New Yoga Studio to Find Out Whether Laughter is Priceless

After a long-haul selling real estate in the Hamptons and in New York City, Hampton Bays resident Beth Bongar decided enough was enough. She wanted to spend the rest of her life, doing something that she loved — making people laugh.

"I have the gift of laughter," said Bongar. "I look at things and find the funny in them."

And while she managed to "find the funny" in real estate, it wasn't funny enough.

"Real estate brings out the worst in everyone," she said. "It's cut throat."

So, at 56 years old, Bongar left the real estate business.

She said she thought about going back to clowning — she spent many years as a clown in the Big Apple Circus and working private parties. But, she remembered why she left clowning in the first place — Once, at a party, a child said, "Hey man, I didn't know clowns are old."

She needed a new plan. That's when she thought about laughing Yoga.

Bongar, who calls herself the Laughing Diva, soon obtained her certification as a laughing yoga instructor and launched her Business, Laughing Yoga, NYC. 

She currently holds free workshops on the Upper East Side, but is working to schedule 40 to 60 minute laughing yoga sessions throughout the Hamptons. She also offers private parties and one-on-one sessions.

"I'm even willing to teach it for free," said Bongar, who says this new business is not about money. Instead, it is about giving people the gift of laughter.

Laughing yoga, she said is like happy hour.

"Instead of having a drink, you spend an hour laughing," she said.

Most people also don't realize, said Bongar, that laughter has proven to have health benefits.

"Ten minutes of laughing is equal to 20 minutes of aerobic exercise," she said.

It also, she said, provides stress relief, builds team spirit, improves morale and promotes a healthier, happier attitude.

It also has benefits for older people, who have forgotten how to laugh, for those who are physically challenged, are bedridden or that have a chronic disease.

Bongar promises that anyone who attends her class will wind up in a meditative, child-like laugh or she said, she will give them their money back.

Classes start with some simple, clapping and ha,ha, he, he sounds, she explained. "You can fake it until, you actually start laughing," she said.

And she said, "the bigger the group, the more laughing."

Aside from Laughing Yoga, Bongar also started a new entertainment company, called B.Outrageous. The company offers party crafts, Tarot card reading, henna artits, and jugglers.

For more information on laughing yoga, and for Bongar's entertainment business, .

Would you try laughing yoga?  Let us know in the comment section below.