Laugh with Laughter Yoga
by Carolyn Classen on Dec. 18, 2009, under Health, LifePeople say that laughter heals. Ask Gita, a hatha yoga instructor (and “recovered” tax attorney) who has added a laughter yoga club to her classes since being diagnosed with Parkinson’s at age 54 in 2004. Check out her website at Laughter Yoga with Gita.
She offers a FREE laughter yoga class every Sunday at Curves for Women, 2816 N. Campbell (NE corner of Glenn and Campbell, facing Glenn). The class starts at 5:30 p.m. for an hour, and is open to both men and women, of all ages.
Instructor Gita (Jill) Fendelman lives in Tucson and trained with India’s Dr. Madan Kataria, founder of the World Laughter Movement. She is certified by and affiliated with the Dr. Kataria School of Laughter Yoga, whose mission is Good Health, Joy and World Peace through Laughter. Gita is a member of the Tucson Laughter Club, and a founding member of the Curves Laughter YogHA Club. (Note the creative spelling of yoga.)
Dr. Kataria and Gita
“Laughter Yoga is based on the simple, yet revolutionary idea that anyone, anywhere, can laugh for no reason! You don’t need jokes, comedy or even a sense of humor. You don’t even need to be in the mood to laugh. In fact, if you’re feeling depressed, the depression will have a hard time hanging around!” (from Gita’s website)
I dropped by a few Sundays ago and it was hilarious, to do deep breathing exercises and some meditation, all lead by Gita, while laughing with about 12 others. I have taken mostly hatha yoga in the past and blogged about the recent yoga movie “Enlighten Up” on September 2, where I first learned about laughter yoga.
Try laughter YogHA, you might get a laugh out of it (and a lot more).
