This time of year comes with much joy like holiday traditions and time with family, but it also brings additional stress as people tend to overload their to-do lists and carry concerns over additional financial burdens. That’s why it’s important to mark time on the calendar for activities that help to relieve stress.

Two Scranton-area organizations are collaborating to offer residents the gift of stress relief that comes from time spent outdoors, movement, socialization and laughter on Saturday, November 22 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 exercises before the Club’s weekly walk around the park.

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 create additional 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, so it’s important to set manageable expectations but also build in time for fun and stress relief like walking outdoors, talking to a good friend and laughing.”

The Connell Park Walking Club often hosts special guests speaking on wellness-related topics before the group walk takes place; it’s Valley in Motion’s mission to encourage health, connection, and commitment to community life.

Valley in Motion President Gus Fahey said, “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.”

Laughter therapy gained 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 later published 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 explained that laughter yoga is not the same as traditional yoga or what most people imagine when they hear the word “yoga.”  Instead, she says that participants do not use a yoga mat or need to wear fitness clothes or touch their toes; they breathe, clap, and laugh.

Laughter yoga was created in 1995 by a medical doctor in India named Dr. Madan Kataria who was motivated by 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 much more.

Visit www.laughtolive.net or follow Laugh to Live and Connell Park Walking Club on Facebook for more information.

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