FAQ about Virtual Laughter Yoga

All you need is yourself and your computer, really.

It’s nice to have a glass of water in case your mouth gets dry.

You’ll want room to move your arms for the breathing exercises.

It’s also nice to have a place to lie down on the floor for final relaxation (so if you want a pillow or blanket, or anything else to make you comfy, have those ready!).

Nope! It’s totally ok to turn your camera off so you can feel more comfortable getting into your own weirdness and not be self-conscious of how you look.

Nope! I’ll mute everyone upon arriving. I’ll unmute if people want to introduce themselves (totally optional), then I’ll mute again as I guide us through the laughter yoga exercises.

When we get to laughter meditation (laughing for a couple of minutes straight), you are welcome to unmute yourself for that brief part, but it isn’t required.

Laughing for no reason. When you learn to induce laughter in the body, the mind follows. 

As adults, we’ve forgotten how to play. Laughter yoga helps us remember and reconnect to the forgotten art of play. 

Once you learn to play, laughter is a natural outcome.

Laughter yoga is structured and includes various breathing exercises and techniques. Laughter meditation is unstructured laughter where you sit or lie down (you can be in any position) and allow laughter to naturally flow.

1. Gentle Warm Up (stretching, chanting, clapping, and body movement - these help lower inhibitions and encourage a spirit of play)

2. Breathing Exercises to prepare the lungs for laughter

3. Laughter Exercises (combine acting and visualization techniques with playfulness)

4. Laughter Meditation (sitting or lying down and allowing laughter to naturally flow)

5. Guided Relaxation (Yoga Nidra)

• Increases blood circulation (research has shown that laughing causes an ‘internal jogging’ that massages and increases circulation to flush the body and organs of waste products

• Maintains emotional balance + elevates mood

• Boosts immune system (it takes 2-3 months of regular laughter before this happens)

• Depression -increases the levels of dopamine and serotonin in the brain cells

• Anxiety & Panic Attacks

• Heart Disease & Hypertension

• Diabetes (improves blood sugar and reduces cortisol levels)

• Bronchitis and Asthma

• Chronic illnesses

• Cancer

• Pain - both physical and emotional

When you are laughing you are exhaling. Compared to regular breathing, when laughing, exhalations last much longer. The forced exhalations from laughter bring more oxygen to the body and brain.

No! The brain doesn’t know the difference between real laughter and pretend laughter. There is a two way link between body and mind. Whatever happens to the body, happens to the mind and vice versa. Motion creates emotion.

There is a saying in laughter clubs, “We don’t laugh because we’re happy, we’re happy because we laugh!”

Anyone with the following conditions should seek medical approval before beginning laughter yoga:

• Hernia

• Incontinence in women

• Bleeding

• Heart problems with chest pain

• Pregnancy

• Major surgeries (wait at least 3 months post-surgery)

• Epilepsy

• Severe backache

• Hypertension or borderline hypertension (get your blood pressure checked before starting laughter yoga!)

• Heaviness in the head or mild headaches may occur after laughter yoga and usually subside on their own. If it continues, see your doctor. Other possibilities of persistent headache after laughter could be due to hypertension (high blood pressure) or chronic migraines. Many people with chronic migraines have experienced great relief from laughter yoga because it helps release pent up emotions and stress.

• Irritation in the throat and dry coughing - once you learn to laugh from your belly (and not your throat), this should subside.

You can train your body and mind to laugh at will through repetition. By repeating laughter over a period of time, your mind begins to generate a predictable response and it becomes a habit.

With repetitive laughter exercises, the body starts to act out of reflex BEFORE the conscious mind can rationalize and think. The brain develops new neural pathways that generate joy. The “chemistry” (neurotransmitters, etc) of joy can be triggered simply by laughter exercises and doing certain body movements, which lead the mind to experience the emotion of joy - no matter what.

1. Laughter needs to be sustained for 10-15 minutes in order to have health benefits.

2. Laughter needs to be deep, coming from the belly.

3. Laughter needs to be unconditional. We don’t rely on any outer circumstances to laugh, we make a commitment and induce it ourselves.