Theory and Practice of Contemporary Psychotherapies

Laughter Yoga with Seniors Videos/DVDs

Presenter: With the advancement in the modern medicine, the life expectancy is going up and the population of seniors is increasing day by day. Most seniors are very sad and depressed and they have many physical and mental illnesses. Though they are taken care by age care facilities very well but still they feel very lonely. Therefore, laughter yoga is ideally suited for seniors because it's not a mental process. It's a physically oriented technique. We are working to develop standardized programs for seniors to maximize the benefits of laughter yoga. I would like to acknowledge the contributions of Allan O' Meara from Canada, BC, who has developed the techniques, which are ideally suited for seniors. They can practice laughter yoga sitting on the chairs rather than moving around.

Allan O' Meara: Yeah. Funny bone. Got it.

Breathing exercises are key because we can't sit there and laugh. Well laughing is a form of breathing exhaling. That's what you want. Especially with seniors, they're breathing shallower and shallower. As we get older.

Here, go breathing in forgiveness. Hold it. Head down. Through the entrance, Namaste.

Speaker 2: Namaste.

Allan O' Meara: Head down.

One, Two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten. Here we go. Back of the hand. All the way up.

Speaker 3: Alright dad.

Allan O' Meara: All the way up.

Ho ho, ha ha ha. Ho ho, ha ha ha. It's easier if you will smile.

Speaker 4: Oh.

Allan O' Meara: Ha ha ha ho, ho, ha ha ha.

They like and I try to get down at their eye level, which is awesome. If you're standing up, how do you feel if you're sitting in chair and somebody's towering over you? You feel like this big. Eye level is key. It's very important to be eye level and make sure you start moving around. Move around the room, contact with all seniors, which is great.

The older we get, the less we laugh.

Speaker 3: That's not cycling, this is cycling.

Allan O' Meara: Okay. You're a tough crowd.

Speaker 5: No hands!

Allan O' Meara: Look mom, no hands.

Come on old guy. I know you can do it. What's with the nose.

Speaker 6: First time that I came to laughter class, this is ridiculous going ho ho, ha ha ha. I guess this is my second third time. And I, it is, it's just delightful seeing everyone with these beautiful big grins and in spite of themselves.

Allan O' Meara: I'm the happiest person. Yes! I'm the healthiest person alive. Yes! I love to laugh. Yes!