WATCH: New laughter yoga classes at Inverness Cycle Studio, tried and tested
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There is something about being silly in front of other people that not everyone feels too confident about. Especially after two years in which our way of interacting with other human beings has completely shifted and we have grown used to these reassuring, protective walls (both literal and metaphorical ones) around us, taking down our social barriers is even more difficult.
So, I was very surprised at how easy that was made during one of the laughter yoga sessions that life coach and former social worker Natalie Gilray has started holding at Eastgate Centre.
The brand new Cycle Studio space offers a good sheltered space from the buzz in the mall, and although passers by would probably wonder where the roaring laughters come from, it feels like a really good space for a small group of people to leave the seriousness behind and make time for some healthy giggling.
What I really loved about the class is that it felt like a very welcoming, cosy human environment, and it helped that most of the people there had already beenthere before. It felt a bit like a playful initiation.
After a quick introduction, we started warming up with a series of simple, play-like exercises. Letting your imagination free and just making your inner child emerge is key to getting the most out of this session.
We showed each other funny pictures on an imaginary phone, played laughing peekaboo, bumped off each other in progressively loud giggles.
A great thing is that you don’t really need to dress sporty, and most exercises are incredibly gentle, fun and the sweating part is really minimal. You won’t need the same flexibility as the word yoga could suggest – you will get a warming feeling, your cheeks will have worked hard by the end of the sessions and water and something sugary are recommended because you'll feel very light and possibly slightly dizzy (in a very pleasant way).
Before leading the session Natalie, who discovered the practice five years ago, explained where laughter yoga comes from: "It started 27 years ago with a medical doctor in India, Dr Kataria. He was doing a research on people and laughter, and thought that it would be brilliant to get people laughing together because we feel so much better when we do, and as adults we just don't laugh enough !
"He got some volunteers together and they laughed and they felt brilliant. At the end of two weeks a few people said they were not sure about what jokes to tell, 'what is funny to me isn't funny to you'.
"So, Dr Kataria developed these exercises of just playfulness, so you don't need humor or jokes or anything like that. This is what gets all laughing, and then the yoga bit is the yoga breathing.
"There are so many benefits: it's good for reducing your stress levels, boosting your immune system, reducing social isolation.
"It's great for coming together and even just being able to take the mask off and see a genuine smile on one's face is amazing."
Indeed, this is a great opportunity to take some time out of your day and throw yourself into something new, maybe unknown, and just spend moments of silly cheerfulness.
The final part is a guided meditation which definitely sets a great, relaxed mood for the day, the only down part being the noise made by the ventilation system, which was a bit disturbing but didn't take too much away from the relaxing experience.
Laughter yoga classes take place at Inverness Cycle Studio in Eastgate every Friday at 12.30pm. For more information, contact Natalie at natalie@laughlifecoaching.com
