* Laugh to Live
LAUGH louder and live longer. That is the credo of the Laughing Club of Bombay, and live by it, they do. The energy, the effervescence and infectious laughter of this group that assembles each morning at the park on Mumbai's Worli Sea Face, draws in many a fortunate passer-by to experience and share in their daily practice of what they preach.
According to the doyen and founder of all the Laughing Clubs in India, Dr Madan Kataria, laughter is undoubtedly the best route to well being. It has, as the ancients knew, powers therapeutic and curative. Ayurveda, the science, or knowledge based on the powers of nature propagates its beneficial effects. Research has proven the positive correlation of attitude and well-being. More people are using this age-old knowledge to improve the quality of their lives and to enjoy life more. The latest research indicates that laughter, meditation and living in harmony with nature work to slow the aging process. It is no wonder then that this happy medium is drawing an increasing number of enthusiasts.
It was soon evident to me as I joined the committed group of laughter practitioners, that most of the laughing members of the Worli Club were middle-aged (putting it kindly). But this did not detract from the sheer vehemence of their participation, the wattage output of their vocal chords, the sparkle in their eyes or the depth and passion of their laughter. The higher the intensity and depth of the laughter, the greater the therapeutic value, explained our portly leader Om Prakash. The higher stage of laughter — explicit laughter — he explained was like the higher stage of meditation, Transcendental meditation. Or indeed like the higher stage of computers — super computers. Or the higher stage of conductivity — super conductivity. Logic reinforced belief and technology propped up the logic.
I gave myself up wholeheartedly to this process, intent on reaching the ecstatic heights of explicit laughter.
The activity began with the soothing chant of Mahatma Gandhi's prayer. "Raghupathy Raghava Raja Ram, Pathita Paavana Sita Ram" (a prayer invoking the many names of God). And to the chanting of the universal Om, we stretched ourselves forward, then back, to the right and then left. And repeated this routine once again. Now everyone was ready to tread the Path of Eight Laughs. Standing atop the raised platform of the small fountain, Om Prakash benignly looked down at his flock and smiled from ear to ear, suffusing his audience with joy and relaxation. He proceeded to talk and lead the group through each step of the happy experience.
The first was the normal laugh. Ha, ha, ho, ho, he, he, ha, ha! The initial shyness, reticence among the participants and the uneasiness quickly wore off and as we looked at one another, the artificiality of the laughter washed away and the genuine mirth took its place. What started as a muted, hesitant effort, transformed into a loud and hearty expression that quite stopped the morning walker on Worli Sea Face. At sixty seconds we broke from the strenuous laughter and stretched to the intonation of a deep throated and sonorous Om.
The second exercise was tension-free laughter. "Let your shoulders, chin, jaws and cheeks free and laugh out loud. Let your arms swing to and fro, up and down. Rock back on your heels and laugh. What a great feeling this is! Look at your neighbour and redouble your laughter."
Another break at 90 seconds and there is a feeling of harmony while intoning a deep and sonorous Om.
The third exercise involves silent laughter. This is innovative. You imagine that you are looking at something very funny, but do not want others to hear you laugh. Mouth open, body swaying in mirth, great gusts of breath leave your lungs, run all the way up your windpipe, and out. The poison goes out and the goodness of nature and it is the earth that you breathe in. Let yourself laugh and then some more. Another 90 seconds and a break lead to a coordinated sonorous Om.
The fourth was similar to the third, silent, but this time keeping the mouth closed, this is held back laughter. As the intensity of the laughter picks up, air is pumped out of your very toes and each consequent deep breath (the mouth being tightly closed) through the nostrils sucks in life-giving oxygen. Ah, what self-renewal! Ninety seconds and we break to a slightly panting Om.
This mid-path break was used to turn, stretch the neck muscles — "all together now, rotate your head four times to the left and around, four times to the right and around. And do it all together yet once again".
We were now half way through. Om Prakash drops the pace midway and moves to decent laughter. Gentle, refined, restrained laughter. It exercises the windpipe and loosens the stomach muscles. You also get to see your neighbours' beautiful, contortion-free faces for the first time. They look so free of tension, so happy, so good. Then break again to the deep intonation of a relieved sonorous Om.
"Use the break to rotate both the shoulders," we were instructed by the untiring and enthusiastic Om Prakash, "four times forward and four times backward."
The pace again picks up with the fifth laugh, which is fittingly called cocktail laughter. There are no rules now except that you let yourself go, in exuberance, joy and movement — keeping only your feet firmly on the ground. This is the most vigorous of all. They laugh, they howl, sway the body and flail their arms. Sound and motion reach new heights in the park. All tension flows out of the face, the arms, the abdomen, and even the feet. The cocktail laugh is truly intoxicating. And then relax to body vitalising sonorous Om.
The seventh was the lion laughter, just when we were happy as a herd of frolicking sheep. Momentarily I wondered why no one had ever seen a lion laugh? Possibly those who did never lived to tell the tale! The laughter came easily, tongue hanging out, deep guttural sounds emanating from below the pit of the stomach. Like a satiated roar, grating at the throat, bringing out the last dregs and remnants of any air within the body. The spine tingled, the eardrums rattled and the pride of lions kept laughing! Until everybody broke to intone a happy and laughing Om.
The eighth, and last, is dedicated to Oh Sho — or Swami Rajneesh of Pune and Oregon fame. Om Prakash dubbed it Oh Sho laughter to remember the joy and love Rajneesh preached. We swayed, jumped and laughed in gay abandon, and exchanged high-fives, prancing about like playful kittens. The intrinsic contrast between the post middle-aged participants and the prancing, playful kittens only added to the mirth all around. The Oh Sho laugh provided a fitting climax to the path of eight laughs.
"Happy day to all of you," said Om Prakash in parting.
I was not quite sure what the day ahead held for me. But I knew I was happily drained of all tension, blissfully exhausted and joyfully stimulated in body, mind and soul to face whatever the day might bring.
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