Class begins quietly, with furtive glances around the room. Then, the students get their instructions: Even if you’re faking it, just laugh.
Gigi Otálvaro, aka Dr. Giggles, leads with a barking burst, and the 18 students in Wellness 170, a one- to two-unit course informally known as Laughter Yoga, join in. “Finals are right around the corner,” says Otálvaro, PhD ’18. “Let go of that stress. Let’s play.”
The idea is to laugh intentionally—even if you’re not in the mood. The practice, started in 1995 by a physician in India, combines laughter with yogic breath and movement. It’s thought to boost feel-good hormones and mitigate anxiety and depression, says Otálvaro, head of LifeWorks and associate director of Stanford Living Education at Vaden Health Services. She also uses theater exercises in the course. “We’re looking at laughter as medicine.”
On this day, she’s using a sports theme to get the guffaws going. The students pose like Wonder Woman, crouch like a boxer, and throw fake touchdowns. For junior Juan Pablo Pacheco, the weekly chortle session is building a life skill. “It’s helped me face difficult times with more joy,” he says. Then he gets back to work: laughing with glee.
Tracie White is a senior writer at Stanford. Email her at traciew@stanford.edu.
