Laughter yoga exercises for heart health_1_activ living

5 Laughter Yoga Exercises To Improve Your Heart Health

  • Last Updated On: August 27, 2024
  • 2 minute read

Laughter yoga or Hasya yoga is a form of exercise which uses laughter with breathing exercises to improve your heart health. With the stress and worries of the modern lifestyle, laughter can really be your answer for a healthy health. Read on to find out some laughter yoga exercises you can try today.

What you should know:

Benefits of laughter yoga

Benefits of laughter yoga for heart health_activ living

When you laugh most of your major blood vessels dilate and it allows for easier blood flow. Whereas anger and stress can restrict the blood flow in your blood vessels. A hearty laugh of 20 minutes can even be as good as an aerobic exercise of 60 minutes.

Laughter yoga is a healthy cardiovascular workout.  Even people who have recovered from a heart attack are less likely to face another cardiovascular illness if they laugh regularly rather than face anger or stress. Here are some more benefits of laughter yoga apart from heart health:

  • It creates endorphins to boost reduce your stress hormones and improve mental health.
  • It improves the body’s immune system by increasing antibodies. This can help you fight bacteria and viruses.
  • It improves your lung capacity and can even help people suffering from asthma and bronchitis.

Laughter yoga exercises for heart health

 

If you want to start trying laughter yoga today, you can do it in any yoga poses: padmasana, sukhasana, standing or sitting. You can do it alone but it is preferable to do in a group or as a couple. Here are some of the different types of laughter exercises you can try:

  1. Silent laughter: Open your mouth wide and laugh without making a sound. If you are doing this with other people you can look in their eyes and make funny gestures too.
  2. Humming laughter: In this exercise, you can keep your mouth shut and start a humming laugh or giggle.
  3. Lion laughter: Open your mouth and hang your tongue out. Spread your arms wide and widen your eyes while you laugh.
  4. Gradient laughter: Start from a soft chuckle and slowly build to a loud booming laugh. Then slowly bring it down to a smile.
  5. Heart-to-heart laughter: If you are doing this with a partner or group, you can try holding hands and laughing together. If you feel comfortable you can choose to hug and laugh together.

Apart from these exercises, you can also follow a diet for a healthy heart. For more fitness or nutrition related advice, visit Activ Living.

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Dr. Madan Kataria

Dr. Madan Kataria is a medical doctor, popularly known as the ‘Guru of Giggling’ (London Times). He is the founder of Laughter Yoga which has grown into a worldwide movement with thousands of Laughter Yoga clubs in over 100 countries. From his 25 years of experience, Dr Kataria can teach special guided techniques on how to laugh all by yourself, with your family and your colleagues. He is also a corporate consultant for holistic health, stress management, team building, leadership, peak performance and communication skills.