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The segment introduces laughter yoga as a gentle but vigorous wellness practice and explains its breathing-based approach. It also describes its origins and worldwide growth.
Senior Living On Location is produced by Senior Living media celebrating seniors in our
community this is about as quiet as you'll hear this classget who knew there was a funny side to yoga 72-year-old Jean Furby teaches laughter Yoga a revolutionary yet simplistic idea currently sweeping the world it's a very vigorous activity it works all your whole body your internal organs geta workout so you're getting a massage all through your intestines all through your pancreas and your liver and your kidneys everything is getting a workout all the breathing spaces are opening up it's for pain relief now this well-beingexercise is the brainchild of Dr Madan cataria a physician from India he launched the first left Club in 1995 with a small group of people and today well it's become a worldwide Phenomenon with more than 6,000 social laughterclubs in about 60 countries so laughter itself is a profound exhalation and what we do in lter yoga is we work with breathing we work with the lower breathing space the middle breathing space the upper breathing space ideally
I want people to begin to learn to breathe from the lower breathing space take a a breath in hold it and laugh it
Jean explains how he discovered laughter yoga after his wife's stroke and how it helped him cope with pain and depression. The chapter also outlines how laughter yoga works and why fake laughter can still produce real benefits.
out Jean discovered laughter Yoga three years ago after his wife Sarah had a stroke they were taking a stroll through a park and stumbled across a laughter Yoga class they were invited to participate and they saw the benefitsright away uh after the thing was over I felt so good it was just an amazing experience uh Sarah loved it she was in her chair and um we were both laughing the most we laughed in years becausewe cried a lot back then oh no I made amistake shortly after Jean embarked on becoming a certified laugh yoga instructor now he's not only found a way to release his pain and depression but share this profound concept of well-being with others laughter meditation is different from anyother kind of meditation that people typically do because in laughter meditation we simply laugh laughter Yoga combines unconditional laughter with yoga breathing you don't rely on humor or jokes or comedy you just chuckle and it soon turns into
real and contagious laughter I worked with some folks the other day that are all wheelchair bound and they're not very vigorous so I timed them and they were able to laugh for 30 seconds before they wore out andjust couldn't laugh anymore but in laughter Yoga for people who have been taking it for a while you develop stamina for laughing you improve your breathing you improve the the tone of the muscles through your diaphragm so welaugh sometimes for 5 to 10 minutes without stopping the concept of laughter Yoga is based on scientific fact that the body can't differentiate between fake and real laughter Apparently one gets the same physiological and psychological benefits in otherwords laughter Yoga invites you to fake it until it becomes real
Participants describe the emotional release, relaxation, and confidence they gain from the classes. The transcript highlights the playful, social nature of the practice and its appeal to seniors and aspiring trainers.
excellent excellent after yoga has really opened things up for me it makes me feel good and uh it's one of the best things that happened to me in the last year laughter Yoga makes it easier for me todeal with some of the little bumps that I come across in life part of laughter Yoga is childlike play and we pretend and use our imaginations Okay ready we're in a big hurry let's get there okay here wego green light
red
light I started in September and uh was actually feeling a bit of anxiety and such and so I wanted to go somewhere that would make me feel good and release and yeah so and it did that instantly ohit's a tremendous release and relaxation
mainly it's so good for your spirit your body everything I've been coming for a year now and I do it twice a week formally and every day at home and I like it so much I'm going to becomea certified laughter Yoga trainer this new wave of therapeutic exercise is becoming a popular form of Health and Wellness for all ages but more and more seniors are discovering laughter Yoga as a fun way to socialize and improvetheir overall mental and physical health and for some it's opening the door for a new career even at first glance you can't help but smile and by the end of the class everyone's laughing without exception laughter Yoga is
The closing section shares quick facts comparing laughter to exercise and sleep, along with its effects on stress and immunity. It ends with a playful reminder to smile more often.
so contagious that clubs are springing up just about
everywhere now here's some interesting facts about this howling exercise did you know that 10 minutes of laughter equates to 30 minutes on the treadmill or the fact that laughter lowers levels of cortisol in the body and cortisol isknown to suppress the immune system a and would you believe that 15 minutes of uninterrupted laughter equals the benefit of 2 hours
sleep 13 muscles are used to smile we use 47 to frown so statistically it's easier to smile than to frown and you need to smile nearly a quar of a million times to make one wrinkle so don't beafraid to smile