Laughter Yoga classes set up to beat recession blues

Mar 27 2011 by Zoe Chamberlain, Sunday Mercury

THEY say that laughter is the best medicine – and ‘yo-ho-ho-ga’ classes in the Midlands are helping people with everything from dole depression to diet despair.

Laughter Yoga, as it’s known, is no joke. But it will soon have you in stitches, rather than the stretches you usually associate with the Eastern exercise regime.

Devotees start out by pretending to laugh, and soon find themselves seeing the funny side of things, no matter how grim they feel in tough times like the recession.

Sue MacLusky, 49, from Stourbridge, launched laughter yoga classes in her hometown after a dark period in her life last summer, during which she was deperately unhappy.

She separated from her partner of 14 years; her father-in-law had died, leaving her looking after her grieving mother-in-law; her own mother was suffering with dementia – and her father was seriously ill in hospital.

And that was while looking after son Ben, who is now nine, and holding down a full-time job as a massage therapist.

“It was a really difficult time,” said Sue. “It’s my job to be calm and happy for my clients but I was getting headaches, my asthma was coming back and I was feeling really stressed.

“The doctor put me on antidepressants. I even called the Samaritans. I was in a very low place.”

Comfort eating kicked in, and Sue piled on the weight, going up to 16 stone and a size 20. Then, something happened that changed her life forever – and it sounded like fun.

“I heard about a laughter class,” she said.

“Apparently, laughter gives you an instant inner boost because it releases a feelgood hormone called oxytocin. I thought it might be just what I needed.

“I went in thinking I must be mad, and came out high as a kite.”

It had such a positive impact on Sue that she decided to run her own classes.

“It’s not about telling jokes or being funny,” she explained. “When someone’s feeling depressed, you can’t cheer them up with jokes. We use breathing exercises and fake laughter instead.