Laughter Yoga Club

Narrator: You’re watching Ever Well. Know more, live better. It’s early in the morning in Laguna Beach, California. Here you find the usual sites and sounds. But wait, what’s this? Welcome to the Laguna Beach Laughter Club where traditional yoga techniques are enhanced with the—no jokes, just laughs. The hardest part for students is letting down their guar, a lot! Female: We get a lot of stares; we get a lot of looks. We’ll be laughing in doing our silly, goofy little things and people just think, what’s this? Narrator: This is a popular new exercise that’s not just taking place on beaches but also in studios, parks and yards. Sebastien Gendry: Whether people laugh at us or with us is a way we win. Narrator: Sebastian Gendry is the Director of the American School of Laughter Yoga, an organization that trains people across the US to teach the technique. He started it years ago after a trip to India where the idea originated. And now estimates there are over 5 thousand laughter yoga clubs in over 50 countries. Sebastien Gendry: And I was just taken aback. My life didn’t change, I changed. And I decided to go full time into the promotion of this concept. Narrator: The concept is similar to traditional yoga which focuses on stretching and controlled breathing. But according to Gendry, injecting a little jiggling creates a more relaxed emotional state, reduces stress and may actually improve breathing. Sebastien Gendry: In laughter exercises, you go through the physiology of happiness. You flush your lungs for five, ten, fifteen, twenty or more minutes with fresh oxygen. The fuel at every single cell in your body needs to function. Male: We love everybody! Yes! Female: We love to laugh! Yes! Narrator: Whatever the health benefits may be, there’s no denying its fun. But be warned once you start, you may not be able to stop.