Laugh More, Stress Less
People are milling around Lauren Forney's yoga studio in Red Bank, weaving shoulder-to-shoulder through the crowd, clapping in unison, and reciting the words "Ho-Ho-Ha-Ha-Ha." They start to tickle themselves - then each other. Suddenly, their forced laughlike chant erupts into a peal of genuine glee. Welcome to Laughter Yoga, a concept that began in 1995 when Madan Kataria, an M.D. known as the "Giggling Guru," launched a laughter club in Mumbai, India.
Since then, Kataria has helped create more than 6,000 Laughter Yoga clubs worldwide, including several in New Jersey. Participants do not simply burn off steam, but are reaping a bounty of health benefits, such as releasing endorphins (those feel-good hormones in the brain), improving circulation, and losing weight - a 45-minute session of Laughter Yoga can burn 50 calories.
"Laughter reduces stress, improves your attitude, beats depression, boosts your immune system, lowers blood pressure, helps your digestion, increases oxygen to the lungs, and improves sleep," says Forney, a holistic health counselor and yoga instructor who became a certified Laughter Yoga instructor two years ago. "When you walk out that door, you really do feel lighter. You feel happy, like a weight has been taken off of you. You can spend that whole hour faking it, but your body doesn't really know the difference between a fake laugh and a real laugh, so you're still going to reap those benefits."
Arnold Scham, M.D., a psychiatrist and medical director of hospice and palliative care at Valley Hospital in Ridgewood, says that while the physiological effects of laughing have not been subject to rigorous scientific study, plenty of observational evidence points to the medicinal value of laughter. Scham says studies have found that laughter increases a substance in the blood known as immunoglobulin, which helps boost the immune system. Laughter has been shown to diminish levels of the hormones cortisol and epinephrine, thus relieving stress. "It's not a surprise that laughter would make people feel better just for its ability to take their minds off of what's ailing them," he says.
The premise of Laughter Yoga is to get people laughing without the use of jokes or gags - laughter for laughter's sake. Laughter Yoga uses the mind-body connection to improve its practitioners' state of mind with physical gestures, body movements, and, of course, laughing. Workshops might have students engage in deep-breathing yogic exercises known as pranayama or in childlike gibberish.
"We're all born with this gift," says yoga instructor Yvette Halpin, who leads a Laughter Yoga group at Trinity United Church in Warren Township. "Scientists, researchers, and doctors are beginning to realize what a valuable tool laughter is. They should be writing prescriptions for this."
And in a way, they are. Using humor to improve health is a growing initiative at New Jersey hospitals. Fifteen years ago, Valley Hospital began circulating a humor cart, filled with books, films, and cartoons, to patients in its cancer ward. And at St. Joseph's Children's Hospital in Paterson, young patients can tune into Giggles Children's Theater to watch twice-weekly variety shows put on by volunteer performers at a 70-seat studio inside the hospital.
Psychologist Paul McGhee, a former Montclair resident, has studied humor and laughter for more than 20 years and often speaks on the subject to businesses. These days, given a precarious economy, his business is booming. "The reason people come to me is that if you're going to ask, or rather demand, more of your employees, then you've got to give them some skills that support their ability to do that," McGhee says. "You've got to give your employees tools to help them remain emotionally resilient. And there's evidence that humor does that."
For more information on Laughter Yoga, visit laughteryoga.org.
Discover 7 humor habits at http://www.njlhealthandbeauty.com/health/laugh-more-stress-less/
Since then, Kataria has helped create more than 6,000 Laughter Yoga clubs worldwide, including several in New Jersey. Participants do not simply burn off steam, but are reaping a bounty of health benefits, such as releasing endorphins (those feel-good hormones in the brain), improving circulation, and losing weight - a 45-minute session of Laughter Yoga can burn 50 calories.
"Laughter reduces stress, improves your attitude, beats depression, boosts your immune system, lowers blood pressure, helps your digestion, increases oxygen to the lungs, and improves sleep," says Forney, a holistic health counselor and yoga instructor who became a certified Laughter Yoga instructor two years ago. "When you walk out that door, you really do feel lighter. You feel happy, like a weight has been taken off of you. You can spend that whole hour faking it, but your body doesn't really know the difference between a fake laugh and a real laugh, so you're still going to reap those benefits."
Arnold Scham, M.D., a psychiatrist and medical director of hospice and palliative care at Valley Hospital in Ridgewood, says that while the physiological effects of laughing have not been subject to rigorous scientific study, plenty of observational evidence points to the medicinal value of laughter. Scham says studies have found that laughter increases a substance in the blood known as immunoglobulin, which helps boost the immune system. Laughter has been shown to diminish levels of the hormones cortisol and epinephrine, thus relieving stress. "It's not a surprise that laughter would make people feel better just for its ability to take their minds off of what's ailing them," he says.
The premise of Laughter Yoga is to get people laughing without the use of jokes or gags - laughter for laughter's sake. Laughter Yoga uses the mind-body connection to improve its practitioners' state of mind with physical gestures, body movements, and, of course, laughing. Workshops might have students engage in deep-breathing yogic exercises known as pranayama or in childlike gibberish.
"We're all born with this gift," says yoga instructor Yvette Halpin, who leads a Laughter Yoga group at Trinity United Church in Warren Township. "Scientists, researchers, and doctors are beginning to realize what a valuable tool laughter is. They should be writing prescriptions for this."
And in a way, they are. Using humor to improve health is a growing initiative at New Jersey hospitals. Fifteen years ago, Valley Hospital began circulating a humor cart, filled with books, films, and cartoons, to patients in its cancer ward. And at St. Joseph's Children's Hospital in Paterson, young patients can tune into Giggles Children's Theater to watch twice-weekly variety shows put on by volunteer performers at a 70-seat studio inside the hospital.
Psychologist Paul McGhee, a former Montclair resident, has studied humor and laughter for more than 20 years and often speaks on the subject to businesses. These days, given a precarious economy, his business is booming. "The reason people come to me is that if you're going to ask, or rather demand, more of your employees, then you've got to give them some skills that support their ability to do that," McGhee says. "You've got to give your employees tools to help them remain emotionally resilient. And there's evidence that humor does that."
For more information on Laughter Yoga, visit laughteryoga.org.
Discover 7 humor habits at http://www.njlhealthandbeauty.com/health/laugh-more-stress-less/
