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Once I realized that “laughter’s the best medicine” wasn’t just a weak aphorism, and that laughter does have many health benefits, I made it a goal this year to laugh more. But I didn’t get serious about doing so until I read about how various studies have shown that even fake laughter has the same positive health effects on the body as genuine laughter, and something called Laughter Yoga takes advantage of this.

So I did some research to figure out how I could do laughter yoga, and I was amazed to discover that there are laughter clubs all over the world. Besides being a zany and fun sounding thing to do, the physical benefits alone made me want to try one.

Of the three laughter groups in San Francisco, I just picked the closest, which was at the YMCA’s senior annex. After I walked in, I was surprised to find that the group consisted of five people who probably had an average age of 75.

At first I was a bit tense and self-conscious, but after I got into it, I found it easy to laugh great, satisfying belly laughs, even with the absence of anything funny. I loved it! We did all kinds of stretches that all involved laughing, imitated sprinklers, blew bubbles while listening to the song “Tiny Bubbles,” played with Tickle Me Elmo, did Rodney Dangerfield impersonations, and laughed and laughed.

And as I made my way home, I found many things more humorous. I felt light, stress-free and clear-headed. It made me wish that watching comedies and doing laughter yoga would be prescribed more often than anti-depressants. Ho ho, ha ha!