Senior Rylee Archuleta strives to spread laughter across campus with Laughter Yoga
Senior Rylee Archuleta (left) leads her first Laughing Yoga session on The Bluff between St. Mary’s and Swindells. Senior Chris Robison (right) was one of several in attendance. (Jackie Jeffers | The Beacon)
By Lydia Laythe, Staff Writer laythe16@up.edu
When your eyes are watering, you can't breathe, you're bent over gasping for air and your whole body is shaking. That's the best kind of laughter. The laughter that is so strong, it doesn't even make a noise. Or so unexpected, it's a burst of uncontrollable giggles. Laughter can be loud and contagious or excessive and annoying, but it is always healthy.
Senior Rylee Archuleta is trying to start an epidemic of healthy laughter on campus. She is starting her own Laughter Yoga Club, in the hopes that students will open up, let out a chuckle or a snicker, and ultimately find their inner-child.
"[Laughter yoga] is a fun way to de-stress, be goofy and not take yourself too seriously," Archuleta said.
Archuleta has compiled a list of activities that induce laughter, which she believes to be important for people's health and well-being.
"[I bring out my inner-child by] doing goofy things," Archuleta said. "People might look at [me] and be like 'oh that's really weird' but it's [important] to have fun with it and not worry."
There are countless stories of miraculous recoveries had by people who self-prescribed a laughter regime when confronted with serious illness. Famous journalist and author in the 1950s and 60s, Norman Cousins, is just one inspiring example. He was given a month to live after being diagnosed with a terminal disease, at which point he surrounded himself with only things that would make him laugh. He ended up recovering from the disease and lived another ten years.
Cousins' regime was not anything formal or medically tested, but many studies have shown the health benefits of laughter. A study at Vanderbilt University found that 10 to 15 minutes of hearty laughter burns up to fifty calories. A study from the University of Maryland also found that laughing can help natural blood flow, increase immune response, and aid in relaxation and sleep. Though people have been aware of laughter's health benefits since Cousins' recovery in the 1960s, Laughter Yoga is the first structured form of group laughter aimed to capture the health benefits of laughing.
Laughter yoga began in India in the 1990s as an informal group of about five men, led by Dr. Madan Kataria, a physician from India, who had recently learned about the major health benefits of laughter. The group would sit around telling jokes and laughing, but eventually they ran out of jokes and began doing activities while fake laughing, which resulted in real laughter.
Fake laughter works just as well as real laughter, not only because fake laughing often turns into real laughing, but because the human body cannot tell the difference.
"I thought that it sounded like a fun idea," Archuleta said.
Archuleta had first heard of Laughter Yoga from a friend. She has never given a class or participated in a formal class, but is very excited to begin at UP. She is driven by a strong belief in encouraging people to keep their inner-child alive.
"I think losing your inner-child is a very sad thing," Archuleta said. "[Being goofy] lets you keep who you are. If you're always trying to play it cool and not be weird, you're never going to find out who you are."
Seniors Juliana Flores, Jordan Heintz, and Chris Robison attended the first session of Laughter Yoga led by Archuleta in early October. The session was held on the grass behind St. Mary's and was promoted by a few fliers around campus.
"I just laughed the whole time," Flores said.
The session consisted of various activities centered around laughing, and fake laughing was encouraged. While some laughter began out of discomfort and awkwardness, it eventually turned into real, honest laughter.
"It was awkward until it was fun," Robison said.
The students involved all expressed a need to release stress and tension.
"It's nice to not have to be so serious all the time," Heintz said. "[Being] cooped up in class all day, it's nice to be able to relax."
Students are always looking for ways to relax after a long, stressful day of chem labs and three-hour workshops.
"I had two tests today, so this helped a lot," Flores said. "It's nice to be silly."
Archuleta was happy with the results of the first session. She plans to use the first session as a learning experience with the hope that she can improve her sessions.
Archuleta also plans to keep the times of sessions fairly flexible, so she can change it to when more people can attend. She will put up more posters when she has a set time and place. Archuleta looks forward to future opportunities to spread some laughter around campus.
"I hope that people enjoy it, and that it becomes more well-known," Archuleta said, "[I hope] it becomes a cool, fun way for people to connect with each other and de-stress."
