Making Business a Laughing Matter

When was the last time you had a gut busting, tears-running-down-your-face laugh? Remember how great you felt? It's that feeling that Marcia Wyman and Marcia Scovel Sprague want more people to rediscover regularly.

The duo started the New England Center for Laughing in Concord, teaching people laughter yoga, which combines breathing exercises with laughter. It was developed by Dr. Madan Kataira, who established Laughter International in 1995 in Bombay, India.

Wyman and Sprague discovered laughter yoga in October 2010. Wyman had suffered a stroke that partially paralyzed her left side, ending her 25-year career as an archery coach. On a whim, she asked Sprague to drive her to a certification course in Massachusetts, not knowing they would later make it into a business.

Since then, Wyman has become a certified laughter yoga teacher through Laughter International and Sprague is a certified laughter leader. The Center has no physical location. The Marcias run a laughter club at the Racquet Club in Concord on Tuesday evenings, where people can practice laughter yoga for a $5 donation. They are working to grow the corporate side of the business, with companies hiring them to conduct laughter yoga on site.

Laughter yoga unites deep yoga breathing with laughter. You take deep yoga breaths for relaxation, Wyman says. The key with laughter yoga is it's unconditional. There's no jokes or humor. Instead, participants go through a series of breathing exercises that include forced laughter. Soon, Wyman says, it becomes naturally infectious, with one person's laughter driving another's. It's allowing yourself to laugh, she says. You sleep better. It reduces stress. The endorphins make you feel good. It's good for the cardiovascular system.

Wyman says there are people who are skeptical at first. It sounds socially unacceptable, Wyman says with a laugh. We do laughter exercises to break down barriers. We want people to be child-like rather than childish. The partners have conducted sessions for Concord Hospital and Toastmasters. Time will tell whether the business partners will be laughing to the bank-not that it's their primary motivation. We hope to spread laughter. It's so positive. It's nice to see people laugh, smile and feel good, Wyman says. For more information, contact center.of.laughter at gmail.com.