Laughter Yoga
Unbridle your laughter, nourish your soul and boost your mood in these fun, low stakes workshops. No prior experience or wit required – just a willingness to be open, follow Flora’s lead, and laugh.
After a single workshop, you'll never feel the same way about laughter again, while regular workshops enable participants to thoroughly find their way around their laughter and develop the skills to induce it - and cherish it! - with ease. Practising Laughter Yoga regularly in a team also kindles a sense of hope, creativity and trust through group play and affective team resourcing.
Laughter Yoga exercises are based on the scientific fact that, after ten minutes of laughter exercises the body does not distinguish between real and fake laughter so even if you don’t feel like laughing to begin with, you can still reap many physiological and psychological benefits from participating. Simulated laughter often topples into spontaneous laughter.
Extended laughter is a form of aerobic exercise, kind of like internal jogging. It engages muscles all over the body – especially the diaphragm, abdominals, and intercostal and face muscles – and, just like a cardiovascular workout, it releases ‘feel good’ endorphins that help us relax.
It also increases the net oxygen intake in our body and brain, expels stale air from our lungs and improves our circulation, boosting our alertness, energy and motivation levels. Using our diaphragm muscles also activates the vagus nerve (part of the parasympathetic ‘rest and digest’ branch of the central nervous system), reducing stress levels and thus strengthening our immune systems.
The activity of smiling, laughing and connecting with ourselves and others, even online, is also a great social bonding exercise that can lift our mood for the rest of the day.
"It's basically a gateway drug to self-love."
"I didn’t know what to expect and initially felt self-conscious but trusted Flora would keep me safe – and she did. I’m a carer of a husband with a form of dementia and had been dreading lockdown and the loss of personal freedom, so the idea of finding something to laugh about seemed attractive if somewhat incongruous – however, I can honestly say a Laugh Time fix twice a week has helped keep me sane and put this whole experience into perspective."
"I would recommend Flora’s sessions to anyone prepared to let go of their self-conscious selves and fill their world with the sound (and sight) of laughter – it is good for the lungs, the laughter-lines and a sense of inner wellbeing."
"I would say that Laugh Time is approachable and playful and something worth trying at least once. It may just change your life!
- Community Workshop Participants
Laughing is fantastic for our emotional and physical health
"It was great to be doing something with the team and really just being silly together. We don't have many opportunities to do this so it was a welcome activity that was super enjoyable. Puts you in a great, fun mood."
"The experience was really cool. I felt relaxed afterwards (which was good given the stressful day I had before that!)."
"I hadn't tried it before. I LOVED flocking laughter! It was hilarious."
"[I was] completely new to it [Laughter Yoga]. I had seen it on social media and was actually quite skeptical of it. I enjoyed the way everyone seemed to bounce off each other and thought it actually worked well over Zoom too."
"Enjoyed laughing with the team, connected, playing the fool for a bit!"
- Corporate Workshop Participants
About Flora
Flora is a dancer, performer and Laughter Yoga leader who lives in London.
Her Laughter Yoga sessions consist of simple yet powerful laughter and breathing exercises designed to get participants relaxing and reconnecting with their child-like sense of play.
Diagnosed with Bipolar 2 disorder in 2016, Flora has quietly been on a quest to identify activities that she can rely on to buoy her.
She began to develop a laughter practice when her mood was low during the Spring 2020 lockdown.
Feeling lighter for it, and eager to shore up a personal practice and share the joy, she decided to become a Laughter Yoga leader.
She has now been running somatic laughter community classes and corporate workshops for over a year.
"YOU DA BEST FLORA." - Hackney Quest workshop participant, age 8