Laughter yoga for wellness

Laughter yoga is a wellness practice that combines laughter exercises with movement and yogic deep-breathing techniques. 

The beauty of laughter yoga lies in its simplicity and inclusivity – anyone can participate, regardless of age, fitness level, or prior yoga experience and there’s no ‘wrong’ way of doing it. 

Sessions start with warm-up exercises for the voice & body, and I'll encourage you to make noise, take up space, relax into it and shake off any inhibitions. 

We then move onto facilitated laughter exercises. You'll move around the space connecting with the other participants and letting out your inner playfulness. Your laughter will be forced to start with, but laughter is contagious and spontaneous laughter always follows shortly afterwards, rolling around the group. 

The session generally ends with a laughter meditation to let the laughter flow, followed by a grounding relaxation exercise to bring you back down to earth. 

You're definitely not alone in this worry! 

At the start of a session I’ll acknowledge these emotions and run through some exercises to push away the awkwardness & allow you to relax and let go of your inhibitions. Most people find that the the unease dissipates quite quickly and that the benefits outweigh the temporary discomfort. Here's a testimonial to reassure you: 

"I cannot recommend Elspeth’s laughter yoga highly enough!  

It was just brilliant, obvs with a great facilitator…., and I'd encourage you to give it a chance if you’ve not tried before.  I felt a bit awkward at first but soon got into the flow and then couldn’t stop laughing, literally crying with laughter and my sides ached.  Great work out and tension release, and just felt so happy afterwards.  I’ll be going again for sure." 

Kerry

You'll feel amazing! 

Likely elated, lighter, brighter, refreshed, energised and tired from all the laughing!  Some people do find that they cry as well as laugh, but that's ok and both laughter and tears are a great release for your body. 

I often get feedback from participants they feel alive, connected and their bodies are tingling. Sounds good doesn't it! 

This is not yoga in the traditional sense, there are no downward dogs involved. 

Laughter yoga is a combination of movement, breathing and facilitated laughter exercises so think getting out of your head and into your body, moving, connecting & laughing rather than balancing upside down! 

To that end, wear layers that you can take off as you warm up, comfortable clothes that you are happy moving around in. Depending on the time of year, you may want warm socks, with warm layers or a blanket to put on for the closing relaxation.  

Bring a bottle of water to all sessions, you might feel like you've done a bit of exercise!

During indoor sessions, we'll generally finish with a lying down laughter meditation and relaxation so bring your own yoga mat if you have one. 

Don’t worry if you don’t have a yoga mat,  for sessions at Burpham Yurt, there will be mats available and you could bring a blanket to pop over it. 

Outdoor sessions - I'll email in advance of the date to let you know what to bring. 

The beauty of laughter yoga lies in its simplicity and inclusivity – anyone can participate, regardless of age, fitness level, or prior yoga experience.

However, laughter yoga is like any other aerobic exercise and should you experience any pain, discomfort and breathlessness, you should stop and take medical advice. 

Laughing involves some physical strain and a rise in intra-abdominal pressure.  As such, it is therefore contraindicated for those with the following conditions, or anything else with acute symptoms:

• Hernia
• Incontinence
• Bleeding or hemorrhoids
• Heart problems with chest pain
• Pregnancy - caution should be taken & medical advice sought prior to participation by women with a history of miscarriage & those in last 2 months of pregnancy
• Severe backache /prolapsed spinal discs
• Major surgery in previous 3 months
• Epilepsy

Those with cold /flu / Covid or other contagious disease should wait until they're better so as not to spread the virus to other participants.