'Laughter is the best exercise': Laughter Yoga classes combine physical activity with a mood boost

When Betty Brown first read about Laughter Yoga in 2008, it was only beginning to grow in the United States, with the nearest program online showing up in California -- a distance not easily traveled from Jackson on a weekly basis.

Laughter Yoga, a trademarked program created by Dr. Madan Kataria and his wife, Madhuri Kataria, had a modest beginning in a public park in India in 1995.

The program, which had its 21st birthday on March 13, originally began when Kataria, then 40 years old, decided he needed more laughter in his life. He found four volunteers at a local park and asked them to laugh with him and, in only a few days, the group had grown to 50. The Katarias, who both are certified yoga practitioners, soon realized there are a lot of similarities between the breathing in yoga and laughter, so they combined the two and titled the program Laughter Yoga.

Since then, the program has grown to include more than 16,000 clubs in 104 countries around the world and, most recently, it has made its way to Cape Girardeau County.

Brown found her way back to Laughter Yoga last year when she spotted a T-shirt that said, "Laughing is the best exercise." Taking it as a sign, she researched the program again and found four clubs as close as St. Louis.

A smile spreads across Barbara Crane's face as she participates in a laughter yoga class on March 15 at Riverside Regional Library in Jackson.Laura Simon

She soon had the chance to attend one of the club's sessions during a group trip with her sisters to St. Louis and immediately fell in love with the program.

"The high that you get from laughing stayed with me for days, and I said, 'You know, I think this needs to come to Cape Girardeau,'" Brown recalls.

After looking further into the details of Laughter Yoga, Brown found a woman named Marlene Chertok, who became a Certified Laughter Yoga Leader in 2004 under Kataria's teaching and lived in St. Louis. Chertok was able to become a Certified Laughter Yoga Teacher, again under Kataria's teaching, in Chicago in 2010, which gave her the ability to teach others how to become Laughter Yoga leaders. Brown learned Chertok could teach her to become a Certified Laughter Yoga Leader, so that's exactly what she did.

Once she became a certified instructor in October, Brown began leading small classes in her home and formed a group called TLC (The Laughter Club) of Cape Girardeau County. She has since graduated to offering free classes on Tuesdays at Riverside Regional Library in Jackson and on Fridays at the Jackson Senior Center. Kataria's program encourages certified leaders to host free classes so everyone in the surrounding community, regardless of their circumstances, can have the opportunity to take in the benefits of Laughter Yoga.

At first, Kataria's Laughter Yoga group in the park used jokes and humor to make people laugh, but research has since been found to support the idea of the "fake it 'til you make it" concept, meaning fake laughter provides similar benefits as natural laughter.

Betty Brown gets her students into the fun during her laughter yoga class on March 15 at Riverside Regional Library in Jackson.Laura Simon

Brown employs this idea in her classes, leading the group in a mixture of singing, dancing, laughing and playing games, all of which induce a combination of artificial and organic laughter.

"It's kind of weird at first, it really is," she says, laughing.

There are floor and stand-up exercises, and the program is built for all ages and skill levels. No yoga experience is necessary.

Each class includes some traditional stretching and deep breathing, and teaches participants to laugh deeply from the belly and to let their "inner 5-year-old come out to play."

"We stifle that, too, as we get older. We're told to be quiet -- 'Don't laugh so loud.' But here, you're free to laugh out loud if you want and everybody's doing it and it's contagious," Brown says.

A smile spreads across Barbara Crane's face as she participates in a laughter yoga class on March 15 at Riverside Regional Library in Jackson.Laura Simon

Lori Dobbs, one of Brown's neighbors and biggest supporters, says she only expects the class to grow as time goes on.

"I found it fabulous and something totally different than anything that's ever been offered down here, so I just signed on and have been going ever since," Dobbs says.

Dobbs, who works for the ALS Association and deals with grief and stress often at her job, has found that Laughter Yoga helps her take a personal break for herself to make sure she stays healthy in order to take care of her patients at work.

She encourages all who may be curious to give the class a try, especially if they are looking for a mood boost and enjoy laughing.

"It's not for a certain age; it's young or old, it doesn't matter," she says. "I think everybody can benefit from laughing every day."

Betty Brown gets her students into the fun during her laughter yoga class on March 15 at Riverside Regional Library in Jackson.Laura Simon

World Laughter Day is the first Sunday in May, and Brown says she hopes to celebrate it with her Laughter Yoga groups in some way.

"I'm hoping that I light a fire in other people so they are interested in getting trained, too, so that it can just spread like wildfire like it did in India," she says.

To see the schedule for upcoming TLC of Cape Girardeau County Laughter Yoga meetings, go to facebook.com/TLCOFCAPECOUNTY/. Future classes at Yoga East in Cape Girardeau also are in the works. For more information about the classes, call (573) 579-3025.