'Join me: 'Ha, ha! Ho, ho! Ha, ha! Ho, ho!'" says certified laughter yoga instructor Mary Margaret Anderson Fay. About 30 women slap their knees and chime in for this laughing chant. "The whole theory is based on, when you laugh, you feel better," Anderson Fay explained at the beginning of a workshop for preschool staff at Adath Jeshurun Congregation in Hopkins.
A desire to feel better may be why laughter yoga has spread to more than 60 countries within 15 years without any advertising or marketing. It's not just about being silly, feeling happier, exercising and relaxing, research shows these methods lead to notable physical health improvements. In Anderson Fay's 25 years as a fitness and yoga instructor, she's never had such high demand for an off site class as she's experienced with laughter yoga.
Anderson Fay leads the group through a series of exercises that have the women mingling around the room, posing, acting, making eye contact and laughing. There's the "Check out my mullet and oh I'm wearing Zubaz too laugh," and another exercise is the "I'm having lunch with Joe Lieberman and am trying to get the spinach out of my teeth without him noticing laugh." At some point in each exercise, forced, fake laughter becomes genuine.
By SARAH MORAN
THE LATEST YOGA NEWS, FROM IT IS YOGA
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