FROM light chortles to belly laughs, the Casterton Community Centre’s latest community health initiative has participants rolling in the aisles.

At the program’s first session, attendees ‘pecked wheat’, ‘measured bodies’ and took on the persona of kookaburras in exercises leaving them in stitches, all for the health benefits offered by the best medicine.

This was laughter yoga, provided by the Community Centre with the support of the Hamilton Community House’s Debra King.

Ms King said she was delighted with the enthusiasm of the seven others who turned up and actively took part.

“They prepared to have a go and have a laugh and just start to embrace what it is,” she said.

Space limitations in the Community Centre meant no more than 10 could take part but the atmosphere inside was intimate, social and comfortable.

From initiating with the standard chant of “Ho ho, ha ha ha!” to reflecting with a moment of silence and enjoying a cuppa and a chat, the experience left an impression on all.

Casterton Community Centre manager, Lisa McDonald, was one of those who took part and also enjoyed seeing the event’s participants get involved.

“Great crowd tonight, lovely bunch of ladies,” she said.

“It was really good to see some people come in tonight and let loose.”

The wider movement

HAMILTON’S laughter yoga group is one of 43 laughter clubs across Victoria, with another in Portland and residents in Heywood and Dunkeld having received a taste of what it offers.

There are also affiliated clubs in Brisbane and Adelaide.

But the scope of laughter yoga isn’t just in Australia – the movement was founded in India in 1995 and has since grown to see laughter yoga practiced in more than 110 countries.

One event in Bali – dubbed the ‘Bali Happidemic’ – drew more than 11,000 participants.

The Laughter Yoga International website says the concept is based on scientific studies proving the body cannot tell the difference between intentional laughter and real laughter and both have the same physiological and pychological benefits.

Laughter yoga initiates laughter as a body exercise in a group, which becomes real and contagious laughter through eye contact and “childlike playfulness”.

The exercises on display at Casterton’s session were not laughter themselves, but utilised their playfulness to bring it about.

While they may seem absurd at a glance, it was clear by the end all participants were enjoying it, even if there was some embarrassment.

Attendees also kept each other laughing by sharing jokes and stories.

Positive outcomes

LAUGHTER is known to be the best medicine and according to Laughter Yoga International, there are five proven benefits to the exercise.

The first and most obvious is the encouragement of laughter to improve the mood by releasing endorphins - then there are the health benefits most pushed by the movement.

Its website claims the exercise can cause six per cent reduction in blood pressure and a 28 per cent drop in stress levels.

Laughter yoga is compared to an aerobic exercise or cardio workout which increases the heart rate and blood circulation and relaxes the muscles.

Furthermore, laughter is used to improve connection with other people and build a positive mental attitude to deal with difficult times.

Mental health has been one of the focal points during the pandemic – several studies found multiple lockdowns led to spikes in mental health service presentations across Australia.

Ms King affirmed these benefits and said people could feel happier for days after engaging in a laughter yoga session.

“That’s the idea of it – it actually promotes the good endorphins around your body, so it gives you that good, warm, fuzzy feeling,” she said.

“Every person is different and that’s why you have to give every person permission to either join in (or) sit out depending on how they’re feeling themselves and they can do it at their own pace.”

She also said there were other exercises to come for participants.

“All I’ve done (last Thursday night) is give an introduction to some of the things that might come up over the next few weeks so they get used to that idea that there might be a song (or) something physical,” she said.

“You might do something a bit more physically involved in doing it and you might have those little songs, those little rhymes … and you mix them up … because there’s umpteenth laughs you could do.”

And with nothing needed for a laughter exercise, it couldn’t be easier to be a part of.

“It’s something that can be done anywhere in the world – outdoors, indoors,” Ms King said.

“You don’t need 15 books and goodness knows what to run a laughter yoga group – it’s something everyone can actually be part of.”

Laughter yoga sessions are continuing at the Casterton Community Centre every week through July and August.

For more information, phone the Community Centre on 5581 2139.