My 88 year old mother recently helped me remember something I'd forgotten in the hustle of life. After a productive day helping her run errands and taking her to appointments I recounted our packed day success with satisfaction. Yet she countered, "But we didn't have any fun!" Ah yes, laughter, fun, I'd forgotten that it's an important ingredient of well being.
Though some contend that our nature is one of laughter most adults laugh less then a few dozen times a day. As babies, laughing was our way of life. It's no wonder! Laughter is medicinal. It produces endorphins that ease pain, promotes good vascular health, lessens stress by acting on it's main enzymes cortisol and epinephrine, improves our immune system by boosting T cell counts, and works in many kinds of mental health therapies. In fact, psychiatry was the first to employ science to explore the benefits of laughter. Gelotologists, scientists who study the physiological aspects of laughter, chart laughter's positive impact on respiration, heart rate, and neurochemistry. At the University of London Scientists are going back to the laughter of babies in their effort to unlock its mysteries. That project, the Baby Laughter Project, is less focused on Gelotology than on child development. If you've made a baby laugh recently you may enjoy being part of their global laughter survey.
Have you heard about Laughter Yoga? Started in the 90's, before the benefits of laughter were fully known, the practice is connected by a network of laughter clubs across the USA and world wide. Organized laughter gatherings are fun but you don't really need to attend a group to practice. Check out this video for an enjoyable set of exercises to do at home or have a great laugh with this too short chorus of ladies doing their laughter exercises. Laughter Yoga empowers lighthearted people as well as those with serious personalities because laughter practice isn't dependent on jokes or a sense of humor. It's an exercise. Fake laughter, real laughter, it doesn't matter. The benefits are in the physiological exercise of laughing.
Laughter advocates are bringing the practice to organizations and institutions known to generate stress in their effort to promote health and forge bonds between people. Laughter Yoga is in prisons, workplaces, schools, nursing homes, and cancer wards. It's showing great results. Elements of the practice are integrated into many laughter therapy groups. Read about this woman's experience in a laughter therapy session. Laughter sessions, as she notes, are hosted by major medical organizations in her hometown, Seattle. Even the Dalai Lama advocates laughter as a means to combat stress. So the next time you’re dealing with a difficult friend or coworker, sitting in a traffic jam, or facing troubling personal challenges think: Ha Ha Ho Ho Ho, Ha Ha Ho Ho Ho and try a laughing exercise. It may help you cope. If that fails go back to the tried and true laughter records of the early 20th century such as Spike Jones' Laughing record or Okeh's famous laughing record. Laughing is contagious whether it's on an old 78 or in a new form of yoga. Most of all, laughing is good for you. Have fun in life, dear reader, and laugh at every opportunity.
Update: June 2014 This blog profiles the effectiveness of Rx for laughter.
Update: July 2015 With apologies to all members of Laughter Yoga International. I've just been alerted to the fact that "Loga" isn't the official term for this healthful exercise. The official term is "Laughter Yoga." Hoping interested readers have explored Laughter Yoga and found health benefits and the correct terminology already.
