|
 |
How to
Get Rid of Bad Air with Laughter Yoga
By Irene C. Perez, Philippine Daily Inquirer
July 6, 2010
Philippines
Participants practice laughter
yoga
To understand Laughter Yoga is to experience it. The idea may sound silly, even desperate—to laugh for no reason, to fake being joyful and do group exercises you long gave up as a child. It has been met with doubt and sarcasm, but Laughter Yoga Pilipinas founder Paolo Trinidad is bent on spreading it around the country to make good vibes contagious and make Filipinos feel better.
We recently joined his class in Mandaluyong. At the end of the two-hour session, the interesting set of participants, which included seniors, yuppies and college students, all said they felt lighter, happier.
“First time kong mag-yoga,” said Elizabeth Ignacio, 55, a housewife who was recently diagnosed with a heart condition. “Nakatagal naman maski papano, dati wala namang ganyan, PE lang noon. Naibsan ang pagod, parang break sa mga trabaho sa bahay. Hindi ko alam na may ganito na tatawa ka talaga.”
She was hesitant to join the group exercises with her frail physical condition, but willingly went through all the activities.
Laughter Yoga is an odd concept. Several branches of yoga have gained following in the Philippines like Iyengar, Ashtanga and Bikram, but laughter and yoga together?
“Laughter Yoga is a revolutionary idea. You simulate laughter and combine it with traditional yoga breathing and postures. You fake it till you make it,” said Trinidad, who trained under Laughter Yoga founder Dr. Madan Kataria in Bangladore, India, last June.
Trinidad is building administrator of Lingap Karunungan Center in Mandaluyong, a multipurpose public hub with a library, center for special children, and kiddie playroom where he conducts weekly Laughter Yoga classes for free. He first read about Laughter Yoga in a newspaper article and attended the class of teacher Elvie Estavillo, who established Laughter Yoga Philippines. He wanted to make it accessible locally so he inquired on how to be a certified teacher.
“I took the chance and presented the idea to Mandaluyong Mayor Benjamin Abalos Jr., and said it would help the city hall employees a lot. I was praying and knew it was a long shot, so I was very surprised when he agreed to help fund my training. I was practicing yoga from the Art of Living Foundation, but when I experienced Laughter Yoga, I knew it would help a lot of people. It is very different.”
He finished his training and went back to the country by June 12; the next day, he held his first class in the center. To date, he has conducted classes for abused children of Hospicio de San Jose, cancer patients in Philippine General Hospital, Carmelite nuns, select schools and corporate groups.
Origin
Laughter Yoga was founded by physician Dr. Kataria in India on March 13, 1995. While doing research, he discovered that “our body cannot differentiate between pretend and genuine laughter. Both produced the same Happy Chemistry” that is beneficial to our well-being. He tested his theories and rounded up five people in a park, including his wife Madhuri, Laughter Yoga co-founder, in Mumbai.
From there, the first Laughter Club was established. The results were surprising; the pretend laughter became real laughter. Kataria, who had background in theater, developed exercises, including child-like role-playing combined with Pranayama exercises like deep breathing, stretching and meditation. There are now 6,000 Social Laughter Clubs in 60 countries.
Among its benefits are uplifted mood, toned body (it helps the body heal itself), better memory (Trinidad said his has improved since practicing), increased energy, strengthened immune system.
Benefits
Even longtime yoga practitioners can benefit from Laughter Yoga. Piano teacher Lally Abainza has been doing yoga with the Brahma Kumaris group and Qi Qong for 15 years. She was in the class with Ignacio, and was also a Laughter Yoga newbie.
“I feel energized and expanded. There is a release,” Abainza said during the break.
While Laughter Yoga is animated, fun and interactive, the energy level of the class depends on how cooperative the participants are. Trinidad said his approach has been adjusted for Filipinos who are shy or snobbish.
“The seniors, they are so easy to teach, they are so game. I have conducted this in the barangay level and everyone was cooperative. Kids are a challenge because they think you’re playing with them and you have to make them understand that it has a purpose. The difficult ones are students and corporate people, or those were just required to attend my class, but once they get the hang of it, they want more,” he said.
Open mind
The first requirement for Laughter Yoga is having an open mind. It is better to attend the class with people you don’t know because the more familiar the participants are with each other, the more inhibitions they have.
Laughing without anything funny is a crazy idea especially to the deeply depressed, but Trinidad is appealing to just try it.
“If you are not happy, you could stay that way or try to find ways to change your attitude. You could sulk, or laugh,” he said.
Dr. Kataria, in his website, said: “You don’t have to depend upon your mood to do something. You can change your mood at will. This can be explained by Theory of Motion creates Emotion… There is a well-established link between the body and the mind. Whatever happens to the mind happens to the body as well.”
Positive conditioning
Trinidad starts his class with an introduction. The students form a circle and everyone is asked to say their name and laugh afterwards: “Ako si… Paolo, hahaha.” By the time everyone is done with the roll call, you’d hear all sorts of laughter—small and pitchy, loud and low, Santa-inspired, witch-like. Hearing everyone laugh should break the ice and encourage shyness to be thrown out of the window.
Trinidad made explanations simple and easy to digest. He gave an overview and stressed the importance of breathing—“It is getting rid of bad air and letting in more oxygen.” He checked on those with physical conditions and reminded them to only do poses that are comfortable to them.
A typical Laughter Yoga session has four steps, according to www.laughteryoga.org:
Clapping and warm-up exercises, including gibberish or making sounds without meaning. This helps participants loosen up and “stabilize.”
Deep-breathing exercises
Childlike playfulness with fun activities done by twos or as a group, where eye contact is a must.
Laughter exercises, which are classified into yoga-based, playful exercises (with acting techniques that promote creativity) and value-based laughter exercises.
Breathing methods include “sipping air from a balloon” and alternately breathing on your left and right nostrils “to balance the left and right brain, logic and heart.”
This was followed with “smile medication” where you face everyone smiling, without showing any teeth.
“The idea is to let positive energy flow around, throw in the negative stuff and get rid of it,” Trinidad said.
The most difficult part of the class, said Ryan Joseph de la Paz, a graduating Occupational Therapy student from the University of Santo Tomas, is the “barbell exercise.” Trinidad instructed them to, while sitting down cross-legged, inhale as they hold an imaginary barbell across their chest and exhale as they stretch their hands upwards. This was done 20 times.
The exercise looked simple but it is tiring, said Joice Ordoñez, another OT student. “It is harder than it looks like, even for someone active. It would be good for those who are depressed.”
Unique workout
Practitioners in India do it an hour a day, said Trinidad, but laughing for 15 minutes daily in front of the mirror will do for starters, coupled with weekly sessions.
“Research proves that it burns 1.5 calories per minute, and 15 minutes of laughter yoga is equivalent to a 30-minute jog. It’s been promoted to be for people who are down, but even happy people should do it for the exercise factor.”
He also also thought them humming lessons where you say “hum” instead of the traditional “om,” a meditative practice for oneness and integration. The final activity was the festive “Ho Ho Ha Ha Dancing,” where the students laugh and clap in a circle that pretty much resembles a conga line of joyfulness.
Endorphins were running high by the cooling-down period and the room was filled with contented smiles. Before Trinidad dismissed the class, he warned them: “There is a possibility na maging malungkot kayo pagkatapos nito. That is normal, that is balance. But you’d be back to your okay mood again after that. Happiness is your choice.”
Copyright
© 2002 Global Action on Aging
Terms of Use | Privacy
Policy | Contact Us
|
