How much do you laugh in a day? If you are like me, not very much mainly because I live on my own. Now if you are like me, it is not something you really think too much about. You laugh when you are with people, but it is not so easy to go around your house laughing at nothing or at yourself. People coming round would think you have really lost it if you were.
So why is laughter so important? Well there are many benefits including it could actually save your life. Check this out:
So, does forced laughter work as well as laughing for a reason? Well apparently yes it does because the brain cannot distinguish between forced laughter and real laughter. The results are the same.
Now I know that in care facilities there is often a lot of laughter. – well there was when I worked in them, but did you know you could involve the residents in active laughter like Yogic Laughter? Take a look at this:
When I was up in India 11 year ago, I used to go for a walk around the town I was staying in. I used to see this group of men in the park, running around in a circle doing various actions with their bodies and laughing. This made me really curious to find out what they were doing. So I asked them. They told me “Laughing Yoga”. Well as it was all men, I cheekily asked if it was only for men? They replied “No! come and join in”. So I did. By the time I left to come home, some of the wives had come joined in.
Who invented Laughter Yoga? Well it was actually a doctor in India by medical Dr. Madan Kataria. He became “interested in growing body of scientific evidence showing that laughter is extremely beneficial to mental and physical health. He decided that more laughter was needed to improve health and cope with the stress of modern living and started a quest to find ways that laughter could be prescribed to patients and people who needed it.” You can find out more here.
So why is laugher so good for you? I know I said there are health benefits but what are they. Well, its like medicine so take a look at what it can do for your health.
Physical Benefits
- Boost’s immunity
- Lowers stress hormones.
- Decreases pain.
- Relaxes muscles.
- Prevent heart disease.
Mental Benefits
- Adds joy and zest to life.
- Ease’s anxiety and tension
- Relieves stress.
- Improves mood.
- Strengthens resilience.
Social benefits
- Strengthens relationships.
- Attracts others to us.
- Enhances teamwork.
- Helps defuse conflict.
- Promotes group bonding.
So, if the above is not a good reason for having more laugher in your life, then I don’t know what is. There are also Laughter Yoga clubs around the country. You can find one in your area here. If there isn’t one in your area, then start one up with a group of friends. You can meet in the park, in someone house, in a hall or start one up in your facility.
Don’t underestimate the benefits of laughter. Norman Cousins famous book “The Anatomy of Illness” written in 1979 is a well-known book about how he cured himself of Ankylosing Spondylitis, a very painful collagen disease. So, get to it. Start laughing Today and restore your health and vitality. Something very much needed by so many today. You can see more on laughter in the Titbit sections