New Health Trend: Laughter Coach
It doesn’t get funnier (or healthier) than this! This health trend is becoming more and more popular, and from the sound of it… we love it already!
There are now joy bootcamps that people can go to in order to learn how to laugh from laughter coaches.
This trend is a big hit in India, and Times Life shared why…
"Do you remember the last time you laughed out aloud? Not wrote `LOL' in an SMS but actually had a hearty laugh over something silly or downright hilarious? If the answer is `yes', you are very lucky, but for most, laughing aloud has become quite an uphill task. What do you laugh at? What's so funny, anyway? More often than not, people think `who has the time to laugh?' There are more important things to do. But if you ask Jean Leggett, the Canadian founder of Joy Bootcamp, she'll say you do not have anything more important to do than to laugh."
"You may think you have a `happy life' but is it a joyful life?" asks Leggett, a former stand-up comedian who is now a sought-after motivational speaker. In her bootcamp, she teaches people how to look at the lighter side of any situation, even if it appears to be serious."
"I teach people how to jump-start their brain and life for more joy. I create space for people to engage in child-like fun, laugh and be imaginative through various activities, like hula dance in Hawaii, snorkelling, surfing, walking on hot coal, laughing all the while. We go to hospitals, war zones and corporate offices to teach people to look at the lighter side of life."
Laughter coaches are in demand these days - especially in the corporate sector full of ambitious jetsetters, who in the quest for happiness, have ironically forgotten how to laugh.
The late Annette Goodheart, one of the world's best laughter therapists and author of the bestseller Laughter Therapy: How to Laugh About Everything in Your Life That Isn't Really Funny, had said that laughter is a cathartic process, which helps rebalance the chemistry of emotions, which can be a keystone for healing.
Her theory was confirmed by several researches over the years on the benefits of laughter. One of these studies in Japan, by geneticist Kazuo Murakami, showed that laughter therapy is an efficient, low-cost medical treatment that cuts health costs. "Laughter is a stimulant, which can trigger energy inside a person's DNA, potentially helping cure diseases," says Murakami.
New York-based laughter coach Beth Bongar says, "Everyday stresses are overwhelming. Our jobs, families and lives demand a lot of our attention. My classes are all about laughing, giggling and playing. I use the `gibberish' technique, where we all laugh using gibberish sounds. Playful exercises help to reduce inhibitions and shyness, and convert simulated laughter into unconditional laughter."
