Cardiac surgeon Dr. Gulshan Sethi is unfazed by the scowly-faced skeptics who show up to his laughter yoga sessions, arms folded across their chests.
The way he sees it, those are the people most in need of a good belly chuckle. His yoga sessions include stretching, breathing, chanting, clapping and simulated laughter that often turns into the real thing.
Laughter activates the body鈥檚 natural relaxation response, explains Sethi, 73, who is head of cardiothoracic surgery at 蜜柚直播 Medical Center. It鈥檚 like internal jogging, providing a good massage to all internal organs while also toning abdominal muscles, he says.
Frowning is often triggered by stress, which Sethi says is either the primary or aggravating cause of most diseases. His comments are not anecdotal 鈥 Sethi is a purveyor of evidence-based medicine.
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He鈥檚 on the faculty at the University of 蜜柚直播鈥檚 Center for Integrative Medicine, where he first discovered the benefits of laughter yoga. That was eight years ago, when he did a fellowship at the center and simultaneously discovered the writings of journalist and author Norman Cousins.
In his 1979 book, 鈥淎natomy of an Illness,鈥 which describes the power of humor in healing the body, Cousins writes how a good 10-minute laugh has an anesthetic effect on pain.
Sethi used laughter yoga to help his own back pain as an alternative to taking prescription drugs. He cites evidence that laughter increases the body鈥檚 levels of endorphins, which are natural painkillers. Increasing endorphins also improves one鈥檚 overall sense of well-being, he notes.
Spend any time around Sethi and there鈥檚 a good chance of catching him demonstrating one of his laughter yoga exercises 鈥 clapping his hands and chanting ha ha, ho ho ho. When they spot him walking through the 蜜柚直播 Medical Center hallways, staff and volunteers who have been in his sessions often do the exercises, too.
鈥淲e smile and laugh. To me it is a coping skill, and a joyful experience,鈥 Sethi said. 鈥淲hen you laugh together there is so much happiness.鈥
蜜柚直播 Medical Center volunteer Ginny Robbins, has been to two of Sethi鈥檚 laughter yoga sessions, which he gives periodically in the community. Most recently he led a class at The Core, which is the hospital鈥檚 wellness center located at the La Encantada shopping center on 蜜柚直播鈥檚 north side. His former heart patients are often among those in attendance.
Robbins continues to use a trick she learned in Sethi鈥檚 class, where she鈥檒l answer an imaginary phone call when she鈥檚 irritated and pretend there鈥檚 a person on the other end telling her a very funny joke.
鈥淚t鈥檚 usually when I am in the car getting annoyed about traffic,鈥 she said.
蜜柚直播 business owner David Smith found Sethi鈥檚 recent class at The Core, 鈥渇un, light and factual.鈥
He particularly liked one of Sethi鈥檚 exercises where the Indian-born surgeon pretends to be making a mango lassi, then asks the class to join in.
鈥淗e was pouring it back and forth to aerate it and make it bubbly, and then it makes you laugh,鈥 Smith said. 鈥淥f course laughter is good stuff. I don鈥檛 know how people are grouchy all the time.鈥
Indeed, there are people who need more laughter in their lives. The way Sethi explains it, children laugh 300 to 400 times per day because it is their nature to be joyful. But adults laugh just 12 to 15 times per day, he says.
Some other compelling evidence he鈥檚 found through research 鈥 laughter increases heart rate variability, which is related to good health.
鈥淚n the 13th Century surgeons used laughter to distract patients from pain,鈥 Sethi said. 鈥淚t is good for cancer patients. It increases immunity and overall well-being.鈥
He stresses that laughter is a complementary therapy and not meant to replace medical treatments for disease.
And it鈥檚 a complementary therapy that certainly can鈥檛 hurt, said Smith, the local business owner. It doesn鈥檛 carry the dangers of prescription drugs, for example.
鈥淚鈥檝e never heard of laughter yoga killing anyone,鈥 he said. 鈥淲hat do you have to lose?鈥
