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They say laughter is the best medicine and that is certainly the case for a dedicated group of Christchurch residents.
People walking through a small section of Hagley Park on Sunday might have been wondering what the joke was.
What was funny enough to send 12 people into fits, of what looked like, uncontrollable laughter? The kind of laughter that comes straight from the belly. The kind that hurts your cheeks.
There was no joke. They were doing laughter yoga.
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People had come together for Christchurch Laughter Yoga’s annual “Laugh in the Park” session.
Laughter yoga has been going in Christchurch for about 16 years after being created in the mid-1990s by Indian medical doctor Madan Kataria.
Christchurch Laughter Yoga co-facilitator Sally Lawson said research showed the body can not tell the difference between fake laughter and genuine laughter.
“When you have a good belly laugh, all of the feel good hormones are released into the body.”
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Laughter Yoga co-facilitator Sally Lawson has a good laugh during the annual Laugh in the Park session on Sunday.
“Laughing releases endorphins and serotonin. It’s the body’s natural antidote to stress.”
The sessions are all about being silly and playful, something Lawson points out, many adults forget to do.
No jokes are told and Lawson said leaders do not try to be funny.
“As much as I’d love to be, I’m not Billy Connolly. It’s about doing things that are playful.”
She asks participants to fake laugh while acting out mundane jobs around the house and it is not long before people start genuinely laughing.
“You do not need a reason to laugh. You can laugh at the most ordinary things in life.”
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Maria van Haandel says interesting things happen when you don’t take life so seriously.
Lawson said people get the most out of laughing when that is the last thing they feel like doing.
Participant Maria van Haandel said she had been to laughter yoga three times and loved it.
“It’s beautiful.”
She felt happy after doing the class and loved the social connection.
“I start off faking and end up with tears rolling down my cheeks. Interesting things happen when you’re not taking life so seriously.”
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Laughter could be heard coming from a small corner of Hagley Park on Sunday, during the annual Laugh in the Park session.
First-timer Soo May Yuan said she decided to give laughing yoga a go because it looked like fun.
“As you grow up, sometimes you forget to laugh.”
Glenda Cameron has been doing laughter yoga since 2019 and came up from Temuka for Sunday’s event.
“It’s fun. You get out of your comfort zone. I love it.”
She admitted she was a little dubious at first, but felt “brilliant” afterwards. It was a good way to release tension, she said.
Sessions are held every Sunday at the Scottish Society Hall in St Albans.
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