Have you ever heard of Laughter Yoga? Does the idea of laughing for exercise make you laugh? When I stumbled upon a description of Laughter Yoga, I thought it was a joke but it is an actual practice. Here’s an excellent video that describes the basic concept and the benefits:
Benefits of Laughter Yoga with John Cleese
[November 2023 Update: This video above was taken down and I was unable to find an exact replacement, but this one from John Cleese comes close. Enjoy!]
The benefits of laughter for stress relief are well documented. Even the Mayo Clinic has written about the subject and offered tips (http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/stress-relief/SR00034). One thing that has been made clear from several studies is that your body can’t tell the difference between forced laughter and real laughter. And you may discover that if you force yourself to laugh long enough, your laughter will become real, especially if you are with a group of people. Have you ever noticed that when a friend is laughing, you can’t help but laugh with them, even if you don’t know what they’re laughing about?
Laughter is a free activity, is enjoyable and is contagious. What are some ways you can incorporate more laughter into your life? What are the benefits you’ve personally found from laughter? Please share.