In May, the We-osk Wellness committee invited Alik and Lauren Colbert to host a virtual Laughter Yoga class for Freeoskers in honor of Mental Health Awareness! The duo, who calls themselves the Laughing Lovebugs, taught the group the basics of Laughter Yoga and lead some fun exercises that resulted in a lot of laughs – some fake but most real!
Here are a few things we learned that should inspire you to laugh for the health of it:
- Laughing improves blood flow, increases oxygen intake, and boosts energy
- Laughing releases “feel good” hormones (serotonin and endorphins) and decreases “stress hormones” (cortisol)
- Laughing with others deepens your social connections
And the best news of all? Your body doesn’t know the difference between fake laughter and real laughter so fake it ’til you make it and reap these health benefits even when you don’t have anything funny to chuckle about!
