Capital FM presenter Roman Kemp tried laughing yoga live on the radio to cheer up listeners of the show on Blue Monday (Monday 20 January).

Laughter yoga encourages participants to copy the act of laughing in order to boost happiness. PHD student and mental well-being coach, Louise Gates, lead the session. Louise is currently writing a PHD on laughing yoga.

Louise first tasks Roman and Capital listeners with finding their laughter by putting their hand on their stomach to find their ‘belly laugh’. She then explains a one metre laugh, which begins with a deep breath in before laughing while exhaling out.

In a pilot study in the European Journal of Humour Research (EJHR), scientists looked at the impact of laughter yoga on 44 participants. The study found significant improvements in positive emotions and decreased feelings of stress and anxiety.

Watch the full clip of Louise on Capital FM here.

Read the pilot study in the EJHR.