By Kendall Kirkham
kekirkham@neighborsgo.com 

They say that laughter is the best medicine.

About 15 years ago, Indian physician Dr. Madan Kataria was writing a paper about the benefits of laughter.

Through his research, he found that there was no other modality that could heal the body quite like it.

“So he started prescribing laughter therapy to his terminally ill patients,” Michele Schamburek said. “And one by one, they started to get better; they started to say they felt less pain.”

Kataria began holding weekly laughter clubs, and eventually his wife, who was a yoga instructor, helped him combine yoga breathing techniques into the practice. Laughter yoga was born. The practice made its way into the states about 10 years go.

On May 2, a group of about 30 jovial people gathered behind the Bath House Cultural Center on White Rock Lake to celebrate World Laughter Day, which was created by Kataria.

According to its website, the celebration was developed in 1998 “to promote a positive manifestation for world peace,” and to build friendship and brotherhood through laughter. 

Schamburek, a local laughter yoga instructor, led the group, many of them donning clown noses, in a free laughter yoga session.

“There’s plenty of laughter to go around,” Paul Workman said, a Woodrow Wilson alum who teaches laughter yoga to senior citizens and in corporate settings.

Ashlie Rhey, a resident of The Colony, organized the Dallas event. (On the World Laughter Day website, more than 100 events are listed for this year all over the world.)

She stumbled across laughter yoga on the Internet in 2005, and became interested because of her high school cheerleading background. This is a different kind of cheerleading, she said.

After attending Schamburek’s classes at Cosmic Café in Uptown, Rhey decided to become certified to teach herself.

“Laughter yoga is a more fun way to produce endorphins,” Rhey said. “There is no downward dog. No painful stretches, no holding poses until your muscles shake. You just laugh.”

Schamburek, who also works full time at COREhealth Wellness Center, said laughter yoga goes back to the origin of yoga before poses were added.

“We start with a visualization, then move into breath work, which prepares us to play like children for a good portion of the class,” Schamburek said. “Then we laugh when we are finally open enough, and we finish with a group meditation.”

The visualization for the May 2 class was Woodstock. The entire group, which spent most of the session in a circle, interacted with each other as they pretended they were back in the hippie-era. The laughter seemed forced at first, but by the end of the class, everyone seemed more comfortable and relaxed with each other.

Rhey notes that seniors and people with disabilities can also practice laughter yoga, because participants aren’t limited to their physical ability.

The biggest benefits include lifting your mood, improving your breathing and a changed mental state.

Glenn Van Allen tried laughter yoga for the first time at Dallas World Laughter Day. Following the session, he said he felt grateful because the exercises teach “learning how to get in sync with people you are living with on this planet.”

Upon beginning her practice, Rhey recalled seeing the benefits almost immediately.

“My experience in laughter was completely different than week before,” she said. “It was bigger, deeper, it bubbled up deep inside me. It was an amazing thing.”

Rhey, who also works as an actor and local stand-up comic, hopes to continue to grow the Dallas World Laughter Day celebration every year.

TRY IT OUT/ LOCAL LAUGHTER LEADERS

• Michelle Schamburek teaches classes from 7 to 8 p.m. every Monday night at Cosmic Café, 2912 Oak Lawn Ave. in Dallas. For more information on her classes, visit laughyoga.org.

• Visit Paul Workman’s laughter yoga website at dfwlaughteryoga.com.

• Ashlie Rhey hopes to start up classes soon. Her website is catchthegiggles.com.

• Mandie Navarro, who was multiple sclerosis, said laughter yoga helps relax her muscles. She teaches at nursing homes and cancer facilities. Her website is universallaughteryoga.com.

• Lakewood resident Eric Post works with the “Laugh Your Way to Wellness” group, which started through meetup.com and brings people together during their lunch break once a month for a little “laughter therapy.”  Learn more at laughterdallas.com.

• Laughter yoga’s official website is laughteryoga.com.

• For more on World Laughter Day, visit worldlaughterday.org. 

Kendall Kirkham is the White Rock neighborsgo editor and can be reached at mailto:kekirkham@neighborsgo.com?subject=neighborsgo%20story or 214-977-8872.