Laughter Testimonials

"Laughter Yoga has changed my life" is the comment I hear most frequently.

Research shows that Laughter is the best medicine: reported to reduce stress, sick leave, pain, and blood pressure whilst increasing energy, voice power, and productivity.

Depression

Part of my recovery in overcoming "The black dog" (depression) has been my participation in Laughter yoga. It is truly wonderful to be able to laugh again - for no reason.  I particularly like the eye contact as we do our exercises and we are interacting with other people who are laughing. It connects us to other humans rather than feeling isolated.  It feels very caring and joyful. - RM

Disappearing Lympoma

Aged 72, I attended my first class of laughter Yoga at Glenfield on Tuesday mornings with Louise as Leader.  At this time I was recovering from various illnesses-pancreatitis, gallstones and gallbladder removed, suspected pneumonia, a lot of flu and diagnosed as having mild lymphoma.  I had also suffered from severe depression a lot of my life  I spent nearly 4 weeks in Auckland and North Shore Hospitals during 2010.

It was November 2010 that I learnt about Laughter Yoga and first joined the Glenfield class, that wasn’t enough for me, I wanted Laughter Yoga more than once a week.  I began to also attend the Browns Bay class on Saturday mornings then this year I have been attending the Ponsonby Club on Saturday mornings.  Attending classes 2 or 3 time a week has not only changed my health but also my life.

In May this year the haematologist at North Shore Hospital told me that the lymphoma had gone.  He and my doctor are very pleased with my health, I am taking 3 prescribed drugs each day instead of the 7 one year ago.

The yogic deep breathing, stretching exercises, active involvement, laughter and being with fun loving, friendly people changed my life. Breathing deep during the day aids my brain and body-fantastic. I surprised myself last month (July 2011) by going to the Olympic swimming pool in Newmarket and aqua jogging for more than a hour, previously I rarely stayed in the pool for more than 20 minutes. My energy was so great that I wanted to stay longer and enjoyed it more than ever before.

At my ‘young’ age of 72, I do 4 or more hours of gardening on some days and also teach English as a private English Teacher to six students.  To add to my success I trained as a Certified Laughter Yoga Teacher in July this year.

Recently I laughed on my own quietly while travelling on the bus for 35 minutes non-stop. How relaxed I was, joyful with beautiful peace.  My new motto is –“Don’t do today what you can put off until tomorrow!”  Less stress, more joy, better quality of life. Very Good, very good, Yeah. - OD 31 July 2011

Voice Power

When Louise said that Laughter Yoga exercises the voice muscle, which helps the voices of elderly people stay powerful, and explained how elderly people get talked over because they have lost voice strength, I knew it was true. I am in my 80’s and when I talk to my sister or friends on the phone, I can hardly hear them. When I ask them to speak up they ask me, how come my voice is still strong, now I know. - 08/10 DT

Constipation

I have had constipation all of my life. Normal for me was every 2 or 3 days. Recently I realized I was rushing into the toilet first thing every morning to do a large bowel motion. The only change in life style is 18 months of Laughter Yoga. I used to be always hungry. When I first started doing Laughter Yoga, I lost a small amount of weight, but recently I also realized that I can go without meals because I didn’t feel hungry and I had forgotten it was time to eat. Although I am eating less, the downside is I have put a bit of weight back on. My theory is that  now my bowel is functioning better; I am getting more nutrients from my food. - 07/10 LE

Breast Cancer

I had breast cancer three years ago. When I look back, I don’t think I had kept a balance between work and relaxation before my illness. We often hear “Laughter is the best medicine”, and I strongly believe that it is so true.

They say that children laugh about 300 times a day. However, the number drops to 15 times when we become adults. This is a significant difference. As we grow up, it seems we become more serious and can’t just simply laugh like children. During my treatment, I watched funny movies and TV programmes, and listened to comedian’s CDs, realising I hadn’t laughed aloud for a long time.

About one and a half years ago, I read an article about Laughter Yoga clubs in the North Shore Times. It says laughter boosts the immune system by increasing antibodies and natural killer cells to fight illness. I thought Laughter Yoga would be an ideal exercise to build up my heath, so I joined the Browns Bay club.

Since then, I have been enjoying Laughter Yoga with the other members. I go regularly to the weekly laughter session, and I also participated in the World Laughter Day, and a Laughter Yoga leader training course. Laughter Yoga will continuously be of benefit to my physical, mental and emotional wellbeing. - 5 July 2010 MM

Putting Zest into your Life!