Laughter Yoga Therapy

Laughter Yoga is one of the latest yoga-inspired trends, as evidenced by recent features on the Oprah Winfrey Show and CNN. But although it originated in India and definitely includes laughing, don't expect much yoga if you attend a Laughter Yoga class.

According to Dr. Madan Kataria, in 1995 having written on the health benefits of laughter, convened a group of students in a Mumbai, India park to test whether incorporating regular laughter into people's lives would improve their well being. Though at first he relied on telling jokes to get the laughter started, he soon discovered that simulating laughter (chanting HO HO HO and HA HA HA) offered the same benefits as (and often led to) the real thing. A student of yoga, Kataria also incorporated deep breathing and simple stretches into his sessions.
Medical research has suggested that laughing is a good way to reduce stress and stimulate the release of the body's feel-good hormones (endorphins). Kataria's Laughter Clubs, as well as other forms of laughter therapy, are popping up all over. Kataria even offers laughter conference calls for those who don't have a local Laughter Club.