There is a new way to experience the art of laughter: mixing Yoga and lots of “ho-ho, hee-hee’s.” Originating in India, Laughter Yoga has become a popular way to release endorphins and relax.
Salt Lake Community College offers a Laughing Yoga class for fitness credit through the Health and Lifetime Activities department. Taught by Delan Jensen and Julie Pugmire, the class includes lectures about health and wellness, stress management and laughing exercises.
“When you laugh, you feel relaxed in your body. For me, when I am happy, I feel relaxed,” said student Patricia Gamarra.
Laughter can help people cope with stress and anger. The human body needs to have the stimulation that stems from laughter. When a person laughs, it causes blood to start flowing throughout the body. Laughter is a healthy part of living.
“Laughter is a normal thing for us to do. It’s natural for us to want to laugh. Our body reacts to laughter in a way that helps you relieve stress. When you laugh and you do a big hearty laugh, it’s like internal jogging for the organs in the body. It gets the body stimulated,” said certified Laughter Yoga leader Julie Pugmire.
Each session of Laughter Yoga consists of breathing, clapping, body movement and laughter exercises.
Instructors will have students lie on the floor on their backs and laugh. Before long everyone is laughing, and the blood gets flowing.
“There are three things that are contagious: yawning, germs and laughter. When someone yawns, we all start yawning. When someone laughs, we all laugh,” said Delan Jensen, certified Laughter Yoga leader. “An adult laughs only 14 to 17 times a day, [while] a child will laugh up to 400 times a day. What we’re bringing back is that child-like happiness. The more you laugh, the happier you are.”
Many would agree that the average human does not laugh enough throughout the day. Laughter is a way to relieve stress and cope with issues that are difficult in life. Laughter is associated with happiness, which can be hard to come by in a taxing world.
“Humans are more worried about different things. They forget that happiness is important,” said student Patricia Gamarra.
