WELLNESS: LAUGH YOUR WAY TO HEALTH
Van der Walt’s lighter side heals others
APORT Elizabeth yoga teacher aims to help heal the sick and help students to ace their exams in an unconventional yet natural way – by laughing. Laughter therapist Celeste van der Walt, of Laugh PE, gave a new meaning to the phrase “laughter is the best medicine”, when she had about 100 people on their feet laughing their coats off, for no reason other that to boost their mood on a cold winter’s morning.
Speaking at the WBHO and Aurora Special Care Centre charity breakfast at the PE Golf Club last week, the 77-year-old Van der Walt said: “Laughter therapy is laughing without jokes, without humour, without anything to bring the laughter; we simply laugh for no reason at all.
“It’s a unique concept based on the fact that the brain and the body can not tell the difference between fake laughter and true laughter – it has the same physiological and psychological benefits.”
Van der Walt said the concept of using laughter to improve health was started by medical doctors in 1995 and has been gaining popularity, with more than 2 000 scientific studies carried out since to prove the benefits of laughter to health.
The laughter idea came to her when she attended a function at an old-age home, using a laughter exercise as an ice-breaker.
“At the time I was working with seniors in old age homes, just doing a bit of movement with music. I thought it was the perfect idea, to bring in some exercise to go with the laughter,” Van der Walt said.
“After investigating, I thought I would just do it with the seniors, but I have been invited to do it all over, not just old people. And the response has been good,” she added.
From the “bush dance” to “milking the cow” and faking a phone call, Van der Walt demonstrated a few out of about 100 exercise routines used in laughter therapy.
“The good thing about laughter is that there is a lot of activity and you can do it anywhere, anytime, you don’t need special equipment, special clothing or a special place – you can even do it in a mall if you know how to do it without looking silly,” Van der Walt said.
When Van der Walt is not “breaking the ice” at corporate events or helping troubled youngsters, she works as a facilitator for the Senior Mind Moves Institute, as well as an area manager for Annique Health and Beauty.
Van der Walt, who has a BA degree in education and social sciences, qualified as a laughter yoga teacher after training with Indian doctor Madan Kataria in 2012 and works from her Walmer home, where she sees patients from seven to 90 years old.