Laugh to Live: Laughter Yoga to Relieve Holiday Stress

During a season known for generosity and gift-giving, the one person who needs to be at the top of your list but is often forgotten, is you. Two Scranton-area organizations are collaborating to offer residents the gifts of stress relief and a boost to their well-being on Saturday, November 23 at 10 a.m. at Connell Park in Scranton.

Laugh to Live, a Scranton-based business founded by Jeannine Luby, is teaming up with Valley in Motion’s Connell Park Walking Club to provide stress-reducing laughter yoga activity before the Club’s weekly walk around the park.

Luby said she suggested the inclusion of laughter yoga to Walking Club Manager Roxy Brown because this time of year can feel overwhelming.

A 2015 survey conducted by Healthline, a consumer health information site, revealed that 62 percent of respondents described their stress level as “very or somewhat” elevated during the holidays, while only 10 percent reported no stress during the season. Among the holiday stressors listed by respondents were the financial demands of the season, negotiating the interpersonal dynamics of family, and maintaining personal health habits such as an exercise regimen.

Luby said, “We all experience stress in our everyday lives, but the holidays can add extra pressure as many of us feel the need to live up to family traditions or what we see others doing on social media. It is often more than we have the capacity for whether it is because of time constraints, limited financial means or our emotions. So it’s important to set manageable expectations but also build in time for stress relief like walking outdoors, talking to a good friend and laughing.”

Luby received an ARPA (American Rescue Plan) Creative Grant from the City of Scranton in 2024, in part to deliver laughter yoga to Scranton residents, and when she met Gus Fahey, president of Valley in Motion, and learned about the nonprofit’s weekly walking club at Connell Park that incorporated special guests on wellness-related topics, she coordinated with him and Brown to plan laughter at the park.

“The Connell Park Walking Club is a great way to connect with friends, get some exercise, and learn new ideas for healthy living. Partnering with Laugh to Live provides our participants with a fun and innovative way to both enjoy the outdoors and lower stress levels,” said Gus Fahey, president of Valley In Motion.      

Laughter therapy has been around for a long time, but it seemed to gain credibility and the attention of the medical community when magazine publisher Norman Cousins’ article “Anatomy of an Illness (As Perceived by the Patient)” was published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 1976.  Cousins would later publish a book with the same name in 1979 to fully detail his experience of how laughter provided him with relief from pain caused by connective tissue disorder.

Luby explains thatLaughter Yoga isnot the same as traditional yoga or what people picture when they hear the word “yoga.” Laughter Yoga was created in 1995 by a medical doctor in India named Dr. Madan Kataria who believes in the researched health benefits of laughter that include lowering the stress hormone cortisol, improving blood flow and immune system performance, boosting brain chemicals and endorphins that help to manage pain and so much more.

In the laughter yoga that Luby will lead on November 23, participants will not use a yoga mat, need to wear fitness clothes, or even touch their toes; they will follow Luby’s instructions to breathe, clap, laugh and repeat. You can learn more at www.laughtolive.net for follow Laugh to Live and Connell Park Walking Club on Facebook.

The Connell Park Walking Club meets every Saturday at 10am at Connell Park at 800 Gibbons St. in Scranton and is free and open to everyone.