Mauie Flores

Remember when I wrote about how laughing can help in weight loss? Well, whadaayaknow! Laughing brings more benefits than just weight loss. I attended my first Laughter Yoga event yesterday and it was such a laugh trip!



Laughter yoga was developed by Dr. Madan Kataria, an Indian physician. It combines unconditional laughter with proper breathing techniques. Laughter is initiated as a group exercise through eye contact and childlike playfulness. Personally, I think that what made me laugh out so much yesterday was because the laughter of our yoga leader was contagious. It's actually the sound of his laughter that made me laugh, LOL! We were also taught how to breathe properly, inhaling through the nose and exhaling for a longer time. Aside from that, we moved and goofed around which made laughing even easier.



Laughter yoga has been said to improve the conditions of people with arthritis, allergies, and depression. It has also brought benefits to diabetics. Keiko Hayashi of the University of Tsukuba in Japan says that laughter helps process blood sugar (read more about it on Laughteryoga.org).



Laughter yoga really was a worthwhile experience for me. I'm sure that it even healed my body a little. In fact, I felt warm right after, just like what I would feel after working out. A pulse oximeter would definitely show how fast my pulse rate was after doing nothing but laughing around. Our laughter yoga instructor for that day, Mr. Paolo Martin Trinidad, is doing volunteer work spreading the benefits of laughter yoga to prisoners in jails in Metro Manila. I hope that laughter yoga will be promoted more in the Philippines. It's practically affordable because you won't need any paraphernalia. Just make sure that you wouldn't look foolish laughing at yourself. ;-p



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