Laughter Yoga in Filipino Therapists confab & expo

MANILA, Philippines - Laughter Yoga will be discussed in the upcoming first Filipino Therapists Conference and Expo on Sept. 24 to 25 at the Crown Plaza, Ortigas Center.

Life is too important to be taken seriously, says Oscar Wilde. We are a serious nation with serious people who have serious health problems, many of which are related to stress. Laughter relieves stress. Through laughter, we cope with fear and anger — the two emotions that result in stress.

With this, Laughter Yoga, an exercise routine, is sweeping the world and is a complete well-being workout. It was brought to the Philippines by Elvie Estavillo in 2000. Since then, the unique and unconventional yoga has spread nationwide. Laughter Yoga is founded in Mumbai, India in 1995 by a physician named Dr. Madan Kataria. The primary reason Dr. Kataria named the technique Laughter Yoga was because he incorporated Pranayama, the ancient science of yogic breathing, into laughter exercises. This has a powerful and immediate effect on our physiology and has been used for more than 4,000 years to influence the body, mind and emotions. According to yogic philosophy, we are alive because the cosmic energy from the universe flows into our body through our breath that is the life energy force or Prana. The essence of life is breathing. Due to stress and negative emotions, breathing becomes irregular and shallow, thus affecting the flow of Prana through the body.

In the Philippines, Paolo Trinidad has founded Laughter Yoga Club Philippines (LYCP) and is a Laughter Yoga professor.

Laughter Yoga combines unconditional laughter yogic breathing (Pranayama). Laughter is simulated as a body exercise in a group, eye contact and childlike playfulness. It soon turns into a real, contagious laughter. The concept of laughter yoga is based on the idea that the body cannot differentiate between fake and real laughter.

For details, call Ex-link Management and Marketing Services Corp. at 642-2769, 0918-4678699 and 0922-23206598.