TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Hernando Today

Stretch Yourself With Laughter Yoga

One minute, they would be clapping and stretching as part of a synchronized laughter chant. The next, they were prowling and crouching and roaring like lions, face-to-face and just inches apart.

ADVERTISEMENT

By GREG WILLIAMS

Media General News Service

Published: July 14, 2008

TAMPA - The Zaimaj family watched from their beach chairs as a loose circle of 20-plus strangers broke into loud laughter just a few yards away.
It was a pleasant Sunday evening on Indian Rocks Beach, with the promise of a picture-perfect sunset. From the sound of the animated group's belly laughs, though, you could tell they were focused on something other than the horizon.
Deti Zaimaj, 48, who moved to Largo from Albania seven years ago, was confused but curious — and unbothered.
"I saw those people; they look very happy," he said. "Which is the reason?"
Yes, he had been tempted to join in, Zaimaj admitted. The rest of his family felt no such temptation. They shook their heads and waved away the very thought — while continuing to glance at the bobbing and weaving of the intermittently boisterous strangers. Most passersby appeared similarly puzzled.
One beachgoer, pausing near another who had been watching from a safe distance, was overheard to ask, "Have you figured out what they're doing?"
"I don't know," the observer replied. "Must be a corporate thing."
A Funny Feeling
Patricia Darcy of Largo organized the unusually cheerful assemblage — but not as some sort of corporate icebreaker. Darcy, "64 years young and full of spunk," is leading an effort to advance the presence of Laughter Yoga in the Tampa Bay area.
Laughter Yoga? I noticed an uneasy skepticism creeping across my friend Bill's face as the point of our trip to the beach became clear.
Bill had agreed to accompany me to Darcy's open-air session — without prior knowledge of what to expect — but I could sense a growing fight-or-flee response in his  posture.
To be fair, the concept of Laughter Yoga does sound like the premise for a not-especially-promising comedy sketch. Even the most intuitive observer might have some trouble deciphering the raucous goings-on.
Why would so many seemingly normal adults behave in such an unusual manner? One minute, they would be clapping and stretching as part of a synchronized laughter chant. The next, they were prowling and crouching and roaring like lions, face-to-face and just inches apart.
The interactive laughter and role-playing, combined with an array of simple movements, results in an experience that's seriously healthy. As inhibitions melt away, participants bring a relaxed sense of group commitment to follow-up breathing and stretching activities. Banish the embarrassment factor, and enjoy the physical benefits of laughter, exercise and a positive attitude.
Body Of Evidence
Started in 1995 in Mumbai, India, by Dr. Madan Kataria, the Laughter Yoga movement has its roots in an article Kataria wrote for his monthly health magazine.
Kataria, a family physician, was impressed by the body of scientific research describing the medicinal benefits of laughter. He was particularly intrigued by studies conducted by Dr. Lee S. Berk of Loma Linda University and by the book "Anatomy of an Illness" by American journalist Norman Cousins.
In his 1979 book, Cousins wrote about combating the effects of a degenerative spinal disease, in part, by developing his own "laughter cure" — which included viewing episodes of the TV series "Candid Camera" and old Marx Brothers films.
"I made the joyous discovery that 10 minutes of genuine belly laughter had an anesthetic effect and would give me at least two hours of pain-free sleep," Cousins wrote.
Kataria's first attempt to form a "laughter club" was based on the telling of jokes and humorous anecdotes. Within weeks, the quality of the jokes began to degenerate, and Kataria knew that a different approach was needed. Revisiting the laughter research, he found that the human mind makes no distinction between genuine and fake laughter, producing the same beneficial health results in either case.
This realization led Kataria to introduce the concept of laughing for no reason.
Blending this new approach with breathing and stretching exercises suggested by his wife, Madhuri, a yoga teacher, Kataria launched Laughter Yoga. In 13 years, it has grown to worldwide proportions, with more than 5,000 clubs in dozens of countries.
A 'Joy Cocktail'
"There is absolute magic to playfulness," says Darcy, who leads a monthly Laughter Yoga session at Indian Rocks Beach — free of charge — and additional sessions at the Bardmoor branch of the Largo YMCA.
"Motion creates emotion," she says, explaining a raised-arm "Rocky" stance that crops up throughout her sessions.
"Postures used in Laughter Yoga register in the body to counteract the stress response," Darcy says. The result is the release of "a joy cocktail of neuropeptides" — the chemical messengers that control mood and energy levels and pain and pleasure receptors and that regulate our immune system.
"It is a body-mind therapy," she says. "Put the body into a positive state, and the body then brings the mind along with it. You literally feel high on life."
Darcy's 90-year-old mother and her twin son and daughter, TJ and Darcie Tvrdy, took part in the recent Laughter Yoga session at Indian Rocks Beach. Participants meet at that location at 7 p.m. the first Sunday of every month.
"It's a wonderful stress relief, and it feels great," says Tvrdy, 37, a Tampa nurse.
The Oprah Connection
Darcy was inspired to investigate Laughter Yoga as a form of therapy for TJ, who suffered a traumatic brain injury as a child.
"I was entirely too serious," Darcy says of her role as caregiver and advocate for TJ. "I knew there had to be something everyone could do to maintain focus … to be uplifted and positive."
After catching a TV segment about Laughter Yoga on Oprah Winfrey's "happiness show" in May 2007, Darcy e-mailed three teachers in Georgia. There were no certified leaders in Florida.
One of the teachers agreed to come to Florida from Atlanta, and Darcy was among nine people to earn certification. She then traveled to Miami Beach in September to study with Kataria — and has since provided certification training for two more local leaders, from Tampa and Clearwater.
"My life has never been the same, and neither has TJ's," Darcy says.
TJ, who volunteers at the Bardmoor YMCA as a social facilitator ("a greeter," says Mom), is a frequent attendee — and inspirational leader — at Laughter Yoga sessions. He does the program seated, which helps to emphasize the low-impact, geared-to-all-ages nature of the program.
With TJ in mind, Darcy plans to launch the first grant-driven Laff-MASTERS laughter club this fall, as an outreach to the disabled community: Mainstreamed Adult Singles Together Enjoying Recreation and Socialization.
"My passion is community inclusion," she says.
Getting Away From It All
Luckily, it turned out that my friend Bill, who had accompanied me to Darcy's session at Indian Rocks Beach, was surprised to find the experience enjoyable.
"I was thinking, 'It's not my bag,"' laughed Bill Strickland, 46, of Tampa. However, after close to an hour of group chanting, clapping, stretching, facial contortions and "laughing for no reason," Strickland came to view Laughter Yoga as a refreshing escape from the stresses and negativity of daily life.
"I could be doing worse than being on the beach laughing."

Reporter Greg Williams can be reached at gwilliams@tampatrib.com or 813-259-7906.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT