The Personal & Professional Pursuit of Excellence Symposium: Yoga + Laughter = Wellness

When was the last time you had a good laugh?

When was the last time you've had a good laugh with strangers?

Don't you feel relieved and stress-free after you've had a good laugh?!

Well you're in store for a treat at the 2015 Personal & Professional Pursuit of Excellence Symposium! Archana Joshi has agreed to share her wealth of experience in yoga and laughter and has agreed to lead an exciting workshop in laughter yoga. Archana brings along with her a rich multicultural experience having spent some of her formative years in India and more recently calling Ontario home. She has over 10 years experience promoting health and wellness by leading sessions in laughter yoga. She is a firm believer in the many proven benefits yoga can provide to an individuals overall health and wellness and is looking forward to sharing some of this knowledge with all of the symposiums attendees!

So, what is laughter yoga?

According to Madan Kataria, a Bombay, India-based physician, author of Laugh for No Reason and founder and president of Laughter Clubs International, laughter may indeed be the best of all medicines. Kataria has developed a form of laughter therapy called Hasya Yoga (hasya means laughter in Sanskrit) that combines deep, controlled breathing and stretches with various types of forced laughter. Hasyayoga is a practice involving prolonged voluntary laughter. Laughter yoga is based on the belief that voluntary laughter provides the same physiological and psychological benefits as spontaneous laughter. Laughter yoga is done in groups, with eye contact and playfulness between participants. Forced laughter soon turns into real and contagious laughter.

For more details about what's in store and to hear from our Hasyayoga instructor herself, listen to the audio interview below!