By Dorie U. Sugay
‘If more than one person is doing it, they can’t all be
crazy,
”
giggles one of the members of the Laughter Yoga Club in
Hollister, which meets at the Vista Park Hill on Tuesdays and
Saturdays at 7:30am for half an hour.
By Dorie U. Sugay
‘If more than one person is doing it, they can’t all be crazy,” giggles one of the members of the Laughter Yoga Club in Hollister, which meets at the Vista Park Hill on Tuesdays and Saturdays at 7:30am for half an hour.
The sessions are free, and the yoga moves are easy even for those who consider reaching out for the tv remote a stretch.
Among those unfamiliar with Laughter Yoga – officially known as Hasya Yoga, there are varying reactions. Raised eyebrows, head shaking and giggles are common. But laughter yoga is no laughing matter. The members of Laughter Yoga Clubs all over the world are laughing their way to health, actually.
In the book, “Anatomy of an Illness”, an American journalist, Norman Cousins, talked about “how he laughed his way out of an incurable disease of the spine – Ankylosing Spondylitis.”
Inspired by this and a large amount of scientific literature on the benefits of laughter on the human mind and body, Madan Kataria, a physician from Mumbai, India, founded the Laughter Club.
Clinical studies show that laughter boosts the immune system by raising levels of infection-fighting T-cells, proteins called Gamma interferon and B-cells, which produce disease-fighting antibodies. It is known to trigger the release of endorphins, the body’s natural painkillers, thereby producing a general sense of well-being.
A behavioral response, laughter is aerobic, much like “internal jogging,” providing a workout for the diaphragm, increasing the body’s ability to use oxygen.
For those who are unable to do physical exercise, laughter has been known to provide good cardiac conditioning.
There are extensive studies that further support the premise that laughter also prevents hypertension, especially among women. Laughter also is credited for reducing at least four neuroendocrine hormones, associated with stress.
A U.S. News and World Report feature got Robin Pollard, a long time resident of Hollister and a yoga instructor at the YMCA interested. Her husband, Dave, was very supportive of her interest in starting a club in Hollister, and in fact, now says the sessions with the club help him deal with the stress of his work as an electrician.
So off Pollard went to Ohio for training, and the Hollister Laughter Club was born in January 2002. To date, Pollard has conducted sessions twice a week at the Vista Hill Park.
She has also been invited to run sessions at Gavilan College’s Fall Employee Development Day, at UC Davis Cancer Recovery Holiday, and at Central California’s U.S. Postmasters’ annual conference. Pollard prides herself on finding joy in every circumstance, and her eyes shine as she speaks of the benefits of laughter and yoga.
The Hollister Laughter Club is a casual friendly get-together. The yoga moves are relatively easy, and although many of the laughter exercises are initially simulated, the participants generally wind up truly laughing in the end
Sandy Painter, who has been attending the sessions since the club’s inception, says that laughter yoga leaves her “feeling wonderful and optimistic.”
Patty Fowler who joined “because Robin was so enthusiastic about it.” she said.
While initially skeptical, Fowler has faithfully attended sessions because “it has been a good antidote for challenges of the day.”
David Bulman, Sr. attends the sessions with his adult son. He laughs as he says that these sessions have taught him and his son to deal with hot issues more lightly – “we laugh about things that used to get us real upset.”
His son David Bulman, who battled cancer for six years, gives the exercise more credit than most. After he had been attending the laughter yoga, his doctor asked what he was doing, because he did such a great job fighting the cancer that he was told he did not need to come back for chemotherapy.
David is sure that laughter yoga helped him focus on the positive and heal his body.
The Laughter Yoga meetings are non-religious, non-political and free. For more information, call Pollard between 9am and 5pm at (831) 637-0949 or e-mail her at justlaughnow
@juno.com.
