Winnipeggers get bendy, hilarious at laughing yoga class

While a couple thousand people went to The Forks to take part in the 24th annual MS Walk Sunday, another, funny bunch of Winnipeggers went for a good giggle and some yoga.

Yoga instructors were on hand promoting the laughing yoga movement, a form of yoga that asks practitioners to force themselves to laugh while holding poses.

Jeannine Carman, a laughing yoga instructor, said the laughing during the exercise has health benefits.

"Many people have stopped laughing for whatever reason," said Carman. "As we get older, things become really very much too serious and so it's really to stimulate the laughter within, bring out the little child."

Carman said the most important benefit people gain from doing laughing yoga is the stress relief that follows.

"Everybody needs to de-stress, so what better way than to just laugh," she said. "It's really very innocent laughter we want to stimulate for the health of it."

It was the fourth year in a row yoga-lovers and jokers gathered in Winnipeg to celebrate World Laughter Day.

"The mission of World Laughter [Day] is to spread world peace through laughter ... one person at a time," said Carman.