Laughter yoga sessions catered towards people with dementia and learning disabilities are set to start in Salford.
Drop-in sessions where participants are encouraged to make themselves laugh are being hosted by social care provider Aspire for Intelligent Care and Support.
Free drop-in sessions are scheduled to take place at the Alexandra Community Hub in Eccles from 6 February to 13 March and spots will be allocated on a first come first serve basis.
Laughter yoga therapy is a meditational exercise used to uplift spirits and release serotonin.
Aspire believes that “regular sessions can support emotional balance, clearer thinking, and overall well-being.”
The organisation said: “In today’s busy and stressful world, Laughter Yoga is a reminder that happiness doesn’t always need a reason. Sometimes, choosing to laugh is enough.”
Caroline Jones, the instructor for these sessions, has a long history of helping people through her work and in her community.
As well as being a trained instructor, she additionally runs ‘The Death Café’ in Eccles – a place where people are encouraged to open up about grief over a cup of tea or coffee – and was previously a funeral celebrant and a lecturer at Salford University.
This will be her third group of Laughter yoga sessions with Aspire – her journey began, however, after attending a free session during a period of struggling through long covid.
“I had long covid for three years. I came out of that, just thinking, that has changed everything for me. It just made me think, I want to bring that to other people,” Caroline recalled.
Laughter yoga is an exercise program that originated in Mumbai, India, in 1995 by Physician Dr Madan Kataria and his wife Madhuri.
Caroline explained: “The body doesn’t really know the difference between real laughter and pretending to laugh. So, you basically get the same health benefits from pretending to laugh as you do from really laughing.
“Madan Kataria started these laughter clubs in Mumbai where people just laughed. They started off telling jokes and trying to make each other laugh. But then they ran out of material. And that’s when he realised that pretending to laugh does almost just as good a job.”
The laughter yoga sessions will involve a light-hearted community session of guaranteed giggles.
“He developed all these very silly games that we play. It’s about tapping into childlike joy and play and leaving your ego at the door and just being silly,” she said.
“You start off pretending to laugh and there’s this wonderful moment in every class I’ve ever taught where partway for you think, actually, I’m laughing now, but I don’t know when it switched from pretending to real.
“And sometimes I don’t even know now whether I’m really laughing, or pretending to laugh, but it really does help. And there is something hilarious about watching a roomful of adults pretending to laugh like an elephant or something. That just does tend to get the laughter flowing naturally.”
Caroline Jones welcomes everyone to come along for a session in the coming weeks. They will also be holding more laughing yoga sessions in Little Hulton as well afterwards.
“Laughter yoga is an activity that everybody can do. It’s something you can do together and creates community. It brings people together in a way where you don’t need to be verbal, have a conversation or be active.
“We are keen to get as many members of the public as we can…I’m hoping that it enables people to see that people with learning disabilities are the same as everybody else.”
To call and book your slot on the Laughter Yoga sessions, contact: 0161 788 0636.
