Talk about a twisted sense of humor!
A high-spirited yogini will teach a workshop on “laughter yoga” at a Park Slope studio on May 16. This chuckle-focused practice is a way for people to unwind and take life a little less seriously, said the teacher.
“As a society, and in New York City, we are taught so much to ‘be in control’ and be serious about ourselves,” said yoga instructor April Frazier. “I love laughter yoga because it is an immediate relief of stress and cultivates playfulness.”
Frazier said she starts the workshop by asking her students to visualize a time in childhood when they, or a child they know, were laughing uncontrollably and to concentrate on the context of that moment. Who else was there? What were they doing? What was so funny? She then asks a few people to share these anecdotes.
“This primes the mind for laughter and going back to their inner child,” said Frazier, who has been teaching yoga for five years and laughter yoga for nearly a year.
Next comes stretching and breathing exercises to warm-up the stomach muscles and help unleash the belly laughs. Then finally it is time to crack up — participants spend about 20 minutes doing different laughter exercises that Frazier said are surprisingly aerobically challenging. Expect to sweat while you snicker, she said.
“Have you ever laughed uncontrollably for an extended amount of time? You really feel it in your core the next day,” said Frazier.
As well as being a great ab workout, Frazier said laughter yoga helps people feel more connected to others, and makes it easier to look on the bright side of life off the yoga mat.
“You find you can move to a place of resilience and be able to laugh things off that come up in life,” she said.
Some find it difficult to let loose at first, but Frazier said even the most uptight practitioners will get something out of the exercise.
“You can fake it until you make it, and the body still receives the benefits,” she said. “You don’t need to have a good sense of humor or be a comedian to enjoy the practice.”
Laughter Yoga Workshop at Brooklyn Yoga School [82 Sixth Ave. between St. Marks Avenue and Prospect Place in Park Slope, (718) 395–7632, www.brook
