Is Laughter Yoga really yoga? what are the roots of it?

Is Laughter Yoga really Yoga? The short answer is, no, laughter yoga is not yoga. If that’s all you wanted to know, feel free to stop here, but if you want to learn about why, and what it is, keep reading.   

Laughter yoga was named and made popular by Madan Kataria, who is a medical doctor, in India.  He learned about the amazing benefits of laughter to our health, and wanted to share it with his patients.  So, he started with jokes shared to clients in a park in Mumbai, India.  After a couple weeks he ran out of jokes.  However, all was not lost. The research shows that you get the same awesome benefits whether something causes you to laugh naturally, or if you choose to simulate laughter. Therefore, Dr. Kataria started leading his clients in choosing to laugh.  He realized there needed to be some pauses to this aerobic activity, so included pauses for some deep, or at least slow breaths, and he decided to call it laughter yoga.  Deep slow breaths are just that, deep slow breaths, unless you add in some yoga element to it on your own.

I call the classes I lead online for everyone Laugh with Me classes because I do think this is clearer than calling it laughter yoga.  I personally don’t participate in any forms of yoga as it is not part of my personal spiritual walk as a disciple of Jesus, but choosing to laugh is just that; choosing to laugh.  I also found that when I called it laughter yoga, people have often thought they are going to be doing yoga poses in a class and they are confused when we don’t.

There are many different opinions on the origin of yoga, but there is definitely a root in Hindu and other religious or spiritual practices, and many or most poses are named after different gods.  Laughter yoga has no such roots or foundation.  We don’t have poses or Sanskrit names for things.  I know there are people who add yoga practices into their laughter sessions.  I however don’t do that, and that would still just be yoga practiced with laughter sessions or laughter yoga.  It’s okay if we disagree on this. I just wanted to share my understanding.

In my Laugh with Me classes, we choose to laugh as we participate in childlike play, and silliness in whatever way is available for each person.  It helps increase social interaction and community.  There are so many medical benefits to it, and mental health benefits.  That can be a separate conversation, but let’s just say it’s really great for your mental and physical health.  Some research suggests there is actually even more benefit from choosing to laugh than naturally laughing.  I have definitely observed the benefits of that.  Making the choice to laugh even when I definitely didn’t feel like it, over time made it so much easier to make that choice and shift my mood.  The more you laugh, the easier it is to laugh. What a great thing to actually laugh easily at spilled milk!

I am so grateful for how the decision to choose to laugh has improved my life, and I love to share it with others.

If you haven't joined us for a Laugh with Me session, please do! Just Subscribe on my website HERE to get schedule and zoom link. Laugh with you soon! Here's an example session (just me, no other fun guests that make it even more fun), there are more on YouTube.