Yogis young, old and even pregnant gathered for a 12-hour yogathon at Dynamic Hot Yoga in Hove.

The event was jam-packed at the yoga studio at Hove Business Centre off Fonthill Road. It included an unusual laughing yoga session with childlike playfulness to lift mood and relax the mind.

Organiser Dan Lawson said: “When you laugh it feels good, so you fake laugh to start with as your mind doesn’t know the difference between real laughter and pretend.”

Anyone attending on Saturday, October 25 was in for a surprise once they were giggling and forcing laughter while acting like chickens, talking gobbledygook and pretending to call a hilarious friend.

It is the second yogathon for the studio and was organised by Nataliya Pollack and Mr Lawson, raising vital funds for the Organisation for Social Change, Awareness and Responsibility (OSCAR) and the Lovey Foundation.

Participants could drop in throughout the day or dedicate themselves to the full half-day in a studio heated to 98°F for energetic sessions of Hatha yoga.

Those who completed the marathon session said it was an experience and you just got into the mindset after the first few hours.

OSCAR helps underprivileged children in Mumbai through a community football coaching initiative to improve their education and the Lovey Foundation works with children living in poverty from Bawku, a village in Northern Ghana.