![\"A](\"https:\/\/apicms.thestar.com.my\/uploads\/images\/2026\/01\/27\/3740481.jpg\")
A woman wearing star-shaped glasses smiles during a presidential campaign rally in Sao Paulo, Brazil. \u2014 Photos: AP<\/p>\nMalanin Bee curves her spine like a stretching cat as she lets out a maniacal, forced laugh.<\/p>\n
The quick-fire pattern of manufactured giggles \u2013 \u201coh, hoo hoo hoo, eeh, ha ha ha\u201d \u2013 soon ripples into genuine laughter, and she giddily kicks her feet.<\/p>\n
She\u2019s practising what she calls Laughaste, a hilarious yoga routine she created that is a descendant of \u201claughter clubs\u201d that emerged in India in the 1990s. It feels awkward at first, but you fake it till you make it, she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s about allowing yourself to be OK with being awkward,\u201d said Bee, a Los Angeles comedian and speaker. \u201cThen you\u2019re going to find some form of \u00adsilliness within that is going to allow you to laugh involuntarily.\u201d<\/p>\n
The laughter clubs were based on the common-sense notion that laughter relieves stress. But a good laugh is also good for your heart, immune system and many other health benefits, said Dr Michael Miller, a cardiologist and medical \u00adprofessor at the University of Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n
\u201cLike we say, exercise at least three to five days a week,\u201d Dr Miller said. \u201cBelly laugh at least two to five days a week.\u201d<\/p>\n
Although luminaries from the ancient Greeks to Freud have opined on the roots and implications of laughter, the modern study of laughter \u2013 gelotology \u2013 began emerging in the 1960s.<\/p>\n
Stanford University psychologist William F. Fry, one of gelotology\u2019s founders, drew blood samples from himself while watching Laurel And Hardy. He discovered that laughter increased the number of immune-boosting blood cells.<\/p>\n
In 1995, Dr Madan Kataria, a physician in Mumbai, got wind of the emerging research as editor of a health magazine while researching an article on stress management. To combat his own stress, he started the first daily laughter club in a park. It ballooned from a handful of participants to more than 150 within a month, he said.<\/p>\n
After the group quickly ran out of jokes, Dr Kataria created exercises that activated the diaphragm, and he incorporated yogic breathing exercises, light stretchesand deliberately silly sounds and movements.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were faking in the beginning and within seconds, everybody was in stitches,\u201d Dr Kataria said.<\/p>\n
The benefits of laughing<\/p>\n
Dr Miller began studying laughter in the 1990s. Showing funny movies to study participants, he found that laughter produces endorphins in the brain that promote beneficial chemicals in the blood vessels.<\/p>\n
Nitric oxide, for example, causes blood vessels to dilate, which lowers blood pressure, inflammation and cholesterol.<\/p>\n
The combination reduces the risk for a heart attack, he said, and the endorphins are natural pain killers.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you\u2019ve had a really good laugh, you feel very relaxed and light,\u201d said Dr Miller, who is also chief of medicine at the Philadelphia Veterans Administration, where he is implementing a laughter therapy programme. \u201cIt\u2019s like you\u2019ve taken pain medication.\u201d<\/p>\n
Forced laughter \u2013 or simulated mirth, in academia \u2013 may even be more beneficial than spontaneous laughter, said Jenny Rosendhal, a senior researcher of medical psychology at Jena University in Germany.<\/p>\n
A woman wearing star-shaped glasses smiles during a presidential campaign rally in Sao Paulo, Brazil. \u2014 Photos: AP<\/p>\n
Rosendhal completed a meta-\u00adanalysis of 45 laughter studies, among other research, and found that laughter-\u00adinducing therapies decreased glucose levels, the stress hormone \u00adcortisol and chronic pain. They also improved mobility and overall mood, especially in older populations.<\/p>\n
Because humour is subjective, it is hard to measure. That\u2019s why much of the more recent research has focused on laughter yoga and similar \u00adprogrammes that provoke \u00adsustained bouts of laughter during 30- to 45-minute \u00adsessions, Rosendhal said.<\/p>\n
Laughter yoga is particularly effective for people who might not feel like laughing, such as those struggling with depression or cancer patients, she said. With simulated laughter, the physiological mechanisms are the same, such as additional inhaling, exhaling and muscle activity that also improves mood.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe well-being comes through the back door,\u201d she said. \u201cYou start with an exercise, and then the spontaneous laughter comes later because it\u2019s funny to see people laughing.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Members](\"https:\/\/apicms.thestar.com.my\/uploads\/images\/2026\/01\/27\/3740483.jpg\")
Members of laughter clubs participate in a laughter competition for the elderly to celebrate World Laughter Day in Mumbai, India.<\/p>\n
Laugh for no reason<\/p>\n
During a recent video call, Dr Kataria said the trick is to learn to laugh for no reason. He and others in laughing yoga classes around the world have created hundreds of exercises that help.<\/p>\n
The simplest: Get together with another person, look in each other\u2019s eyes and repeat the sound \u201cha\u201d for a full minute. Or try the \u201cbreathe in and laugh\u201d. Bring your hands to your chest on a deep inhale, hold your breath for three seconds, and burst out laughing on the exhale while extending your hands forward.<\/p>\n
In laughing yoga classes, people may pretend to greet each other like aliens, crawl around like their favourite animals, or tap their temple as if a light bulb went off, exclaiming, \u201cAha! ha ha ha!\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Class](\"https:\/\/apicms.thestar.com.my\/uploads\/images\/2026\/01\/27\/3740484.jpg\")
Class members participate in a laughter yoga class on Main Beach in Laguna Beach, Calif., Nov. 29, 2006.\u2014 AP Photo\/Chris Carlson, File)<\/p>\n
Dr Kataria suggested bringing laughter into your daily life, even at things that might not seem funny. Demonstrating \u201ccredit card bill laughter\u201d, he held out his hand as if looking at a statement, and burst into a roiling, infectious laughter. For inspiration, you could log into one of the three dozen free online American laughter clubs recognised by Laughter Yoga International.<\/p>\n
\u201cReally, it\u2019s not about forcing yourself to laugh,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s like activating your laughter muscles, getting rid of your mental inhibitions and shyness. Then the real laughing is childlike laughing, unconditional laughing.\u201d \u2013 AP<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Malanin Bee curves her spine like a stretching cat as she lets out a maniacal, forced laugh. The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":266052,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[565,134,151636,111,139,69,14298],"class_list":{"0":"post-266051","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fitness","8":"tag-fitness","9":"tag-health","10":"tag-laughing","11":"tag-new-zealand","12":"tag-newzealand","13":"tag-nz","14":"tag-yoga"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266051","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=266051"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266051\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/266052"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=266051"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=266051"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=266051"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}