When was the last time you had a really good laugh?
Too often we find ourselves tightly pursing our lips and wrinkling our foreheads throughout the day. Most of the time, we're not even conscious that we're doing it! Our daily stresses can build up in our bodies and cause us to lose sleep, eat unhealthily, and get in the way of enjoying our friends and family.
Did you ever think that perhaps all you needed was a good belly laugh? Well, for thousands of people around the world, Laughter (Hasya) Yoga has become the answer to releasing all those trapped emotions and tensions.
As the founder of the Laughter Yoga Movement, Dr. Madan Kataria of Mumbai, India, understands the healing properties of laughter on the body and mind. Dr. Kataria, a qualified physician, created this imaginative concept after thoroughly researching the benefits of laughter on people's health. He came to the conclusion that anyone can generate laughter for 15 to 20 minutes without the use of humorous stimuli, and he realized that this could be a way "to improve health, increase well-being, and promote peace in the world through personal transformation."
With the assistance and yoga expertise of his wife, Madhuri Kataria, Dr. Kataria developed Laughter Yoga as a combination of laughter exercises, gentle breathing, yoga stretches, and rhythmic clapping to the chant "ho ho, ha ha ha." Typically, a session proceeds through each of these areas within a 20- to 30-minute period and ends in a "laughter meditation", in which participants sit silently for a few minutes and then create one final round of free-flowing laughter that opens the diaphragm and releases muscle tension.
Today there are over 6,000 Laughter Clubs in 60 countries - and these numbers continue to increase around the world. So find a chapter and discover your path to relieving your stress through a good giggle.
What's New at YogaHub:
If you're reading this, then you obviously know about YogaHub and have either subscribed to our weekly postcards and/or our newsletter.
Over 75 scientific trials have been published on yoga in major medical journals.
However, did you know that we have our very own social networking yoga community? If you have not already done so, you should really think about signing up because right now, it's completely free!
Our team has spent the past three months buzzing about in meetings, exchanging ideas, surfing other top social networking sites, making lists, crossing off tasks and, of course, testing, testing and testing some more.
And today, we're very excited to officially announce and extend an invitation to you to come and join us at MyYogaHub.com, where you'll be able to create your own personal space. Whether you're a member or a newcomer, now's the perfect time to visit the site. You can interact with other members, upload photos, add videos, start your own blog, or just make some new "cyber-yoga friends". After all, we now live in a small world because the Internet has really changed the boundaries of communication.
Over the past few weeks, we've added over 100 new features, and enhancements. We have many more planned revisions scheduled over the months to come.
Read more about the community or sign up, check out MyYogaHub Community. Or you can just dive right in and take a look at some of our featured members:
So come on and join the fun! It'll only take a few minutes for you to set up an account and join MyYogaHub. We're sure you're going to find it well worth your while!
Updates from the Blog:
Yoga Month Tour Stops in Los Angeles
As part of its 10-day tour, Yoga Month Heath Festival will be stopping over in Los Angeles the weekend of September 20-21. The two-day festival will take place at Loyola Marymount University, and will welcome an array of yoga teachers, enthusiasts, artists, vendors, and performers. Continue Reading...
Does Yoga Come Naturally For Children?
It's been a wonderful journey watching my son grow and develop over these past 18 months.
So many of us take for granted how we've grown and evolved from children into our emotional and physical adult selves. As adults, how many times have we just resigned ourselves to being a certain way without thinking that we could initiate changes and enhance our inner and outer selves? Continue Reading...
Spread the Love - Referral Rewards Special care goes into the preparation of each weekly Yoga Newsletter. We invite you to help us spread the word by sharing this message with others. Once a month, we will select an individual to receive a special gift as a token of our appreciation for passing it on. Pay-It-Forward and Win »
As part of its 10-day tour, Yoga Month Heath Festival will be stopping over in Los Angeles the weekend of September 20-21. The two-day festival will take place at Loyola Marymount University, and will welcome an array of yoga teachers, enthusiasts, artists, vendors, and performers. 
It's been a wonderful journey watching my son grow and develop over these past 18 months. 
