done as a way to improve health, increase well-being,
and promote peace in the world through personal transformation. In Laughter Yoga -- laughter
is a tool, not an emotion.
Laughter puts us intensely in the “now”. The ability to fully
live and experience the “present” is of utmost importance,
being the only moment where we can experience happiness.
 “As we laugh, our bodies release a cocktail of hormones and
chemicals that have startling positive effects on our system.
Stress is reduced, blood pressure drops, depression is lifted,
your immune system is boosted and more! Even modern Western science acknowledges the
great healing effects of laughter.”
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 LAUGHTER YOGA IN GOLDS’ GYM
By: ELVIE PUNZALAN-ESTAVILLO
mega_abundant_lv@yahoo.com
To accommodate and positively respond to the persistent, numerous requests from individuals, who have read about Laughter Yoga in THE PHILIPPINE STAR and watched it on some TV shows, on March 27th, a Laughter-Yoga session was scheduled at the Golds’ Gym, Glorietta 3, Makati City.
About 50 persons came excitedly for their first-of-its-kind experience of Laughter Yoga and to quench their curiosity as to what it is all abut. Among them were Mr. Luis Montoya, EVP of Medicard, his wife and some staff, Dr. Winnie Pernia and two colleagues from the Philippine Society of Pathologists.
At the start, some participants worried they may not be able to laugh, so I told them to just open their minds, drop their inhibitions, relax, and be ready to laugh, as there are warm- up exercises to make them laugh – as they had never laughed before! Unlike watching a comedy movie or reading a funny story where the mind still have to process what it is watching or reading before a person can laugh, or sometimes the person is simply not in the mood to laugh -- in Laughter Yoga, laughter serves as a body exercise that can therefore be done regardless of the person’s mood. In fact, it sets the person on the right, positive, happy mood. A person need not be happy to be able to laugh -- for basically Laughter-Yoga is to laugh for no reason at all.
A person can, with regular practice, train the body and mind to laugh at will and make laughter a second nature! Ho, ho, ha, ha, ha!
In this hi-tech, fast-paced, dizzying world, most people are so busy that they almost have no time to exercise. Stanford University’s Dr. William Fry has proven that 10 minutes of laughing heartily is equivalent to 30 minutes of cardio- pulmonary endurance workout on a rowing machine.
Laughter-Yoga is a unique well-being workout that combines fun and easy-to-do aerobic exercise with physiological and emotional benefits and stress reduction, such as:
- fun and easy – no postures, no skills to learn, nor special clothes or equipment required;
- provides a fast-powerful-no-sweat cardiovascular workout;
- reduces stress level quickly by as much as 75% or more and stay down as it helps build stress resistant;
- blood pressure and pulse rate drop as blood circulation improves;
- the lungs are well exercised and cleansed of stale residual air;
- healthier deep breathing is learned and adopted;
- the blood and major organs get fully oxygenated, leaving one bursting with energy;
- hearty laughter improves mood within minutes by releasing Endorphins, the body’s natural pain killers, and mood enhancer;
- lifts depression – even chronic depression may be cured;
- boosts self-confidence, creativity and improves a person’s communication skills.
Made fully aware of the multi-dimensional healthful benefits Laughter Yoga brings about, the highly-motivated-and-challenged participants gave their all. Everyone gamely and actively participated! What ensued was a highly-energized, hilariously- inspiring Laughter Yoga session. Janet Santos, a participant, expected jokes to be cracked, only to find out Laughter Yoga is vastly different from what she earlier envisioned. Pleasantly surprised was she at the many kinds of laughter introduced, on the healing mantras and affirmation, and on her-newly-discovered-spontaneous-laughing ability. In fact, for Janet’s birthday bash next month, she wants Laughter Yoga to be the centerpiece of her unusual celebration to make it truly memorable and unforgettable.
A Laughter Yoga enthusiasts, who have attended four sessions is Jane Denosta, whose sister is suffering from cancer. She was very glad to know that, according to the research done by Dr. Madan Kataria, a typical Laughter Yoga session releases endorphins, the body’s natural pain killer, that relieves cancer and other sick patients of pain for least two hours.
Amused and surprised were the participants to know that by clapping the Laughter-Yoga way, some acupressure points are touched that increases energy flow to our bodies. That the seemingly simple act of saying “ho, ho, ha, ha, ha” aloud produces a rhythmic movement of the diaphragm that gives healthful benefits. They, most especially the ladies, were all eyes and ears when I mentioned the anti-aging, anti-wrinkle effect, and benefits on the throat and thyroid gland that Lion Laughter dishes out. They went agog when I demonstrated Lion Laughter -- one of the over 30 kinds of laughter that Dr. Madan Kataria introduced. Visibly happy and truly satisfied, the participants asked if i can conduct Laughter Yoga on a regular basis. A certain number of participants though is required for a Laughter Yoga session, and for me, the more number of participants … the better, easier, and much, much more fun.
Dr. Winnie Pernia, who cannot contain his amazement, has included Laughter Yoga for the 58th annual convention of the Philippine Society for Pathologists (PSP) slated on April 24th at the Diamond Hotel,
asked me to share, in addition to the regular LYoga session, some eye
therapy exercises that help me got back my normal vision for five years now, with the 250 doctors attending PSP’s fellowship night.
Since its inception last year, grateful for the full support of THE PHILIPPINE STAR, Laughter Yoga has gone a long way, and intends to put up as many Laughter Yoga all over our beloved land. People with the same mindset, who love to laugh freely and unconditionally and help others, are invited. During these times when people are challenged and tested like they have never been before -- Laughter Yoga is the most convenient, easiest vehicle to ease burden in the most positive way, and greatly assist in coping with the demands of our highly-volatile economic and political situation in this rapidly-changing world we live in.
LET’S LAUGH! HO, HO, HA, HA, HA!!! |
