{{Short description|Modern exercise involving prolonged voluntary laughter}} thumb|A laughter yoga event in the United Kingdom thumb|Laughter Yoga Training '''Laughter yoga''' (''Hasya yoga'') is a laughter exercise program which emphasizes three elements: laughter & playfulness, yogic breath-work, and mindfulness meditation.<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/11/06/magazine/voyages-laughter-yoga-bangalore.html|title=The Healing Powers of Laughter Yoga|date=November 3, 2016|via=NYTimes.com}}</ref>
Laughter Yoga was introduced in Mumbai, India in 1995 by family physician Madan Kataria and his wife Madhuri.<ref name="auto"/> Kataria modernized some of the work of earlier laughter pioneers,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.laughteronlineuniversity.com/laughter-therapy-history/|title=Laughter Therapy History: Who, What, When|last=Gendry|first=Sebastian|date=2014-05-17|website=Laughter Online University|language=en-US|access-date=2019-10-12}}</ref> who taught very similar concepts starting in the 1960s, in a more structured and a unique manner.
Kataria, his wife Madhuri and three of their best friends started the first laughter social club at a local park. To keep the laughter flowing (after they ran out of jokes), Kataria created the 40 Foundation exercises, which are based on everyday situations, rather than on jokes or comedy. Kataria wrote about his experience in his 2002 book ''Laugh For No Reason.''<ref name="laugh_for_no_reason">{{Citation | last = Kataria | first = Madan | title = Laugh For No Reason | place = Mumbai, India | publisher = Madhuri International | year = 2002 | edition = 2 | url = | doi = | id = | isbn = 978-81-87529-01-9}}</ref> Additional scientific data and updated information can be found in Kataria's 2021 book, ''Laughter Yoga: Daily Laughter Practices for Health and Happiness.''
Laughter yoga is found in 120+ countries.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6641178|title=Laughter Yoga: Relaxing, If a Bit Kooky|website=NPR.org|language=en|access-date=2019-04-21}}</ref> There are thousands of Laughter Yoga clubs worldwide, in-person and virtual.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.yogajournal.com/lifestyle/laughter-cure|title=How Laughter Yoga Heals, Plus 6 Fun Exercises to Try|last=Kanigel|first=Rachele|website=Yoga Journal|date=25 October 2007 |language=en|access-date=2019-04-21}}</ref>
==Method== Practitioners choose to laugh for their health. Laughter Yoga is performed without any humorous reason to laugh, with one practitioner observing that "the body does not know that we're faking it."<ref>{{cite web | url=http://news10.com/2016/06/23/finding-focus-relaxation-and-improved-health-through-laughter-yoga/ | title=Finding focus, relaxation and improved health through Laughter Yoga | publisher=ABC News 10 | date=23 June 2016 | access-date=27 June 2016 | author=Wilson, Mary}}</ref>
Breathing exercises are used to connect to the diaphragm and to prepare the lungs for laughter. What follows are a series of 'laughter exercises' that combine gentle improvisational movements and playful visualization techniques. Laughter exercises are interspersed with breathing exercises.<ref>{{cite web |last=Bokur |first=Debra |url=http://www.yogajournal.com/lifestyle/298 |title=What's So Funny? ''Yoga Journal'' |publisher=Yogajournal.com |date= |access-date=2013-08-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921175742/http://www.yogajournal.com/lifestyle/298/ |archive-date=2013-09-21 }}</ref>
==Benefits== A 2018 review concludes that group interventions based on laughter Yoga improved depressive symptoms over the short term, but there is no good quality evidence to assess that laughter yoga is more effective than other group-based intervention.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Bressington |first1=Daniel |last2=Yu |first2=Clare |last3=Wong |first3=Wandy |last4=Ng |first4=Tsz C. |last5=Chien |first5=Wai Tong |date=2018 |title=The effects of group-based Laughter Yoga interventions on mental health in adults: A systematic review |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jpm.12491 |journal=Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing |language=en |volume=25 |issue=8 |pages=517–527 |doi=10.1111/jpm.12491|pmid=30030938 |s2cid=51704601 |url-access=subscription }}</ref>
A 2019 review and meta-analysis in the field of laughter-inducing therapies suggests that they are more effective than humorous laughter and can improve depression. However, the quality of the evidence was low.<ref>van der Wal, C.N., Kok, R.N. (2019). Laughter-Inducing Therapies: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Social Science and Medicine, 232, p473-488. (open access). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2019.02.018</ref>
A meta-analysis published in 2020 concludes that laughter yoga has no adverse effect and could have benefit for older adults in terms of physical function (blood pressure, cortisol level, sleep quality) and psychosocial health (life satisfaction, quality of life, loneliness, death anxiety, depression, mood, happiness).<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Kuru Alici |first1=Nilgün |last2=Arikan Dönmez |first2=Ayse |date=2020-11-01 |title=A systematic review of the effect of laughter yoga on physical function and psychosocial outcomes in older adults |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1744388120311270 |journal=Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice |language=en |volume=41 |article-number=101252 |doi=10.1016/j.ctcp.2020.101252 |pmid=33217706 |s2cid=227102747 |issn=1744-3881|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
==See also== *Study of laughter * World Laughter Day
==References== {{Reflist}}
==Further reading== * Birklbauer, Walter (2011), Why Laughter Yoga or The Guitar Method: A Neurologic View, {{ISBN|3-8423-6907-7}} *''The Laughing Club of India'' documentary by Mira Nair about the club founded by Madan Kataria
Category:Yoga styles Yoga