Day 98 – Laughter Yoga

Let me start by saying this is as weird as it sounds.

I stumbled upon laughter yoga in Frankfurt when I was searching for regular yoga classes a while back. Curious, but put off by the weirdness, I didn’t give it a try. I’m happy I waited as doing a video at home was the only way I’d try this.

Laughter yoga, created in 1995, is based on the idea that intentionally laughing gives you all the benefits of genuine laughter: lowers stress and blood pressure, improves the immune system, and boosts energy. It seems like a win-win – have a big laugh and get multiple health benefits at the same time.

This video is seriously weird. I did a few of the exercises over FaceTime with my four-year-old nephew, and although he loved it at first, my maniacal laughing started to worry him a little: I’m not surprised, it was bonkers! I was hysterically laughing at myself and the situation within minutes – my neighbours must have thought I’d finally cracked.

My cheeks and sides hurt from laughing so much which I guess is a good thing! I felt absolutely ridiculous, and a bit delirious: seeing all those people laughing crazily at each other on video was enough to put me off going to a class for life. It was a bizarre experience that I fear may have scarred my nephew for life, but the end goal was achieved and I laughed so much I cried. I found it so funny that I kept having spontaneous giggling fits afterwards. Maybe there’s something to it after all…?