Laughter Clubs are fun

[serendipity22]

A while back I contacted BB and suggested some members might enjoy participating in laughter sessions. They suggested I join the forums, so here I am.

Laughter clubs were started in India in 1995 by Madan Katari, a medical doctor. They were designed for health and well-being. Now there are thousands of clubs in hundreds of countries.

I have been going for more than 20 years in Melbourne and now Adelaide. A typical session is about 30-40 minutes and is outdoor in a park or perhaps on a beach. Venues include shelter in case it rains. A session involves sunshine, fresh air, exercise, connection and even laughter. We don't do jokes. Instead, we act in a playful way. There are hundreds of different laughs to draw from, interspersed with chanting and clapping.

Ho Ho, Ha Ha Ha, very good, very good, Yah!

You could find nearby club locations by googling laughter yoga Australia. Some sessions use Zoom. Sessions are usually free or a gold coin donation. Afterwards some people have a chat or go to a coffee shop etc. I have made some great friendships at laughter club. Going may be a little daunting at first, but after about 2 sessions you get used to it.

I read Julia Gillard said there is nothing better than a good belly laugh and she is right.

[Croix]

Dear Serendipity22~

Welcome to the Forum and thank you for mentioning a different method of staying healthy. It's a new one to me but you must obviosly find it effective  for you to keep going for so long. It is interesting that from your description one goes though the physical actio nsof laughter wihtout being inspired by a joke or other humor.

There is a laughter group near me, however they do concentrate on bringing jokes to the meeting and try to get people to laugh that way.

I'd imagine either technique can be beneficial

Croix

Croix

[Croix]

Dear Serendipity22~

I did reply to this before but it seems to have been swallowed by the internet:( If you see two similar posts it has finally arrived.

I'd like to welcome you here to the Forum and thank you for introducing a type of exercise I'd not heard of before. If I read you correctly one mimics the physical movements of laughter without any humor to start it off in a social setting.  Please tell me if I've got it wrong.

It must have been of benefit to you for you to keep going for so long.

There is a laughter club near me, but they use jokes and humor to get people laughing, it's quite popular but I'd imagine it could be quite difficult to get fresh jokes for each month.

I'd imagine both techniques could be beneficial

As an aside we do have a jokes thread here you might be interested in

https://forums.beyondblue.org.au/t5/bb-social-zone/worst-joke-wednesday/m-p/64155#M1832

Croix

[serendipity22]

Hi Croix,

thanks for the reply. We don't do jokes in laughter club, it is about laughing for no reason. We typically start with some warm up stretches, then we introduce ourselves and laugh and say something say "its a beautiful day" and laugh. Between laughs we do a little chant and hand clap - Ho Ho Ha Ha Ha (3 times) then Very good twice, then yah!

All laughs are done standing up so it is exercise, fresh air, nature and often sunshine. An example laugh is laugh is the red light laugh. We move around pretending to laugh. The person running the laugh calls out "red light" and we stop and laugh until they call out "green light".

[Croix]

Dear Senendipity22~

Thanks for the clear explanation. The closes thing I have heard of is that on some occasions putting on a smile not only cheers up those you are with but can work inwards and make you more cheerful too

I know when the are many occasions where one puts on a mask and of course it does not work, but I do think on some occasions htere may be a bit of truth to it. Perhaps it is the  same mechanism. What do you think?

Croix

[serendipity22]

Hi Croix,

yes, just a smile is good for you. Don't know about masks. They say it doesn't matter if the laughter is real or no, the body doesn't know the difference and still gets the benefits.