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Posted On May 1, 2010 In Category Press Room
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In A Nutshell

What:

  • Laughter Yoga is a unique form of exercise that allows anybody to laugh heartily, alone or in a group, for an extended period of time, for no reason. It follows a body-mind approach to laughter, not mind-body. You do not have to be happy or have a sense of humor to laugh.
    • “It was so fun interviewing you on the radio! You brightened my day with a new joy and passion for laughter. I have thought of you with each chuckle of the day. I even went and had a tickle laughter wrestling match with my 9 year old son. You are inspiring. Thank you again for sharing your time and talent with all of us.” — Kristen Lamb, CEO MyExpertSolution.com
  • The link between laughter and yoga is the breath. Laughter Yoga can rightly be called a form of pranayahahama. Where traditional yoga is a serious and solitary practice (it’s you and your mat) that can be physically demanding, Laughter Yoga on the contrary is easy, fun, and aimed at having a direct experience of joy in a group setting, laughing with others and never “at” them.

Why:

Numerous scientific studies suggest that laughter is indeed a powerful form of preventive and therapeutic complementary medicine that can even help people in the most critical conditions. Laughter releases stress, strengthens your immune system, helps you sleep better, reduces pain and overall boosts “happy chemistry”. It also diffuses fear and tension and connects you with others.

Who:

  • Laughter Yoga was first conceptualized in India in 1995 by Dr Madan Kataria and is now practiced worldwide.
  • Sebastien Gendry is the C.E.O. of the American School Of Laughter Yoga and a leading Laughter Yoga expert in the world. A passionate and charismatic individual, he travels over 70,000 miles every year to train several hundred Laughter Yoga Professionals in North America and Europe. A passionate and charismatic individual, he is also witty, insightful and engaging. His extensive expertise, patience, willingness to always seek the best in each person and ability to adapt to the needs of each individual has helped many people “get out of their head” and move to a higher level of happiness. He encapsulates and shares the power of positive and playful energy and creativity. He has appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show and numerous other national mainstream media in the USA.
  • The American School Of Laughter Yoga is the oldest and largest provider of Laughter Yoga education in North America.

How:

Laughter Yoga is both a concept and a method.

  • The concept is deceptively simple and equally simply deceptive because it is so powerful and potentially life-changing, even thought it is really easy to implement: you can laugh for nor reason, anytime, anywhere, just because you want to. It’s about emotional resilience, learning to maintain a positive and cheerful attitude even in the face of adversity.
  • The method is a combination of simulated laughter exercises, gentle breathing techniques and lots of empowering and life-affirming playful activities.

Where:

  • People can learn more online about Laughter Yoga at www.laughteryogaamerica.com
  • There are currently an estimated 450+ Laughter Clubs in the USA and several thousands Certified Laughter Yoga Leaders. Most Laughter Clubs are free and public. Find a Laughter Club near you at http://www.laughteryogaamerica.com/clubs
  • There are currently thousands of Laughter Clubs all over the world.

Some questions you could ask Sebastien Gendry in an interview:

  • What is Laughter Yoga?
  • Where does Laughter Yoga come from?
  • How does Laughter Yoga work?
  • What are the benefits of Laughter Yoga?
  • Who can benefit from Laughter Yoga?
  • What are Laughter Clubs? What do you do there?
  • How did you get into this?
  • What is the Telephone Laughter line?
  • Give us a 30 seconds laughter routine. Ready. Go!
  • XYZ laughs all the time and that kind of gets on my nerves. What do you say to that?

Classic Exercises

5 Ideas To Add More Laughter Into Your Life

  1. Decide to laugh. You do not need to have a reason to laugh. Anybody can laugh anytime, anywhere, if they want to, just because they want to. It does not need to have a meaning. Make this a form of exercise. Finding a reason is far too subjective. Is the glass half full or half empty? We live in a world of duality that knows no absolute: everything comes in pair. Appreciate that your perceptions will always validate your beliefs and you’ll understand that whatever you want to believe will always become a self-fulfilling prophecy because you will always find proofs to show that you are correct. Choose to see what works rather than what doesn’t work. Focus on the solutions, not the problems.
    2. “Dear Mr. Gendry: Thank you for the impromptu interview you gave me yesterday. You gave me some great quotes and exactly the type of information I was seeking for my article for the Association of Certified Senior Advisors quarterly journal. I am certain the article will be stronger, thanks to your input. I think my life has been irrevocably changed, thanks to writing this article.
    This entire laughter yoga concept is amazing, energizing and healing!” — Maryjo Faith Morgan, Writer
  2. Seek Outside Stimuli: find something to laugh about e.g. seek laughing people; Collect toys and play with them; Laugh along with strangers, laugh with children (visit your local playground) or even better, a baby; Play with small animals; Watch funny movies…
  3. Practice Happiness Exercises: write down three positive occurrences that happened during the day, every night for one week – then for each occurrence write down an answer to the question of why the good thing happened; Relate and share good news with others; Challenge each negative thought as it arises, then question it to judge if the scientific likelihood or mathematical probability of the forecast disaster is actually existent and if so, to what extent; Enhance the positive traits rather than rue and mull on the negative thoughts; Make optimistic attributions to real life situations as a preference to pessimistic conclusions; Practice appreciation, live proactively, recognize your strengths; Practice positive affirmations daily; Express gratitude, appreciation and forgiveness.
  4. Creatively Approach Stress Management: become a smile millionaire, just because; Play with laughter cues (finish all your sentences with “Ha Ha Ha” or “Tee Hee Hee”); Get Some Perspective: see small annoyances for what they really are – just small annoyances; Write about the stressful situation with a funny slant; Express Yourself: state your frustration out loud while doing something silly (e.g. jump on one foot 3 times and then twirl around. Adding a playful element to any charged situation helps counteract stress.); Shout a positive motto during your most stress-filled moments (this may work best when you’re alone.) For instance, you’re in your car, stuck in traffic, and you have an appointment in 10 minutes. Rather than blame the drivers around you for everything wrong in your day, shout “I’m so happy” or “I’m really in love with life”; Pull out the props: breathe your stress out into a balloon, write it on a piece of paper and burn it, wear a clown nose…
  5. Why Leave Laughter To Chance? Just Fake It. This is by far the easiest option because all it requires is you, here, now. Take yourself through the motions of laughter with enthusiasm. You will create the chemistry (the emotions) that go with it within about 10 minutes.  Here is a list of Laughter Yoga exercises you may want to practice:

5 Classic Laughter Yoga Exercises

  1. Cell Phone Laughter: Hold an imaginary cell phone to your ear and laugh.
  2. Gradient laughter: Fake a smile; giggle, then laugh slowly and gradually increase in tempo and volume.
  3. Greeting Laughter: Greet everybody the way you normally greet (e.g. shake hands) and replace words with laughter.
  4. Hearty Laughter: spread your arms up, look up and laugh heartily as you direct your laughter to come straight from your heart.
  5. Think Of A Socially Awkward Situation And Laugh At It (e.g. shoe laces untied, shaving cream behind your ears…)

5 Laughter Yoga Exercises To Release Stress

  1. Argument Laughter: voice your discontent in laughter sounds only, or in pig-latin. You can be as passionate as you’d like and point fingers if you want, just don’t hit (or even threaten to hit) anything or anybody.
  2. Credit Card Bill Laughter: open an imaginary credit card bill (or any other letter that represents a bad news to you) and burst out laughing the second you look at what’s inside.
  3. Electric Shock Laughter: Imagine that everything and everybody you touch gives you a shock of static electricity. Jump backward and laugh each time it happens (make it happen a lot).
  4. I Don’t Know Why I Am Laughing: laugh (fake is perfectly fine) and shrug your shoulders and make a big smile as you look at yourself in a mirror or anybody else who might be there and try to convey the message with your eyes and body language “I absolutely don’t know why I am laughing”.
  5. No Money Laughter: laugh as turn your pockets inside out looking for money that isn’t there.

5 Laughter Yoga Exercises To Help You “Loosen Up”

  1. Find Your Laughter Center: Probe your head with one finger as if looking for your laughter center. Imagine that each spot you push on triggers a different laughter sound.
  2. Figure Of Eight Laughter: Laugh as you draw several imaginary figures of eight in the air with your head, shoulders, hips, knees.
  3. Hula Hoop Laughter: imagine having a hula hoop around your hips. Get the hoop in motion by moving your hips back and forth saying “aeeeeeeeeee”. Once you feel your hoop is in motion laugh as you keep swinging it.
  4. Mental Floss Laughter: Move your hands sideways on either side of your head as if you were flossing your brain (why not?) and laugh as you do so.
  5. Stage Actor Laughter Technique: imagine you are the best Shakespearian actor in the world. Make large movements in the air with your arms as you recite your lines in laughter sounds.

5 Laughter Yoga Exercises For Children

  • Baby Laughter: one person must demonstrate how a baby laughs (take turns!). Everybody else must then do the same things.
  • Favorite Animal Laughter: laugh and behave the way your favorite animal or pet would behave if it was very happy to see you.
  • Chicken Laughter: Imagine you are a chicken. First lay 3 eggs in 3 laughs, then laugh with lots of excitement in your voice as you go tell the world about it.
  • Jumping Frog: squat down, hands on the floor between your knees. Jump once saying “ha”, then a second time saying “ha ha”, a third time saying “ha ha ha”, then jump in fast succession laughing a lot.
  • Laughter Vowels: let’s learn the laughter vowels! Let’s start with “A” as in “hat”: Aaaaa ha ha ha ha ha”. Next is “E” as in “hen”: Eeeee he he he he he. Next is “I” a in “hiccup”: Iiiii hi hi hi hi hi. Next is “O” as in “Otto”: Ooooo ho ho ho ho ho. Last is “U” as in “soup”: Uuuuu hu hu hu hu hu.

5 Laughter Yoga Exercises For Seniors

  • Back Pain Laughter: lean forward and put your hand on your lower back, then laugh as if you could not stand back up.
  • Conductor Laughter: Imagine you are a conductor. Direct an imaginary orchestra with enthusiastic arm movements as you sing any song of your choice in laughter sounds only e.g. (ho ho ho) or “ha ha ha”.
  • Ear-Wiggle Laughter: slowly slide your left hand upward along the left side of your head, slowly going over your head as you say an extended “aeeee” sound, then laugh as you wiggle your right ear with your left fingers. Do the same on the other side. Repeat a few times.
  • Laughter Pill: take some laughter pills! Each pill has a unique effect and makes you laugh and jerk in a peculiar way for just a few seconds. Try another one as soon as the effects wear off.
  • Vowel Movement Laughter: have you had your vowel movement today? Laugh in the tonality of the following sounds: Eee Eee Eee Eee! Aye aye aye aye! Ah ah ah ah! Ho ho ho ho! Ooo ooo ooo ooo! Uh uh uh uh!

Pictures

All the following pictures are copyright free.

You are welcome to use them on your website or in print publications.
We would appreciate a photo credit for www.laughteryogaamerica.com.

Sebastien Gendry

Download a high resolution copy of this picture (0.5mb, 2051x2051px) at http://sebastiengendry/images/headshot-sgendry-hr1.jpg
Download a low resolution copy of this picture in black and white (14kb, 120x120px) at http://sebastiengendry.com/images/headshot-sgendry-lr2.jpg

Sebastien Gendry

Download a high resolution copy of this picture (3mb, 2000x3008px) at http://sebastiengendry.com/images/headshot-sgendry-hr2.jpg

Sebastien Gendry

Download a high resolution copy of this picture (5.8mb, 3504x2336px) at http://sebastiengendry.com/images/headshot-sgendry-hr4.jpg

Sebastien Gendry

Download a high resolution copy of this picture (5.2mb, 4638x2912px) at http://sebastiengendry.com/images/headshot-sgendry-hr5.jpg

Sebastien Gendry

Download a high resolution copy of this picture (5.2mb, 4638x2912px) at http://sebastiengendry.com/images/headshot-sgendry-hr6.jpg

Videos

Broadcast Quality Laughter Yoga Video Segment

Please contact us if you need a broadcast quality video of Laughter Yoga people in action (kindly tell us who you are and how it is going to be used).

Past Media Appearances (Television)

Oprah Winfrey Show

Living Life, With Florence Henderson

Celebrity Fit Club, With Tempestt Bledsoe

Find more videos at http://www.youtube.com/laughteryogaamerica and http://www.youtube.com/laughangeles

Contact

We welcome all press inquiries. Please contact

Sebastien Gendry
C.E.O.
American School Of Laughter Yoga
122 Hurlbut Street, Suite 9, Pasadena, CA 91105, USA
Phone: +1 626 755 5999
Email: laugh AT laughteryogaamerica.com

Ask Our Medical Expert

Siddharth Ashvin Shah, M.D., M.P.H.
Ph: (917) 405-3316
siddharthshah.com AT gmail.com

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