Club exercises with laughter to combat stress

Medicine advertisements often claim to provide relief from migraine headaches in 30 minutes or relieve back and joint pain within an hour.

But there could be a less expensive treatment for personal ailments – laughter.

The Bloomington Laughter Club, founded and headed by certified “laughter leader” Sulaiman Zai, provides participants a lesson in “laughter yoga.”

The club meets from 6 to 7 p.m. every second, third and fourth Wednesday of each month and is free and open to the public. The sessions take place at Unity of Bloomington, on South Rogers Street.  

The group’s meeting begins with a short introduction, in which Zai discusses the health and wellness benefits of laughter yoga.

The exercises have been proven to lower blood pressure, improve blood flow to the face and increase endorphins within the body, he said.

Once the session begins, Zai gathers his group into a small circle and explains that talking and cracking jokes during the meeting is counteractive to the laughter process and that plain laughter should be a main focus.

“When we do an exercise, if you don’t feel like laughing, fake it,” Zai said to the group. “And leave the critical mind outside.”

Participant Millie Jackson said she’s noticed the impact of laughter yoga on her health.

“It has enhanced my awareness of the benefits of laughter,” Jackson said. “I didn’t realize you didn’t have to be laughing at something funny to benefit from laughing. I have always been more inclined to use laughter as a response to something that was bothering me. It’s a way for me to respond to things in a more constructive way.”

Laughter yoga originated in Mumbai, India, where a doctor developed the exercise to help calm his personal stress.

Today, the exercise has spread across the world, with more than 400 clubs devoted to it in the United States.

“I saw this topic on the Web and thought it was a great idea,” Zai said. “I also teach martial arts, so anything that can connect mind and body interests me.”

Group exercises include pretending to scarf down a giant slice of watermelon, laughing while walking on invisible hot coals and fueling a make-believe motorcycle with laughter.

Carol Spencer, another participant,  said the effects of these exercises are long-lasting and help relieve the jitters of meeting new people.

“There are some benefits that I anticipated and some that I didn’t,” Spencer said. “One I anticipated was that it would help me feel more optimistic and happy about life. ... I also didn’t think that there was such a sense of bonding in the group. We don’t get to talk. We just do the exercises and laugh. When I look in the eyes of another person, it just feels like an instant bond.”

Zai also emphasized the importance of keeping eye contact with each fellow member in the group and acting happy and energetic even when feeling sad or moody.

His philosophy is to act happy and the happiness will spread itself.

“Making direct eye contact with someone you haven’t spoken to before can be a little intimidating,” participant Mary Kern said. “So I loved it when the group lay on the floor in a circle, heads facing into the center. You begin to laugh, forcing it, but eventually you are laughing so hard your sides hurt.”