Laughter Yoga Is A Perfect Fit In Schools

The greatest challenge in the college classroom is to prevent death by lecture with material that is thought to be boring, difficult, and stress producing.

According to Mehrabian’s Communication Model what determines a speaker’s impact on an audience is based on the following:

• (a) what you say accounts for 7%;
• (b) how you say it accounts for 38%; and
• (c) how you look accounts for 55% of impact.

The rate of retention of material presented, adapted from various instruction modes, reports the following:

• (a) lecture and reading - 15%;
• (b) audio visual – 20%;
• (c) demonstration – 30%;
• (d) discussion group- 50%;
• (e) practice by doing- 75%; and
• (f) teaching others- 90%

(NTL Institute for Applied Behavioral Science).

Laughter, humor and collaborative strategies have a significant role in teaching. The goal of collaborative learning is to develop autonomous, articulate thinking people (Sawyer, 2004).

The use of laughter and humor in the classroom has the ability to grab student’s attention, increase interest in the topic, make topic learning fun, and facilitate understanding of the topic (Berk, 2003).

How can educators use effective laughter and humor strategies to help students learn to develop the capacity to relate effectively to others, cooperating to achieve agreed outcomes, as well as, developing an understanding of themselves and of the groups (teams) to which they belong? People learn in direct proportion to how much fun they are having (Pike, B. 1989). A case study of an occupational health management team is presented demonstrating the use of exaggeration in a dramatization combined with exaggerated non-verbal behavior, spontaneous responses and class participation.

In The News: Laughter Yoga Breaks Cultural Barriers

It's often said, laughter is the best medicine. And for one group of international students, it's also a way to break through cultural barriers, and connect.

Call it silly. Call it unique. But whatever you call it, this innovative take on yoga is contagious.

"It's so much fun. Initially it seems kind of silly but by the end, it's just amazing," said student Cate Smith.

Students at Hawaii Tokai International College speak many different languages, but through laughter yoga, they all share a common language.

"This is pretty unique, because nobody talked about this before," said Jong Hoon Chae, an international student.

The school is using it to build cultural bridges, while encouraging students to let loose and have fun.

"Laughter is just something that's universal, and it doesn't matter where you're from, you understand that," said Dr. Douglas Fuqua, the college's vice chancellor.

As they come out of their shells, it's a way to expand their horizons.

"I'm very shy so difficult to open my mind, but when I can do it, it's very interesting and fun," said another international student, Yusuke Kawanishi. [read the full story]

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Consider attending a training with us to deepen your understanding of Laughter Yoga and how it can help you and those you work with and care for. You'll be surprised at how many doors this will open for you. Here are a few things people have said after training with us:

Do you need an experienced speaker to present Laughter Yoga to your group / conference? Click here to read more.

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