Laughter Yoga

You tend to think that you need jokes, funny movies, comedians, silly accidents, or just plain goofiness in order to laugh. If you are wanting to remember to laugh and have fun, join us at our laughter yoga sessions.

In fact, pre-school children laugh or smile 300-400 times a day. You can see it in their faces even when nothing special is happening. The reality for adults is that number drops to only 15 times a day by the time you reach age 35.

According to a study by Dr. Michael Titze, a German Psychologist, people laughed an average of 18 minutes a day in the 50′s, but today that is down to 4-6 minutes a day. When was the last time you laughed that much in one day?

Have you ‘lost’ your sense of humor? Did your life become too complicated? Were you told that it was not appropriate to laugh? Do you feel that life is too serious to allow yourself to laugh? Have you just forgotten how to laugh?

Laughter encourages and empowers you to actively participate in your health care. You do not need any fancy or expensive equipment. You do not need to wear special clothes or have a prescription filled. Recent research proved that laughter is a powerful form of complementary medicine and that just 10-20 minutes of fake or real laughter has a profound effect on the human body.

You may feel that you have to have a stimulus package that will give you permission to laugh. So let me give you some reasons why it is important to laugh.

  1. It is easier to smile than frown because it only takes 13 muscles to smile while it takes 47 muscles to frown…so you could actually create fewer wrinkles by smiling.
  2. Fifteen minutes of laughter equals the benefit of 2 hours of sleep…so when you are tired, laugh, and you will be refreshed.
  3. One good belly laugh can burn off 2 calories…sounds like a better exercise routine than the treadmill.
  4. Laughing for 15 seconds adds 2 days to your life span…so laughing for 45 minutes will add one year to your life!

There’s now scientific proof that laughter is contagious, so all you need is to start laughing. Laughter Yoga is a unique and proven method that helps release physical, mental and emotional stress. Laughter Yoga is a unique concept of unconditional laughter, according to this, anyone can Laugh for No Reason. It does not rely on jokes, humor or comedy. It initiates laughter as a form of an exercise in a group, and as the laughter sessions progress; laughter becomes real and contagious.

Laughter Yoga for the Business World

The corporate world can truly benefit from Laughter Yoga. These 5 categories can help you explain how Laughter Yoga is so well suited to building stronger businesses.

1. Reduces Stress: Laughter Yoga is the quickest, most effective, most economical way to help employees reduce stress. This helps prevent worker burnout and absenteeism from stress-related illness.

2. Creates Emotional Well-Being: Laughter Yoga helps employees balance and manage their emotional lives. This smoothes work-place relations and helps people develop a work-life balance.

3. Promotes Peak Performance: Laughter Yoga increases the net supply of oxygen to the body and brain, thus, promoting peak performance. The brain requires 25% more oxygen than the rest of the body. The laughing and deep yoga breathing of Laughter Yoga enables the brain to attain this much-need oxygen supply so that it can function at its highest level.

4. Enhances Creativity: The playfulness of Laughter Yoga frees right-brained thinking, the basis of all creativity. Out of this creativity new ideas and concepts can grow, giving your business the edge it needs to move forward.

5. Builds Team Spirit: Laughter Yoga connects people and this builds team spirit. Communication skills are enhanced and employees engage with one another in a helpful, mutually-supportive environment.

Laughter Yoga for Seniors

Here are 4 important points explain how Laughter Yoga is so well suited to helping seniors live fully and meaningfully.

1. Adds More Laughter to Life: Laughter Yoga is ideally suited to helping seniors live a more laughing life. It does not rely upon a sense of humor or cognitive function. Therefore, anyone can laugh heartily. It also helps people understand that they do not need a reason to laugh.

2. Promotes Physical Health: Laughter Yoga is a great form of exercise. Because it is fun, people are willing to engage in it even if they are not otherwise willing to exercise. Laughing increases heart health, boosts the immune system, relieves pain naturally, lowers blood sugar quickly, and frees up deep breathing. All of these things bring much needed health benefits to seniors.

3. Supports Good Mental Health: Many seniors suffer from depression, frustration and anger. As they lose loved ones and their health it becomes increasingly difficult to maintain a positive mental attitude. Laughter Yoga changes a person’s biochemistry in a way that supports good mental health regardless of their circumstances.

4. Increases Social Connection: Laughter Yoga allows for strong social bonding with friends, relatives, fellow residents at care facilities as well as care givers and medical personnel. Even persons with dementia can forge meaningful connections with Laughter Yoga. This development of friendship decreases loneliness and increases quality of life.

Contact Norma at norma@thebodyknowsbest.com  to schedule a laughter yoga session to enjoy the benefits of laughing for no reason.

If you no longer know how to laugh, join a laughter yoga group near you. If you live in the Phoenix area, go to www.meetup.com/Valley-of-the-Sun-Laughter to learn how to laugh for no reason. If you live somewhere else in the world, go to http://www.laughteryoga.org/ to find a club near you.

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