Research suggests that the simple act of laughing is a powerful form of complementary medicine. Until now, there has been no reliable and effective system to deliver laughter. Humor was the only tool available, but it is not reliable and seldom leads to continuous hearty laughter.
Laughter Yoga is a breakthrough laughter delivery system that enables a person to laugh continuously for 15 to 20 minutes with short breaks of yogic breathing.
Below are 20 Laughter Yoga exercises to get you started. Try to practice them with others and appreciate that they are indeed highly incongruous. And choosing to laugh as and when you want to is not a sign of silliness, it's a sign of maturity.
These exercises will shift your mood state if you give them a chance for at least 10 minutes.
5 Classic Laughter Yoga Exercises
- Cell Phone Laughter: Hold an imaginary cell phone to your ear and laugh.
- Gradient Laughter: Fake a smile; giggle, then laugh slowly and gradually increase in tempo and volume.
- Greeting Laughter: Greet everybody the way you normally greet (e.g. shake hands) and replace words with laughter.
- Hearty Laughter: Spread your arms up, look up and laugh heartily as you direct your laughter to come straight from your heart.
- Think of a socially awkward situation and laugh at it (e.g. shoe laces untied, shaving cream behind your ears...)