Laughter Yoga
Lachyoga ( Hasya yoga or Yoga laughter ) is a form of yoga , wherein the gratuitous laughter ( Sanskrit Hasya ) is in the foreground. In laughter yoga, people should laugh at the motor level; an initially artificial laugh should change into real laugh. Laughter yoga exercises are a combination of clapping, stretching and breathing exercises, combined with pantomime exercises that encourage laughter. Eye contact and playful elements should make it easier for people to move from initially voluntary to free laughter and a state of childlike playfulness. “Fake it, until you make it” (loosely translated: “Pretend until it gets real”) is a practical instruction in laughter yoga practice lessons.
Origin and development
The technique of laughter yoga has its origin in the self-experiments of the science journalist Norman Cousins .
Laughter yoga was spread around the world by Madan Kataria , a general practitioner and yoga teacher from Mumbai . He combined yoga techniques with laughing exercises and developed a method that is supposed to make people laugh. He is inspired and supported by his wife Madhuri. Kataria founded the first laughter club in India in 1995 - in 2010 there were more than 6000 clubs worldwide. The Laughter Yoga Movement celebrates World Laughter Day on every first Sunday in May . At 2 p.m. Central European time, laugh yoga friends all over the world meet to send a global laughter to heaven for world peace for one minute.
Laughter yoga is sometimes also practiced outside of laughing clubs - in companies, fitness centers, yoga studios, centers for seniors, schools, colleges, universities, kindergartens, prisons, clinics and self-help groups.
laughing for no reason
Laughter yoga involves laughing without the help of jokes, because according to Kataria's theory, the effect of laughter is independent of the reason for the laughter. It is therefore not necessary to have a sense of humor. Eye contact and group dynamics create real laughter that spreads. Quote from Madan Kataria: "We don't laugh because we are happy - we are happy because we laugh!"
effect
When laughing, breathing is interrupted like a staccato. Breathing air is pushed out of the lungs by jerky movements of the diaphragm.
The results of laughter research ( gelotology ) indicate that laughter is healthy and increases general well-being. Laughing would release anti-inflammatory and analgesic substances, reduce stress hormones and strengthen the immune system. The oxygen exchange in the brain would also be increased, the cardiovascular system stimulated, breathing improved and the metabolism stimulated. Laughing can also help reduce stress.
Participants in laughter seminars report that afterwards they not only had a more positive mood, but were also more free and creative in their thinking. The participants are encouraged to cultivate laughter outside of the laughter seminars and to laugh as daily as possible.
Contraindications
Laughter yoga is advised against in the case of angina pectoris , diaphragmatic hernia , uncontrolled high blood pressure , urinary and fecal incontinence , herniated disc , aneurysm , glaucoma , fractured ribs, as well as in the case of severe depression or the use of psychotropic drugs.
swell
- ↑ Therapeutic experiences with laughter ( Memento of the original from October 10, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. by Michael Titze
- ↑ Laughter Yoga - how the idea came about ( Memento of the original from August 8, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Kleine Zeitung: Laughing Makes You Happy , January 9, 2013
- ^ Marieta Biel: Pedagogical Practice Munich
literature
- Christoph Emmelmann: The little laughter yoga book . Dtv, August 2007, ISBN 978-3-423-34429-6 .
- Christoph Emmelmann: LACHYOGA with CD . GU, February 2010, ISBN 978-3-8338-1821-9 .
- Madan Kataria: Laugh for no reason . Madhuri international, Mumbai, ISBN 3-928632-93-0 .
- Ellen Müller: Fortunately there is laughter: Laughter yoga - the way to serene serenity . Signum, 2008, ISBN 978-3-85436-404-7 .
- Anika Sendes: Laughter Yoga in Berlin , in: Materialdienst. Journal for questions of religion and belief, vol. 72 (2009) pp. 186–188. ISSN 0721-2402
- Gabriela Leppelt-Remmel: Laughter Yoga gives joy of life - 33 exercises to laugh along with , DVD, Vianova, March 2011, ISBN 978-3-86616-195-5 .
- Manfred Leitner, Annett Hoffmann: The small book of laughter exercises , Schwedhelm Verlag, 2010, ISBN 978-3-941317-04-8 .
- Alfred Kirchmayr ': Save the somersaults - Children's joke and the art of living, Edition Vabene, 2009, ISBN 978-3-85167-226-8
- Heiner Uber, Ute Liebhard: All you need is laugh - an audio essay about laughter , 2 CDs, complete media, 2010, ISBN 978-3-8312-6414-8