What is Laughter Yoga?

It is the practice of laughter as a form of exercise, free of the need for jokes or funny stories, where yogic breathing is integrated with intentional laughter techniques. Participants find that laughter contributes to their total well being, which brings about peace in their body, mind and spirit. When an individual feels at peace with themselves, they interact with others in a more peaceful way, and joy and peace ripple out to others. Laughter Yoga is committed to World Peace through laughter.

No Laughing Matter

On March 13, 1995, Dr. Madan Kataria (a medical physician) and his wife, Madhuri (a yoga teacher) began the first laughter club at a park in Mumbai (Bombay), India. Laughter Yoga was promoted in the USA as “therapeautic laughter” by a psychologist, Steve Wilson, and today there are over 8,000 laughter clubs in the world, with over 300,000 members. This is no laughing matter, and science has proven that laughter, when practiced either in a group or solo, brings about physical changes:

• lowers blood pressure
• increases those “feel good” chemicals (endorphins) which relieve stress, depression, anxiety, and are a natural pain reliever
• improves respiration, digestion, and elimination by “internally jogging” the organs of the body
• dilates blood vessels and improves circulation
• boosts the immune system

As a form of exercise, Laughter Yoga contributes to one’s health, inside and out!

Must one Have a Sense of Humor?

Many people believe that one must have a sense of humor to laugh. Many believe that a sense of humor is about telling funny stories or jokes; however, a sense of humor is about the capacity to perceive, relate and experience a given situation in a funnier and more amusing way. Children do this easily, and childlike playfulness is an important part of Laughter Yoga. Children do not laugh because they have a sense of humor, but because it is their nature to be joyful for absolutely no reason! As adults, it is often difficult to laugh for no reason, but it is scientifcally proven that if you “fake it until you make it”, the body does not know the difference, and still produces “happy chemicals”.

Laughter Club

The free No Reason Laughter Club meets

Sundays from 10:15 - 10:45 AM at the Unity Church, 145 S. Arizona, in Prescott. (This street is the street that has a light and if you turn one way, you end up at Ken Lindley field and the skatepark; if you turn the correct way, it takes you to the Unity Church)

Thursdays from 5:30 - 6:30 PM at the Creekside Center, 337 N. Rush St., Prescott. (This is the street between Yavapai College and the Airport Shuttle, which the Dream Suites is also on.)