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August 10, 2009 - Participants from our weekly session of laughter yoga
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About LaughYoga
Page Sections: About the Facilitators | About the Practice | About the History
Mandie Navarro
Mandie Navarro is a Certified Laughter Yoga Leader and Teacher with a passion for sharing the joy and health benefits of laughter. She owns and operates, Universal Laughter Yoga (new window will open), in the Dallas - Fort Worth area with the mission to bring health, happiness & harmony to our world. Trained as a Laughter Yoga Teacher by the founder of Laughter Yoga International, Dr. Madan Kataria, she is qualified to train and certify anyone who also wishes to become a Laughter Yoga Leader. Diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 1997, she is committed to living each day purposefully and joyfully. Mandie is a strong proponent of a healthy lifestyle to feed and enrich the mind, body and soul including lots of: laughter, positivity, spirituality, exercise and proper nutrition. She is a motivational and inspirational speaker conducting laughter yoga sessions for people of all ages and all physical abilities.
Cabe Lindsay
Cabe Lindsay is a laughter yoga facilitator in Austin, Texas. He is a qualified and experienced instructor, certified through The American School of Laughter Yoga. The style of his sessions is aligned with the general practice of laughter yoga, while each session is unique in its creative theme: e.g. hiking in the mountains, being a bird, kudos to kiddos, etc. Prior to living in Austin, he launched and led a number of successful laughter yoga campaigns in Dallas, including regular sessions at the Cosmic Cafe. Cabe moved to Austin from Dallas in 2009 to attend grad school at The University of Texas, which he recently completed. He is the founder and director of the brand consultancy, Optimistic Realism (new window will open).
Laughter yoga sessions are most often 60 minutes in length. In the first 15 minutes, or so, participants explore the space and begin to breathe deeply, warming up the abs, lungs, and vocal chords. The instructor introduces the practice, and then the exercises begin. Laugh yoga exercises train and tone all the muscles involved in smiling and laughing, including facial muscles, abdomenal muscles, and more, in order to transition smoothly into free-flowing laughter. The last 15 minutes is a time for release, through group sharing and meditative smiling and laughing. Sessions end in quiet meditation.
The structured practice of laughter yoga (LY) began in 1995, when a family physician in India started a laughter club in order to field-test the theory: "Laughter is the best medicine." LY evolved from its initial joke-telling stage into a system that promotes the concept of laughing for no reason.
To deepen its impact, Dr. Kataria and his wife, a yoga teacher, included age-old breathing techniques and other traditional yoga practices into the mix. The resulting laughter yoga practice has grown into a worldwide movement, with more than 6,000 clubs in 60 countries. Kataria's concept of simulated laughter exercises and laughter clubs gained headway in the U.S. in 2004, through Sebastien Gendry, founder and director of The American School of Laughter Yoga.
Note: For performance clips, links to excellent resource websites, and more information on the laughter yoga and laughter clubs, visit the following websites: The American School of Laughter Yoga and Laughter Yoga International (new window will open).
