Get seniors laughing
Laughter yoga—involving simulated laughter exercises, deep breaths and gentle stretches—is a wonderfully uplifting exercise program accessible and adaptable to all.
Australian research published in The Australasian Journal on Ageing recommends laughter yoga’s inclusion in regular activity programs in residential aged care centres because it creates an environment that is fun and brighter for both residents and staff.
The Happydemic’s Heather Joy Campbell delivers regular weekly 30 minute sessions to Brisbane aged care centre, retirement village or respite centre. Let’s talk about your needs.
As a Certified Laughter Yoga Teacher, Heather Joy also trains aged care diversional therapists and activity coordinators in a seniors-specific laughter leader 2-day program she has developed. Let’s bring training to your organisation.
What Australian aged care research says about laughter yoga
The work of laughter leader Ros Ben-Moshe and her La Trobe University colleagues confirms participants in the laughter yoga sessions benefit through improvements in:
- blood pressure
- pulse
- mood — positive and negative.
Read the full research paper.
Proof of the difference laughter makes in seniors’ days
Feros Care invested in Heather Joy’s laughter wellbeing training for 16 staff in 2017. Watch their initial introduction to laughter yoga. They’ve taken the skills onboard with fabulous feedback and involvement, Feros Care Positive Living Coordinator Jennie Hewitt reports:
Laughter Yoga sessions are now on the calendar each week at our villages, the residents love them and tp see their faces light up and hear the buzz of conversation and giggling after each session is wonderful.
5 reasons seniors love laughter yoga
- Proven physical benefits including strengthening the immune system
- Supports good mental health, working instantly like a tonic to help beat feelings of depression, frustration, anxiety; even grief
- Connects people and dissolves loneliness
- Requires neither knowledge nor understanding of jokes — it’s not about comedy
- Encourages a brighter, more positive attitude to the everyday.
Download a brochure detailing benefits of Laughter Yoga for seniors (PDF, 1MB)
Contact Heather Joy on 0412 742 593 or use the Contact Form to find out more details.
You don’t stop laughing when you grow old, you grow old when you stop laughing.
? George Bernard Shaw