Laughing your way to health and enlightenment

American Fitness, Sept-Oct, 2004 by Patty Williamson

Although everyone seems to think yoga is serious business, there is room for levity. In a talk entitled Lightening Up and Enlightening Up, Lama Surya Das pointed out that the spirit is ecstatic, not static. While strengthening our muscles, increasing flexibility and finding mental calm is important, so is strengthening our sense of humor and finding joy. In other words, it's okay to laugh.

Numerous research studies have shown laughter positively affects our immune systems. When we laugh, T cells, natural killer cells and cells that produce antibodies increase in number. People who laugh regularly have been shown to have lower blood pressure than less humorous individuals. Laughter seems to positively affect heart health, as a University of Maryland Medical Center study recently showed. People with heart disease were 40 percent less likely to laugh compared to people without heart disease. Researchers aren't sure why this occurs, but theorize it has to do with laughter's ability to lessen the effects of mental stress.

Laughter obviously elevates moods. A good belly laugh can change your perception of a situation in no time. Since laughter is often contagious, it also fosters a sense of connection to others. How many times have you heard a friend say, "Thanks. I needed a good laugh," after trying to cheer them up? Laughter actually reduces the levels of certain stress hormones and diminishes the fight-or-flight compounds that appear when we feel angry or stressed.

We attempt the same thing--stress reduction and mood elevation--in yoga class. So why do so many teachers and students insist on taking the fun out of their practice? Not every class should be a laugh lest, but there is certainly room for levity when the occasion calls for it. Let me illustrate my point with two personal experiences that show how a little laughter can go a long way.

A few years ago, I went to an ashtanga class in a nearby city. Our mats were positioned so two rows of students faced each other. I politely smiled in greeting to the woman and man opposite me. The man tersely nodded in response and turned to speak to the woman, who completely ignored me. Later, as we struggled into a difficult arm balance, I lost my equilibrium and couldn't untangle my arms and legs. I somersaulted into the man across from me, who fell into the woman next to him, who fell into the woman next to her. I hastily apologized and made sure no one was hurt. Fortunately everyone was fine, just thrown off balance.

To bring a little lightness to the situation, I jumped up and cried, "Yoga bowling!" There was not a peep from anyone, only disapproving looks. I apologized again and humbly retreated to my mat. I was sorry for disrupting the class and knocking three people out of their asanas, but it was completely unintentional. Rather than see the humor in the situation, my fellow yogis and yoginis chose to be indignant, perhaps even angry. Doesn't yoga teach us we cannot control what happens around us, only how we react? Isn't laughter a valid reaction? It certainly feels better than anger.

Laughter can do more than ease mental tension. It can ease physical tension, too. During a class in which we were working into an intense hamstring stretch, I meant to tell my students to bring their heads towards their left knees, but what came out of my mouth was, "Bring your left head toward your knee." A clever student instantly piped up, "What should we do with our right head?" We laughed long and hard, then returned to the pose. That night, students were able to take their stretches much farther than ever before. Laughing literally loosened them up.

In The American Yoga Association's Beginner's Manual, there is a pose called laughasan devoted strictly to movement and laughter. Dr. Madan Kataria, a physician in Mumbai, India, and author of Laugh for No Reason, started hasya yoga or "laughing yoga" clubs several years ago. He felt laughter was important enough to devote an entire practice to it. His laughter therapy centers around forced laughter, deep breathing and specific, yoga-based stretches. What often begins as simulated laughter evolves into the real thing as people respond to each other and the joy of laughing.

Laughter exercises the diaphragm and abdominal muscles, which in turn helps improve digestion. It also exercises leg, back and facial muscles. In fact, researchers estimate that several bouts of hearty laughter are equivalent to 10 minutes on a rowing machine. It's like a mini cardiovascular workout because the heart rate is temporarily elevated, blood flow increases and residual air is eliminated from the lungs, causing a deeper inhalation which increases oxygen in the blood. Aren't these some of the same goals of pranayama? When residual air is cleared and we are able to breathe deeper, we can take in more prana.

Even great spiritual teachers use humor in their lessons because it's often easier to make a point through an amusing anecdote or story than through serious discourses or lectures. Zen masters often use nonsensical or unsolvable riddles, or koans, to bring about enlightenment. Priests tell jokes in their sermons. Think of the "crazy sages" of Hinduism and Buddhism. Native American traditions have Coyote, the trickster, to trigger awareness through mischief and fun. The venerated monk Thich Nhat Hanh says that in order to be a good meditator, you have to smile a lot. That's profound. Less profound, but equally valid, is Swami Beyondananda's tongue-in-cheek assertion that, "If life is nothing but a joke, you might ask, then what is the purpose of free will? I will tell you. We get to choose whether or not we laugh."