Ho, ho, ha, ha, ha! You’ve heard it before - laughter is the best medicine. Just like mindful breathing can make a difference in how we feel and react to everyday stress, laughter can have the same simple, yet profound effect on our overall health and well-being. And for those with Parkinson’s Disease (PD), Laughter Yoga can play a major role in their emotional and physical health.
Stress dampens our body’s ability to cope with disease, and all PD symptoms are amplified in the presence of stress. Laughter helps manage stress and anxiety by releasing a happy, hormonal cocktail that includes endorphins, the body’s natural feel good hormones that help with pain relief, which most PD patients live with daily. There is also a study out of Stanford that found laughter stimulates the part of the brain that uses dopamine which PD sufferers lack. Gita Fendelman, a Laughter Yoga Leader and Trainer who also is a PD patient states that, “Laughter Yoga is my ‘inner pharmacy’, and I believe that ‘incurable’ means ‘curable from within!’” Since becoming a Laughter Yoga Leader, Gita is also medication free after being diagnosed with PD for five years.
The concept for Laughter Yoga is based on the scientific fact that the body doesn’t know the difference between a real laugh or a simulated laugh so you get all the same physiological health benefits. For PD patients, these benefits include relief from depression and pain, group support, mindful breathing, and can also help strengthen their voice in a fun and easy way. And knowing that a person doesn’t have to be in a good mood to participate in Laughter Yoga allows members to focus on the exercises, breathing and movement, knowing the residual effects will come after each session.
And as we say in Laughter Yoga, that’s “Very good, very good, yay!”
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