Cancer patients at Sheba Hospital participated this week in a Laughter Yoga Workshop, as part of the Roche Reaches out to the Patient project. The workshop was facilitated by Ruthie Hay, winner of an international award for Laughter Yoga instructors.

  

The Laughter Yoga Workshop, carried out at Sheba's Oncology Institute by the initiative of Roche medical corporate, is just a part of diverse leisure activities and workshops carried out at the Institute. Underlying these activities is the recognition that addressing the mental and emotional aspects is an integral part of medical care. Similar activity was held at the Laniado Hospital in Netanya.

 

 

The Laughter Yoga Method was invented by a physician and yogi from India, who found out that laughter enhances the immunologic system, dissolves stress, brings the body back into balance and helps to develop a sense of optimism. "You don't have to come happy to Laughter Yoga," explains Ruthie Hay, workshop facilitator, "and you don't need to have a sense of humor". She adds that our brain does not distinguish between "pretending" to laugh and a genuine joy, and in any event it secretes endorphins and serotonin, which reduce pain and elevates mood. The movement in space also improves mood. Indeed, laughter is an aerobic activity while yogic breathing is a quiet, internal and calming activity; nevertheless this is a winning combination. People who practice Laughter Yoga report feeling energetic, lively and vital, along with an inner feeling of deep peace and quiet.

 

 

The workshop is part of the flagship social project Roche Reaches out to the Patient, which conducts artistic and musical activities as a creative means to cope with the disease emotionally. The activity is conducted in close collaboration with patient organizations as well as with the medical and nursing staffs at the medical centers.

 

The facilitator, Ruthie Hay, was introduced to the method while coping with the loss of her own father. After attending a Laughter Yoga session she realized that this was her calling in life. She left her job at a high-tech company, went for training with the inventor of the method and began to run workshops all over the country. For her activity with cancer patients she was awarded "Laughter Ambassador" prize at the international conference of Laughter Yoga instructors in Berlin, 2006, by Dr. Madan Kataria, father of the method.

 

A Laughter Yoga Workshop also takes place at Laniado Oncology Department. It was reported that Roche medical corporate was planning to support additional workshops at other medical centers in Israel.