An afternoon of Laughter Yoga

I came across two articles on the benefits of laughter last week.

One was through e-mail about a study conducted by the University Of Maryland School Of Medicine which was presented at the European Society of Cardiology Congress in Paris last August 28.

The article written by Rick Nauert PhD, senior news editor of psychcentral.com, it said volunteers watched segments of a funny movie, such as “There’s Something About Mary” on one day and on another day watched the violent opening segment of the stressful movie “Saving Private Ryan.”

The study revealed that when volunteers watched “Saving Private Ryan,”, their blood vessel lining developed a potentially unhealthy response called vasoconstriction, reducing blood flow. “This finding confirms previous studies, which suggested there was a link between mental stress and the narrowing of blood vessels,” the article said.

“The magnitude of change we saw in the endothelium (or inner cell wall of a blood vessel), after laughing was consistent and similar to the benefit we might see with aerobic exercise or statin use,” said Dr. Michael Miller, the lead investigator.

The article said “The endothelium has a powerful effect on blood vessel tone and regulates blood flow, adjusts coagulation and blood thickening, and produces chemicals in response to injury and inflammation. .. It is the first line in the development of atherosclerosis or hardening of the arteries, so it is very possible that laughing on a regular basis may be useful to incorporate as part of an overall healthy lifestyle to prevent heart disease.”

Another report by Agence France Presse datelined Paris showed that a study by the Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology at the University of Oxford showed that 15 minutes of laughter increased the level of pain tolerance of a person by around ten percent.
Robin Dunbar, head of the Institute said the protection apparently comes from endorphins, a complex chemical that helps to transmit messages between neurons but also dulls signals of physical pain and psychological stress.

“Endorphins are the famous product of physical exercise—they help create the “buzz” that comes from running, swimming, rowing, yoga and so on,” the article said.

“In laughter, the release comes from an involuntary, repeated muscular exertion that comes from exhaling without drawing a breath, the scientists believe. The exertion leaves us exhausted and thereby triggers the endorphins,” the article further said.

Endorphins are believed to be anti-cancer.

I had an endorphin-producing session last week when I was introduced to Laughter Yoga.

My friend, Marilen Romero, has a friend, Leah Siton Steigerwald,her classmate at the UP College of Law, who took up instructor’s course of Laughter Yoga in London and was interested to share her knowledge with others.

Off we went to Leah’s Forbes Park home.

That where I learned that Laughter Yoga was the brainchild of Dr. Madan Kataria, a physician from Mumbai, India.

It’s a revolutionary exercise based on a scientific fact that the body cannot differentiate between fake and real laughter. One gets the same physiological and psychological benefits.

The first thing that Leah taught us was how to breathe properly (through the nose). We thought of different situations, even the most trivial, then laughed about it.

What Leah discouraged was laughing at other people’s physical defects or misery. That’s not funny at all.

In every routine, we established eye contact with others and the laughter became contagious. After 20 minutes, we were all sweating.

Dr. Kataria launched Laughter Yoga in 1995 with a handful of friends in a park in Mumbai. There are now thousands of Laughter Yoga Clubs all over the world. It is also being used in hospitals because as the University of Oxford study said, laughter is effective in reducing pain.

While scientists dissect the secret of laughter, my unscientific mind tells me laughter is a manifestation of positive attitude in dealing with life, both its travails and joys. Indeed, laughter is the best medicine and it doesn’t cost a cent. Hahahahaha!