(Shanghai Daily)
Updated: 2008-02-22 10:49

Laughing is good for you, physically, mentally and emotionally. A "laughter yoga" workshop Sunday offers exercise in which you laugh out loud till your sides ache - and you feel great.

If you don't have a sense of humor, stop reading here. If you do, laughter yoga might be the class for you - exercise and laugh your way to fitness.

After a laughing fit, our sides ache. A good belly laugh exercises the diaphragm and abdominal muscles when the belly contracts. A real sustained howl even works out the shoulders, leaving muscles more relaxed.

Laughing provides a good workout for the heart and improves breathing capacity and circulation.

It's not only healthy, it's easy, it's fun, it doesn't require equipment or training, and people of all ages can do it. "Laughter yoga has a very cleansing and dramatic effect because it reduces stress," says Chris Tucker, an instructor at Yoga Space where a one-time, four-hour workshop will be held on Sunday.

The class aims to generate enthusiasm for laughter yoga and teach people who can then go out and start their own groups. This is a novelty in Shanghai.

Canadian Mark Kerwin, a certified "laugh leader" of the Official Laughter Training School in Mumbai, India, will fly in to lead the course.

Laughter also provides natural pain relief because it increases the level of endorphins in the body, says Tucker. "When you laugh, your body releases a cocktail of hormones and chemicals that have startling positive effects on our system," says Tucker.

"As a result, it reduces stress and has a whole bouquet of positive impacts on your health because it makes your body and brain feel good."

Another major plus is that it increases confidence. During the class, participants are encouraged to just laugh out loud in front of and along with others.

They are encouraged to cross the barriers of their comfort zones and let loose into liberating giggles, hoots, howls, guffaws, sniggers, chuckles and cackles to relieve stress. This helps release inhibitions and build confidence, says Tucker.

The workshop will begin with an introduction of the history of laughter yoga and explain the theory and techniques. Then come freer and more enjoyable stimulation games and yogic-based exercises.

The technique is simple. Laughter yoga combines yogic breathing exercises, also called pranayama, with laughter exercises. You don't have to be in a good mood to attend, because these warm-ups will "coax" everyone to cross over their comfort zones and laugh out loud to relieve stress.

Half an hour later, "when everyone laughs in a group as a form of exercise and makes eye contact, it turns to real and contagious laughter," says Tucker.

Then it becomes spontaneous.

"Everyone is happy, it's not like normal yoga that at times can feel rather serious," says Tucker.

Laughter yoga was created 11 years ago by Madan Kataria, a doctor in Mumbai, India, and a student of yoga. It resulted from an article he wrote for a medical journal, "Laughter Is the Best Medicine."

Convinced of the medical benefits of laughter combined with yogic breathing exercises, Kataria set up the first laughter club in Mumbai in 1995 with just five people.

He realized, though, it was impossible to have a comedian at every meeting, so he started free group laughter based on yogic breathing and stretching. He also founded the Official Laughter Training School.

To find out more about laughter yoga visit www.yogaspace.cn.

Date: February 24, 1:30-5:30pm
Venue: Yoga Space, 3/F, 35 Gao'an Rd (Exit 1 of Hengshan Road Metro station)
Cost: 180 yuan for members, 380 yuan non-members (20 percent discount for yoga teachers)
Tels: 6431-3164, 6431-7572, 6431-7573