Her stomach muscles tremble, her chest vibrates, then it erupts from the depths of her throat like an exploding volcano. First as a sonorous chuckle, then as a long-lasting, resounding laugh that is contagious. Gabriela Leppelt-Remmel laughs differently than others. Like I’ve never heard – or seen – before. Your whole face laughs with you. The eyes, the forehead, even her jawline. Until the tears come and the body is shaken vigorously.
Anyone who has experienced this “natural spectacle” is no longer surprised that the 58-year-old works as a laughter therapist. “Acting is a good cue,” the vivacious woman gushes out. “Because laughter yoga also has to do with acting creativity. The exercises consist largely of fictitious pantomime that makes you laugh.” Gabriela Leppelt-Remmel sees the question marks on my face, jumps up, forms a telephone receiver with her right little finger and thumb – and laughs again that almost archaic child’s laughter . “Laugh yogis” call this exercise cell phone laughter. Then she suddenly toasts me with an imaginary glass and demonstrates the cocktail laugh for me.
Their inventors, the Indian doctor Dr. Madan Kataria and his wife Madhuri, developed in 1995. True to his motto: “We don’t laugh because we’re happy – we’re happy because we laugh”, they carried them out into the world after the founding of the first laughter club. When laughing for no reason, there are no limits to the creativity of the practitioner. Gabriela Leppelt-Remmel regularly, often spontaneously, develops new exercises in her groups. And combines them holistically with stretching and breathing exercises, mantras and meditations from Hatha Yoga. “Although we only pretend to laugh at first: one look into the eyes of the fellow practitioners is enough – the spark jumps over and we actually laugh,” says the native of the Rhineland. “You can fight against this group dynamic, not defend against this heart-to-heart level. Laughter is a basic human form of communication, an expression of sympathy and mutual understanding. The soothing and conflict-limiting effect of laughter yoga fascinates me again and again.”
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Laughter changed her life
Six years ago, laughter therapy opened the door to a new dimension in her life: the mother of two adult children was at a turning point due to health problems. As an IT expert at Swiss Post, she managed a tight 50-hour week and lots of evening appointments. Then there was the constant sitting at the computer. Despite the passionate workaholic intoxication too much for her: three herniated discs in the neck, carpal tunnel syndrome on both wrists, which should be operated on. On top of that, a bacterial infection that lasted for a year and brought with it unbearable rheumatic pains and a longer hospital stay. To compensate for the stress, Gabriela Leppelt-Remmel started intensively with Hatha yoga again – and came across laughter yoga on the Internet.
“The word intrigued me. I thought: Okay, you could laugh again,” she recalls. She had her first encounter with “artificial laughter”, which was to change her life, in Hamburg’s city park. “This hour was like therapy for me. I felt so free. No more constantly pondering how to continue professionally. I was one with myself. I’ve been better than I’ve been in a long time.” That lighthearted cheerfulness lasted for days.
She regularly went to the laughter club, then to a workshop run by the laughter yoga inventors. They gave her new food for thought. The decisive one: everyone can decide for themselves whether they live in hell or not. The then 53-year-old didn’t hesitate and dared to jump out of “job hell” and into self-employment. She founded a laugh club herself and began a two-year training course to become a hatha yoga teacher in order to delve into the depths of yoga philosophy and expand laughter yoga with hatha elements.
What’s behind it?
Since then, Gabriela Leppelt-Remmel has had a lot to laugh about. Not only in her club, but also while she trains seminar leaders and therapists. Even when very sad people come to her. “These are depressed, but also parents who have lost their child to cancer or suicide,” she says. “Laughter makes it easier for them to let go, gives them courage and new confidence. So you can see that it is actually an effective therapy.”
And I now realize that Gabriela Leppelt-Remmel is a true healer who relies solely on laughter as a full-body workout involving more than 100 muscles. If she were allowed to write prescriptions like a doctor, she would write on hers: Laugh honestly and loudly from the bottom of her heart for 20 minutes every day. Like a child. That doesn’t just keep you as fit as an hour of jogging. It also makes you happy – like a mindful, tender touch.
INFO
- What’s behind it? Gabriela Leppelt-Remmel is a Hatha yoga teacher and Master of Laughter Yoga. In her laughter sessions, she combines both methods. She runs a laugh club (price: 3 to 5 euros) and laugh groups (8 sessions 60 to 80 euros) on a voluntary basis. During a weekend seminar she trains laughter club leaders (230 to 350 euros) and in a one-week seminar laughter yoga teachers (approx. 900 euros).
- And the research? Laughter research (gelotology) has sufficiently documented the healthy effects of laughter therapy since the 1960s. The oxygen content in the blood increases, the brain releases “happy hormones”, the lungs are well aerated, heart activity is stimulated, the number of killer cells increases, the stress hormone level drops and blood pressure is regulated.
- Who does the method help? People with depression, pain, migraines, rheumatism, burnout, sleep problems, asthma, susceptibility to infections, high blood pressure.
