Laughter yoga lets students relax

By Ellen Papp, Arts & Life Writer

Laughter Yoga to help bring joy during a time when it is easy to feel down due to finals. This is a type of yoga that is supposed to rekindle one’s child-like spirit to laugh hysterically for no reason at all in a group of complete strangers.

The Holistic Meditation and Mindful Leadership program hosted the session. Led by Kevin Karas on Tuesday, Dec. 2 in the Student Union room 335.

The exercise started off by talking about the guidelines of laughter yoga as well as the benefits it brings before proceeding into the laughter yoga itself.

Karas was trained in how to lead Laughter Yoga in Yogaville, a yoga retreat center. He brought bringing his talents to UA. Participants learned that besides being a great bonding tool, laughter boosts the immune system, releases tension and is supposed to release “feel-good” neuro chemicals such as dopamine and serotonin.

Some of the guidelines were maintaining eye contact, refraining from talking and, most importantly, acting happy and energetic.

Participants learned different ways of laughing and played laughter games. Afterwards, they played a variety of games and Karas led the group in a guided still-meditation.

By the end of the activity, everyone seemed to be more energized, relaxed and connected to the other participants. Most importantly, they learned that it is okay to laugh for no reason.