ELK POINT – The program room of Elk Point Municipal Library rocked with laughter last Tuesday afternoon, when Lily Belland, the Mental Health Capacity Building manager for the St. Paul Education Regional Division, came to town to lead a more mature group in their first-ever session of Laugh Yoga.
Laughter “is not something that is learned,” the certified yoga leader said, but when she and her mother needed cheering up went to an event simply called a ‘laugh night’, they found this was not a comedy show, but an event where everyone was encouraged to laugh. “We felt so much better.” That led to her joining a laughter club and later to taking up laughter yoga.
“ Laughter yoga is laughing for no reason at all, it’s an exercise program where you fake laughter until the real thing comes. It brings oxygen into our bellies and has big health benefits.”
Belland led participants through the four steps, starting with hand clapping, breathing exercises where they laughed until they were out of breath, and childlike playfulness, ending with outstretched arms and yelling ‘Yay!’ followed by a series of laughter exercises, including ‘Aloha’ laughter, an adult game of ‘Red Light, Green Light’, yard-long and inch-long exercises while laughing and clearing the brain with ‘mental floss’ before winding up with meditating while humming for a full minute.
After one last go-round of clapping, jubilant “Yays” rang out across the room as the happy group thanked Belland for an entertaining and enthusiastic program.