Your colleagues are mean to you, your boss keeps hinting that your work is not up to par and you’re so stressed out that all you want to do is go home and cry into your pillow. Cue Daniel Powter’s “Bad Day.” Sometimes, a good cry is just what you need to get out all the pent-up frustration.
Well, for those of you who may not be keen on crying your sorrows away, we’ve got some good news. We’re here to introduce you to a therapy that’s quite the opposite — “laughter yoga,” a new form of yoga that is sure to lift your spirits right back up.
This new form of yoga, a combination of the literal act of laughing and your typical yoga breathing techniques, was first founded by Indian cardiologist Madan Kataria in 1995, and it is now the latest form of therapy practiced all over the world. In Asia, Europe and the United States, there are more than 600 clubs that offer laughter yoga courses.
UK consultancy firm Inspire2Aspire, which now has a branch in Hong Kong, also offers laughter yoga courses corporations can enroll in, which is believed to “ease stress and increases productivity and creativity.”
Veena Dansinghani, a partner at the firm, explains to CCTV in an interview, “The whole concept of laughter yoga is that you fake it until you make it,” he says. “Your body doesn’t recognize, or your mind doesn’t recognize if you’re laughing for a reason or not. Your entire body is being exercised. Your internal organs, your heart is being exercised. You’re getting a great cardio workout. Ten minutes of belly laughter is equivalent to 30 minutes of cardio.”
Watch the interview below:
As the reporter says in the video, “Can’t touch your toes? No worries. Laughter Yoga just wants you to be happy.”
Though it may seem silly, it has proven to work for some employees. Euby Yu, the Learning and Development Manager at Ocean Park has said of his experience with laughter yoga, “We’ve seen remarkable results. We see many happy faces. The day after our session, one of our colleagues, the first thing she said to me, is ‘Ho! Ho! Hahaha!’ I can see the difference.”
Not buying it? Well, we hope we’ve at least made you chuckle for a few seconds. After all, laughter is the best medicine.
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