The Therapeutic Use of Laughter Yoga to Improve Mental Wellness for Persons-in-recovery in the community

Abstract Description

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Authors (including presenting author) :

TAM CW (1), D. Nguyen (2), Lee WK (3), Li MS (4), YUEN SK (5), FONG WC (6), LEUNG SK (7)

Affiliation :

(1-7) Kwai Chung Hospital

Introduction :

Laughter Yoga (LY) allows people to practice laughter without depending upon outside conditions. Anybody can laugh for no reason without relying jokes, humor and comedy. It combines laughter exercises and yogic breathing for complete wellbeing. Both local and international researches supported that the level of anxiety, stress hormones and blood pressure were reduced after LY. It has been recommended for people experiencing depression because of the mood lifting effect due to the release of endorphins.

Objectives :

To explore the changes before and after Laughter Yoga, including physical condition, speed of breathing, mood and feeling of shoulder & neck.

Methodology :

The 1 hour group-based laughter yoga session will be provided for Persons-in-recovery who have symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress. The session will be taught by psychiatric nurse with qualification of Certified Laughter Yoga Teacher and Leaders. The session includes breathing exercise, simulated laughter, grounding exercise and meditation. After session, the participants, obtained written consent, will be invited to fill in the standardize Laughter Yoga Evaluation Form to investigate their pre/post of physical condition, speed of breathing, level of mood and feelings of shoulder and neck.

Result & Outcome :

The participants (n=60) were recruited (M: 29, F: 31, Mean of age: 41.56). All of them completed the evaluation forms. The result were shown that physical condition (Pre Mean: 3.45; Pre SD: 0.699), (Post Mean 1.68; Post SD: 0.567), p< 0.01. Speed of breathing (Pre Mean: 3.63, Pre SD 0.802), (Post Mean: 1.65, Post SD:0.606), p< 0.01. Mood (Pre Mean: 3.67, Pre SD: 0.633) (Post Mean:1.71, Post SD:0.613), p< 0.01. Feeling of shoulder & neck (Pre mean: 3.71, Pre SD: 0.825), (Post mean: 1.61, Post SD: 0.585), p< 0.01. Overall, the significant changes were revealed after laughter yoga session. It implicated that the Laughter Yoga can improve one's bio-psycho-social functioning.