More than 70 percent of the 30 cancer patients in a laughter yoga program reported sleeping better, experiencing less pain and feeling less depressed after taking some classes, Taichung Hospital said recently.
Laughter yoga teaches people to laugh hard, which increases endorphin release, helps improve their emotional well-being, enhances their immune system, and reduces inflammation and stress hormones, said Liao Chih-Ying (廖志穎), director of the hospital’s radiation oncology department.
Liao, who introduced laughter yoga from the US to the hospital in October last year, said most cancer patients experience different degrees of post-traumatic stress disorder, with about 40 percent suffering depression, anxiety, insomnia or chronic stress when they experience pain or are undergoing treatment.
Photo: Tsai Shu-yuan, Taipei Times
The increase in stress hormones, adrenaline and inflammation-
related genes also weaken their immune system, allowing cancer cells to become more aggressive and enhancing the risks of cancer metastasis, he said.
Laughter yoga leads to the release of endorphins and fake laughter can gradually become real laughter through constant practice, he said.
The endorphins can help relieve stress, improve their mood and immune system, and even prevent the recurrence and spread of cancer, he added.
The hospital invited yoga teacher Lai Ching-ju (賴晴如) to give a one-hour class to cancer patients every week, and after two months, about 70 percent of the participants reported improvements in their problems with sleeping, pain, fatigue, anxiety and depression.
A 48-year-old woman surnamed Hsieh (謝), who owns a cram school and teaches English and essay writing, said she used to work more than 10 hours a day, but was seldom sick, so she found it hard to believe after she was diagnosed with breast cancer last year.
She underwent surgery and chemotherapy, and suffered from depression and bipolar disorder, losing about 10kg in six months because of the side effects of the treatment. She often locked herself in a room crying, throwing things around, slamming her body against the wall and collected sleeping pills as she contemplated suicide.
When the hospital’s volunteers invited her to attend the laughter yoga class, she could not laugh at all at first. However, by starting first with fake laughs, playing games and practicing meditation, she was able to laugh from the heart during the second class and gradually laughed harder, regained her appetite and continues practicing at home.
She imagined her body completely recovered, read jokes on the Internet and has become truly happy, always greeting people with a smile, Hsieh said.
Laughter yoga has helped improved her relationship with her family and encouraged her to travel, Hsieh said, adding that she has learned to be grateful to the sickness that has turned her life around.
A restaurant owner surnamed Wang (王), who was diagnosed with Stage 3 gastric cancer two years ago, had to have two-thirds of his stomach removed, and went through electrotherapy and chemotherapy. Wang said he thought he was “almost about to die” because he could not eat anything.
He said he was always in low spirits, but later thought he might as well try laughter yoga as a last resort.
“I found out that I wanted to laugh as much as I could, to laugh away the cancer cells and that I would rather die laughing than crying,” Wang said.
“Now, I feel happy all the time, doing volunteer work, Chinese calligraphy, practicing taichi and living an enriched life,” he added.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS