What is Laughter-Yoga?
Laughter is a primordial force
Laughter is already there when we are born - long before we have words. It bubbles out of the body - spontaneous, contagious, liberating.
But in adulthood, it can sometimes be forgotten. The weight of everyday life, stress and responsibility, or grief and trauma, pushes playfulness aside.
This is where laughter-yoga can come in – as a reminder that joy doesn't need a reason. It just is. It can be lived, heard, and flowed.
Sometimes tensions, conflicts and problems may have arisen in a group - things that cause friction and make it difficult to meet in agreement. It is completely natural that relationships in a group are tested, which in some cases can create distance. Laughter builds closeness and breaks up tensions. The path to community becomes smoother again. In laughter yoga, groups can breathe out, meet in the present and remember that behind differences of opinion there are always people who want to be seen and heard.
And often it's simply a matter of wanting to have a little extra fun together. Laughter yoga then becomes a wonderfully mischievous and light moment of togetherness, where laughter is allowed to flow freely - not to heal anything but to enjoy what is already nice - as an extra spice.
Laughter-yoga is a method that combines laughter exercises with deep breathing inspired by yoga. It is based on a simple but powerful idea: that the body does not differentiate between spontaneous laughter and (from the beginning) "feigned" laughter - physiologically speaking, both have the same positive effects. But what starts as a pretended laugh - in connection with the laughter-yoga exercises - takes on a very regular and rapid life of its own and suddenly the real laughter bubbles up. Warm, lively and liberating.
Dr. Madan Kataria, an Indian physician, developed the method in 1995 with his wife, Madhuri Kataria, a yoga teacher. They started with five people in a park in Mumbai – today, laughter-yoga has spread to over 100 countries. It is practiced in groups around the world, in schools, hospitals, businesses, self-help groups and living rooms.
What happens in the body?
When we laugh, the parasympathetic nervous system is activated – the part that helps the body recover and feel calm.
Research has shown that laughter:
- reduces levels of the stress hormone cortisol
- increases levels of endorphins, the body's own happiness hormones - increases oxygenation in the body through deep breathing
- lowers blood pressure and strengthens the immune system
- promotes social interaction and a sense of belonging
Keeping a laughing room
When I lead laughter-yoga, I do so with reverence and warmth. It's not about being funny. It's not about "cheating" or being loud. It's about creating a safe place where laughter can be a tool for healing, community, and presence.
We breathe. We let the sound bubble up. We look each other in the eyes. We laugh together – sometimes stumbling, sometimes noisily, sometimes with tears in our eyes. And we land in the stillness afterwards, where the body carries a new lightness, a new breath.
A bridge between body and soul
Laughter-yoga is part of my own inner landscape. It connects to what I also express in my jewelry, in hyposynthesis, through sound healing and in the meetings I hold:
- that life may be deep and light
- that the body is a bridge to the soul
- that the sacred can reside in a laugh
Welcome ♥ beautiful you ♥
Hugs in light and joy ;-)
Christine