Belly laughs and backflips: Looking at unconventional fitness for your mind and body

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If you're looking to branch out from your usual fitness routine, here are two unconventional ideas to work out your inner and outer health.

LAUGHTER YOGA
This practice involves gentle breathing and laughing exercises instead of the usual poses. Fif Fernandes, a laughter yoga leader and cofounder of Laughter Yoga Canada, learned about it from the method's founder Dr. Madan Kataria. While the exercises get your heart pumping and your blood rushing, it's more about inner wellness, "visualization and the intentionality of getting better," said Fernandes.

"You don't need a sense of humour to laugh, (it's) based on the theory of motion creates emotion," she explained, adding that just the act of laughing can stir up happy feelings, just like smiling even if you're sad can shift your mood. "What we do in laughter yoga, we really work on the inner spirit of laughter ... on the core level of laughter and joy."

"It helps you get in touch with your spiritual nature."

When Fernandes guides a group in laughter yoga, she will usually start by stimulating laughter. "It's so ridiculous, 90 per cent of the time people will start giggling and start laughing, and it really starts being quite contagious."

She's conducted these exercises for groups of over 800 people and one-on-one. As part of the visualization aspect, they work with all five senses. So she might have you visualize smelling a flower or cotton candy. The simulation and stimulation of the senses helps lift your mood. "It's been scientifically proven that there's a link between body and mind. Whatever happens to the body happens to the mind and vice versa," she said. "The breath work is really key … there are a lot of documented studies on the benefits of breathing."

Fernandes used the example of when she and her husband went to Uganda to start a peace camp for children who had been brutalized by the civil war to show how laughter yoga heals.

"All the kids I had dealt with had been mutilated, raped, forced to kill their friends, witnessed family members being murdered," she said. "We would do laughter and breathing and visualization every single day."

"The breathing transformed that profound anger and sadness into something more palatable and allowed joy in."

Incorporating laughter yoga into your routine can be as easy as just pretending to be on your cell phone and laughing at an imaginary person on the other end. In the privacy of your own home, you can explore theme-related laughter (some hilarious ho-ho-ho'ing perhaps?). Sure it may feel goofy, but it's a lot better than staying grumpy.

For videos and more information on laughter yoga, visit www.laughteryoga-canada.org.

ANTI-GRAVITY YOGA
If you were the kid who felt most comfortable hanging upside down on the jungle gym, then this class might be for you.

It incorporates yoga, Pilates, acrobatics, inversions and aerial moves and a nine-foot hammock that can support about 1,000 pounds.

Anti-gravity yoga, featured at the Athletics Club, originated in New York and was created by Christopher Harrison who brought it to Canada.

Even if you've never done acrobatics or even yoga, this class is a fun introduction. There is plenty of instruction and even a spotter to make sure you're doing the moves correctly. Don't worry, no one has fallen out yet, said instructor Karen Hypes.

The class comes down to trust — in your hammock, your instructor and yourself that you can take the plunge (sometimes literally) and challenge yourself, she said.

This reporter tried it and, while it is challenging, it's also really rewarding when you get yourself completely vertical with only the hammock supporting you, or you flip around. The class makes you aware of what every part of your body is doing so you can execute the moves properly.

When you're up in the air, in the splits and supported by the hammock, you feel very Cirque du Soleil. When you're asked to get out of the move by diving down and somehow flipping yourself back to where you started, it feels exhilarating.

The physical benefits include a lot of strength training from gripping the hammock and pulling yourself up for some of the moves. There's also a lot of core work when you engage your middle to stay stable. The inversions also benefit your back as it decompresses your spine and helps align your body.

Be advised that leggings and long sleeves make this class more comfortable because the hammock can be tight on your skin.

For more information on the class, check out www.theathleticclubs.ca.