While I was in California, I decided to take a walk on the beach one morning. As I was walking, I kept hearing people laughing, like honest to goodness belly laughter. As I approached the sounds of childlike laughter, I saw a group of women and decided to ask them “What’s so funny?”
They proceeded to tell me about Laughter Yoga.
I am in the biz, so I have heard of this type of yoga class before, but I had never had the chance to participate. I knew that Laughter Yoga was a unique style of yoga that combines laughter and simple yoga-inspired breathing exercises to bring joy and well-being into your life. It’s not traditional yoga with complicated poses but rather a playful and engaging activity. In Laughter Yoga, you intentionally laugh– without any need for jokes or humor.
They asked me to join them. I thought “What the heck, no one knows me here.” I instantly felt like an awkward clown-wannabe. Clearly, I had never taken a Laughter Yoga class before. I stood there waiting to be entertained.
I felt slightly out of place, almost like an investment banker with no sense of humor. This isn’t like any other yoga class I’ve attended, I started wondering if I should leave. I thought to myself what if Laughter Yoga is code for some strange cult? I breathed in slowly, and told myself to stay and give it a chance.
Dawn introduced herself as the “laughter leader” and told me that we would begin with a laughter dance, that she demonstrated. We were told to follow her and soon we were parading around the beach while mimicking her dance, clapping and singing, “HO, HO, HA, HA, HA!”
Yes, I felt goofy. Yes, it was silly. But after a few minutes, I was with them laughing for no reason and frolicking with giggling strangers. As Dawn guided us through combined laughter and breathing prompts (my favorite was an inhale followed by an exhale followed by a laugh), I felt a massive sense of stress leaving my body. Unexpected silliness and joy filled my spirit, and though I didn’t know any of my laughter yoga participants, strangely I felt connected to them just by laughing with them. It was at that moment I truly learned the power of laughter.
As I walked back to the car, I asked myself, “What in the world just happened?”
There’s no doubt that laughter and humor are effective coping mechanisms and great ways to manage stress. Some health professionals consider laughing as one of the greatest coping mechanisms. When we cope with life’s obstacles better, we have a greater chance of maintaining a positive outlook, healthy mood, the possibility of successfully overcoming obstacles, and of avoiding paralysis when met with life’s inevitable sadness.
There’s no excuse. We all need to laugh more often!