Got stress? Most people do. Especially in the business world. There are so many pressures and responsibilities. It can lead to stress, depression, burn-out and even serious illness.
What can alleviate this workplace stress? Laughter, of course. Scientific research has demonstrated that laughter can help to resolve workplace stress and many related issues.
Indeed, laughter is great. And in everyday life, there are opportunities to laugh, but on average, these laughs only last for 2.2 seconds. This is not enough to unleash laughter’s full potential. It is only when we laugh vigorously for a longer time that we can experience powerful physiological and biochemical changes.
This is why laughter yoga is such an effective tool in the business world. It is a breakthrough delivery system, which enables a person to laugh continuously for an extended period of time—even without having a developed sense of humor. This is extremely beneficial, particularly because it is punctuated with deep, yogic breathing. Together, the laughing and breathing serve to dimish stress, build teamwork, boost physical health, and can even improve creativity and efficiency.
For these reasons, companies around the world are starting to utilize laughter yoga. Results indicate that employees in laughter yoga programs become more committed, learn more easily, improve their interpersonal skills, and that the workplace becomes a happier place. It is often reflected in increased sales, efficiency and productivity and an improved bottom line.
A one-year laughter yoga trial in a Danish IT company yielded the following results: The company’s sales increased more than 25% in a highly competitive market while stress levels decreased by 75%. The program consisted of laughter yoga sessions daily for a week followed by weekly sessions for one year. All management and employees participated and stress levels were scientifically monitored.
On August 30, I led a corporate laughter program for an international meeting at GE Healthcare in Waukesha, Wisconsin. Below is a short video of the executives showing off their newly-formed laughing-for-no-reason skills. My visit provoked some good conversation about the need for more workplace laughter.
This is the second time that I have presented laughter yoga at GE Healthcare. Click here for the blog post about my first visit.
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