My Experience of Laughter Yoga

For World Mental Health Day on 10th October, I attended a seminar organised by Kent County Council to raise awareness of mental health in the workplace. As part of the event the audience listened to individuals that suffered with a mental health illness and their experiences of living with their conditions and how they were affected at work. I therefore wasn’t expecting to be asked to do anything and was certainly not anticipating having to take part in a Laughing Yoga workshop!

Laughing Yoga is an activity that aims to get a group of people fake laughing which turns into real laughter, as there is the belief that the brain can’t differentiate between genuine and fake. Therefore, you experience the same physical and psychological benefits of real laughter. 

Some of the exercises we were instructed to do  were to laugh down the phone, sing the “Boom Boom” song, deep breathing exercises and clapping our hands in the air whilst chanting “very good, very good, YAY!”  

I have to admit I was sceptical at first and initially highly embarrassed about laughing and making a fool of myself in front of others but the instructor, Genny Jones, was so much fun and had such an infectious laugh I soon found myself becoming less uncomfortable and enjoying the experience more.

If you still can’t visualise what Laughter Yoga is then here’s a great Tedx Talks video to show you it in action:

Looks fun doesn’t it? And it works too. By simply laughing my spirits were lifted and I felt more relaxed for hours afterwards. Perhaps you could try this in school with colleagues or with the children to increase emotional wellbeing in school. 

Did you know we are running a competition in conjunction with Schools Personnel Service where your school can win some exciting prizes? Find out more about the competition and how you can enter here.