DENVER -- Once every week a group of optimists gather at a Denver church and share a good laugh.

There are no comedians, funny tricks or even jokes.

But that doesn’t matter because the body can’t tell the difference between laughter induced by a joke and laughter induced artificially.

That is the premise behind laughter yoga -- a new workout trend that primarily exercises the mind and is growing in popularity.

"Children laugh three to 400 times a day, and adults, these days, probably three to four times a day," said Meredee Vaughn who runs a laughter yoga club at the First Lutheran Church in Denver.

The poses look like something out of a kindergarten class. The group practices flying like an airplane, tossing a purple fuzzy ball and even a snow ball fight.

The newest routine is economic chit chat.

“I’d love to hear your perspective on the economy,” Vaughn told a group of 30 middle aged participants on a recent afternoon. “But, you have to do it all in gibberish.”

On que the group breaks into a frenzy, gobbly gooking their way across the room. The chaos lasts about five minutes before the group settles back into a circle and moves on.

Vaughn said the exercises are designed to get people to relax, which in the midst of the recession, is more than welcome.

Herself no stranger to the recession, Vaughn has seen the effects of the recession first hand.

"We're not teaching happiness, your circumstances determine your happiness, but what we're able to do through this technique is to access our inner joy," Vaughn said.

Renowned Indian physician Madan Kataria, M.D., created the laughter yoga concept. He first held meetings in 1995 with only five people. Today, there are more than 5,000 laughter yoga clubs in more than 55 countries.

Research shows laughter improves oxygenation, produces endorphins, releases neurotransmitters which create new pathways in the brain, and balances the hormonal system. It creates a "feel good" chemistry that acts as a natural painkiller, and it rejuvenates and accelerates healing processes in the body. Studies show it does not matter if laughter is spontaneous or induced because the body does not know the difference between the two. It produces the same chemistry.

Toward the end of the secession, the group pulls out mats and practices deep breathing and meditation more common to yoga.

Yet, beyond the emotional realization is a deeper message about the economy at work. Because one tool consumers have in turning around the economy is to believe things are better than they seem.

Economists call it the feedback loop. For example, as consumers feel pessimistic about the economy, the spend less. This causes businesses to lay off employees, which is reported in the news, causing more people to feel more pessimistic.

The loop is part of what brought the U.S. into the recession said DU economist Professor Mac Clouse.

Yet while alone it cannot improve the economy alone, Clause said reversing the feedback loop is essential to moving out of the recession.

Which is not to say consumers should through caution to the wind.

“We don’t want the consumer to stop spending entirely,” Clause said. "We'd like the consumer to do some spending...But we also want the consumer to be rational about the spending."

“That’s advice we’d give even in good years,” he added.

A kind of economic ying-yang to get consumers through these tough economic times.