THINKING it was a yoga class, Meley Tabonares eagerly signed up for a laughter yoga event on Saturday, March 9, 2024, only to discover it was a different style of yoga altogether.
However, rather than being disappointed, Tabonares found the experience to be unexpectedly fulfilling.
“I was thinking it was yoga, but it’s laughter… yoga and laughter combined together makes sense in our lives because my son is a standup comedian in Manila… I am still very happy to be here and to realize that our minds need cleansing,” she said.
Tabonares was one of the over 30 individuals who experienced laughter’s healing power at a free health and laughter yoga session held at the Cebu City Public Library on March 9, 2024.
This marked the first laughter yoga session in Cebu City, drawing participants from in and out of Cebu.
The session facilitated by Fr. Loreto Jaque, a priest and member of the Laughter Yoga International and the Association for Applied and Therapeutic Humor, aimed to reconnect individuals with their playful inner child.
(Our problem is that we have become too serious now with our lives. We have forgotten how to laugh. We believe that life is all about working and working.)
He said a study showed that adults only smile less than 10 times a day, a big difference from the number of times a child laughs, which is around 400 times a day.
Jaque emphasized the importance of laughing more as it entails health benefits by providing extra oxygen to the brain, promoting relaxation, and facilitating the release of neurochemicals, such as dopamine and oxytocin.
Participants, ranging from senior citizens to youth, were selected based on registrations received by the Cebu City Public Library, in partnership with the Cebu City government.
Jaque noted that among the participants were individuals grieving the loss of loved ones, as well as those feeling a sense of emptiness and searching for the meaning of life.
Teresa Secuia, from Makati, who flew to Cebu on Saturday morning to join the laughter yoga, said the experience was great as it took out her stress.
“It’s something for the soul. I work from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and every day is work and this is a break,” she said, noting she is a follower of Jaque.
Laughter yoga began in India around 1995.
According to Jaque, laughter yoga is not about comedy. Participants don't laugh in response to jokes or humor.
Instead, it's an aerobic exercise that allows people to laugh freely, without any specific reason or inhibitions.
Jaque said before engaging in the laughter exercise, participants, many of whom were strangers, took part in a dancing activity aimed at breaking down awkwardness and easing them into the main activity.
“After 6-7 dance movements, we became closer, and that's when we started laughter yoga. I simply guided them through some basic laughing exercises, and because of mirror neurons, laughter became contagious. Every time someone laughed beside you, even if you didn't feel like laughing initially, you would start laughing along,” Jaque said.
Albert Chan Paran, who was with Fr. Jaque since 2010 for expressive arts therapy, said it was his first time to do laughter yoga with Jaque with just more of having fun and with biodanza.
“(In biodanza, you go dancing and you are being happy; you go smiling and then you interact with different kind of people… your hindrances and it collapses all the walls that you build for yourself,” he said.
Jaque has been facilitating laughter yoga in other parts of the country, including Cavite, Tagaytay, Davao, and Bohol.
Laughter, Jaque emphasized, cannot solve problems, or ultimately erase pain and suffering, but it can help one to change his perspectives about himself and the world.
“Life is painful, but to be happy is a choice that we have to make every day,” he added. (WBS)