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Laughing without reason
Laughter yoga (hāsya yoga · हास्ययोग) joins laughter without reason with the breathing of yoga. The laughing is a practice, not a response to jokes. The basic idea: the body barely tells real laughter from pretended laughter, and in a group the pretended kind usually turns into the real thing. On this page you can find out where laughter yoga comes from, how laughter works on your health, how a session runs and how the two-finger smile is done.
Laughter yoga joins laughing without a reason with the breathing of yoga. The laughing is done as a practice, not at jokes. The Sanskrit word hāsya means laughter, mirth; in classical Indian aesthetics hāsya is one of the nine rasas. The approach rests on two observations: the body needs no joke in order to laugh, and the expression works back on the mood. In a group, the pretended laughter usually tips into real laughter by itself. What makes it yoga is the breath: laughing is a strong, pushing out-breath, related to kapalabhati from pranayama; in between you breathe deeply, stretch and clap. Laughter yoga was developed by the doctor Madan Kataria in 1995 in Mumbai; today there are laughter clubs in more than a hundred countries. The smallest practice needs no group: the two-finger smile.
The sections that follow cover what the word means, where laughter yoga comes from, how laughter affects health, how a session runs and the two-finger smile.
The Sanskrit word hāsya (हास्य) means laughter, mirth. In classical Indian aesthetics hāsya is one of the nine rasas, the basic moods a work of art can awaken in us. Laughter yoga turns that mood into a practice: the laughing is done deliberately and without an occasion, the way you take up an asana or guide the breath.
The approach rests on two observations. First, the body needs no joke in order to laugh; laughing can simply be carried out like any other movement. Second, the expression works back on the mood: whoever smiles and laughs does feel lighter after a short while. Psychology calls this facial feedback. In a group, with eye contact and childlike playfulness, the pretended laughter usually tips into real laughter by itself.
What makes the laughter yoga is the breath. Between the laughter practices you breathe deeply, stretch and clap. Laughing itself is a strong, pushing out-breath, related to kapalabhati from pranayama; afterwards the in-breath flows in more deeply of its own accord. And with the lion (simhāsana) Hatha Yoga even has a laughing asana of its own.
Laughter yoga was developed by the Indian doctor Madan Kataria in March 1995 in Mumbai. After reading studies on the health effects of laughter, he met four acquaintances in a park to laugh together. At first they told each other jokes; when the jokes ran out, the idea arose of approaching laughter as a pure practice. His wife Madhuri Kataria, a yoga teacher, added the breathing and stretching practices of yoga. The first laughter club grew into a movement: today there are laughter clubs in more than a hundred countries, and since 1998 World Laughter Day has been held on the first Sunday in May.
Mumbai · 1995 · World Laughter Day: first Sunday in May
One laugh, six effects
Laughter is movement, breathing and feeling all at once. What happens in the body while you laugh is well described; here are the most important effects at a glance.
The deep out-breath
When you laugh, the diaphragm pushes the air out of the lungs in short bursts, much as in kapalabhati. Afterwards the air flows in more deeply than usual: residual air is exchanged, the breathing deepens, the breathing muscles are strengthened.
Tensing, letting go
Hearty laughter occupies the face, the belly, the diaphragm, the shoulders and the back. The effort is followed by a noticeable loosening of the muscles that carries on for a while. Many people experience laughter as a short massage from the inside.
The counterpart of stress
Laughter dampens the release of stress hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline and sets free endorphins, the body's own painkillers. In studies the pain threshold rose measurably after people had laughed together.
Movement for the vessels
While you laugh, pulse and blood pressure rise briefly, and afterwards the circulation relaxes. Studies also show that the inner walls of the blood vessels widen during laughter, much as they do in light endurance training.
The defences wake up
There are indications that cheerful laughter raises the activity of defence cells and the amount of certain antibodies. The studies on this are small; their direction is consistent, though, and easing stress strengthens the defences by an indirect route as well.
Lighter, more connected
A review of studies from 2019 found that laughter therapies reduce low mood, anxiousness and perceived stress; pretended laughter worked as well as spontaneous laughter. Laughing together creates closeness, lowers inhibitions and strengthens the feeling of belonging.
The effects on stress, mood and the sense of pain are the best documented; on the immune system and the circulation the studies are smaller and the results less consistent. Laughter replaces no treatment, but it complements a great deal.
A session lasts 30 to 60 minutes and follows a simple structure. Nobody needs prior experience, and nobody needs a sense of humour either.
Clapping in a circle and speaking “ho ho, ha ha ha” in rhythm, with eye contact around the group. Clapping with flat hands wakes the body, and the rhythm loosens the tension.
Between the practices you breathe deeply: lift the arms, breathe in, breathe out with a long “haaa”. The breath brings calm and makes the next round of laughter easier.
The phrase “very good, very good, yeah!”, spoken with swing and without seriousness, opens the door to the childlike playfulness out of which laughter arises by itself.
Greeting laughter with namaste, lion laughter with the tongue stuck out, silent laughter, one-metre laughter: short, playful practices of about a minute, with breath and clapping in between.
At the end you laugh without any practice, for as long as it comes. After that there is a relaxation lying down or sitting, so that the quiet after the laughter can resonate.
The smallest laughter practice needs no group and no preparation. It uses the way back from the face to the mood: the facial muscles report a smile to the brain, and the mood follows. Here is how it goes:
What lies behind it: the facial feedback hypothesis says that the expression of the face helps shape the feeling. Research on it was inconsistent for a long time; a large international study with almost 4,000 participants found a small but measurable effect in 2022: those who formed their facial muscles into a smile felt somewhat happier afterwards.
In our courses and mantra evenings there is room for lightness. Get in touch if you would like to try yoga in a group.
