Arlington Laughter Club teaches laughter yoga for better living
Manny Paraschos
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An assortment of laughter filled the clubroom of The Church of Our Savior in East Arlington Monday afternoon. An elderly gentleman is red in the face as he sends a booming laugh across the room to a petite, middle-aged woman whose eyes are wide as she chuckles quietly to herself.
In the center, smiling as she conducts the hilarity, is Dr. Lynn Caeser, a psychologist and laughter yoga leader for the Arlington Laughter Club- a group that meets at the Church of Our Savior in Arlington twice a month to help its members through physical, mental, and spiritual struggles with one of life's most natural medicines: laughter.
Founded in 2003, the Arlington Laughter Club based its 30-minute laughter yoga sessions on the teachings of Dr. Madan Kataria, a physician from Mumbai, India who started the first laughter club in 1995 with five participants. Almost 15 years later, there are more than 6.000 laughter yoga clubs in sixty countries. "We're a growing, laughing family," Caeser said.
The concept of Laughter Yoga is based on the scientific fact that the body cannot differentiate between fake and real laughter, according to the official laughter yoga website. The technique involves a series of activities where participants are forced to laugh. As a warm up, Caeser asks club members to say something that isn't funny and then laugh about it. The activity prompts an array of colorful answers from cold weather to orthopedic surgery.
Club member Zissa MacDougall, 67, said it took her a while to get used to the exercises. "At first it feels like your faking it, but I've notice a change in my daily routine- you develop spontaneous laughter," MacDougall said.
Phillip Glenn, marketing communications professor at Emerson College and author of Laughter in Interaction, said that the awkward situations that laughter clubs create are all part of the benefits of laughter yoga. "It is awkard and silly, but what I have discovered is that the awkwardness itself becomes laughable because its so absurd," he said.
According to Caeser, laughter yoga is a growing process. "If you really delve into this, it has power beyond words- it helps us cope," she said.
Many of the Arlington Laughter Club's most frequent members, said they first came to the meetings because of a physical illness. Catherine Nunnelly, 62, came to a laughter meeting for the first time in October 2008 when she came down with an illness that prevented her from sleeping through the night. "I realized that I had to learn how to laugh- it gives me a sense of security. I slept better that night than I ever had," she said.
Kym Feltovic, an Emerson College graduate and massage therapist from New Hampshire, attends meetings to get tips for some of her clients whom she feels have large amounts of abdominal tension. "Shift your focus onto things you're enjoying- just doing that makes your whole life happier," she said.
The physical and psychological benefits of yoga have to do with combining the foundations of yoga - deep breathing, muscle relaxation and the sense of relaxation- with a social aspect that prompts participants to look at each other and interact, according to Glenn.
"It's transformative. It's more than just fun. It's therapeutic. The possibilities are infinite- emotionally, physically, spiritually, and mentally," Caeser said.