Why you should add laughing yoga to your list of things to try

When I first saw the sign, conveniently located before my eyes, I knew I needed to inquire.

 

It read, “Laughing Yoga: Join Us and Add a Smile to Your a Day,” and I mean, who wouldn’t want to stop for that? I cautiously approached the woman sitting in her lawn chair and asked, “Is this the laughing yoga class?” She giddily jumped from her chair, introduced herself and told me that I was indeed in the right place.

 

She began by informing me that “laughing yoga” was not to be interpreted as it was named. “We don’t stretch and laugh, and we don’t just stand around telling jokes,” she started. “Laughing yoga is about exercising your laugh and the many muscles in your body that benefit from it. It’s also about letting free and doing whatever your little heart desires.” She informed us that if we, at any point, felt uncomfortable, we could stop whenever we wanted. Additionally, if we wanted to do anything different from what she was instructing, we had total freedom in our choice of actions.

 

Excited to see just how free I could get, I decided to stick around until the class began. She led us through multiple exercises designed to regulate breathing and increase volume and tone of laughter.

 

We acted like fools in the middle of the park and ignored as hundreds of onlookers passed by, interested to see why in the world we were being so loud. I am not kidding when I say that laughing the way I did that day has never felt so needed. I left with sore jaw muscles and a belly feeling as if I had done three thousand sit ups.

 

My mood changed, my smile brightened and my confidence skyrocketed. In just one thirty minute class, this lady was able to change my attitude and exercise something that I had never thought about exercising before.

 

I wouldn’t say that “laughing yoga” is going to become a regular routine of mine, but it is definitely something to be tried at least once in your life.

 

In the end, you don’t lose anything. You only gain a funny story to tell your friends and laugh about later.