Vienna - A Vienna woman, Ellen Mueller, is offering "laughter-yoga" seminars to help Austrians cope with the global financial crisis. She has also written a book on her exercise method.

"Laughter yoga is a wonderful way to achieve a cheerful prevailing mood and thus better cope with everyday challenges," Mueller said. The trick, she explained, was simply to draw up the corners of one's mouth to cheer up, even when things were most dismal.

Along with "gorilla laughter" and "chili laughter," Mueller recommends whole-body tapping exercises to activate "laughter cells." To avoid embarrassment while training in public, she advises her disciples to simulate "cell-phone laughter," which involves holding a cell phone to their ear while performing their laughter exercises.