Let there be laughter!

Laughter is indeed the best medicine, suggest experts. From laughter therapy to yoga, here’s how laughing can help you stay healthy and fit

Last Sunday was celebrated as the World Laughter Day. The idea was brought up by Mumbaibased Dr Madan Kataria in 1998 with the aim to spread happiness and maintain a healthy body.

We all want a happy life. However, in this stressful and fast paced journey, we are entangled with negativity, sleeplessness and depression. Laughter yoga is just an extension of yoga that involves voluntary laughter by a group of people through happy and funny conversations, eye contact, playfulness, etc. Shalini Bhargava, director, IG’s fitness centre, says, “There is a respite to crazy lifestyle

Step by step laughter:

and that is laughter yoga, a simple exercise routine that is a consolidation of yoga and laughter exercises. One has to follow specific guided techniques and initiate laughter in a group with eye contact and childish tactics. It proceeds to real and contagious laughter that aerates the human body and brain, resulting in a healthy energetic lifestyle.”

Luke Coutinho, holistic lifestyle coach, integrative medicine, says, “This has become a movement because today, people have literally forgotten how to smile and laugh. They sport frown or anger on their face as a response to constant exposure to stressers — be it spouse, colleague or their boss.”

HEALTH BENEFITS OF LAUGHTER

A good hearty laugh is one of the free medicines that nature has given us. It changes the entire biochemistry of the body. It alleviates stress and boosts good mood. Coutinho adds, “Laughing releases oxytocin, the love hormone that influences anxiety, depression, stress, nervous system and may even improve immunity. Endorphins are also known as nature’s morphine. Morphine is taken as a painkiller and endorphins perform in a similar way in the body.”

Laughing also helps to activate serotonin (a hormone which uplifts our mood) and lowers cortisol levels. Cortisol is a stress hormone that’s also a fat storing hormone and is responsible for increasing inflammation. Laughing also helps to breathe deeper, thus infusing more oxygen into your cells. Your digestive organs also receive a light massage when you laugh.

Bhargava adds, “Laughter is the best time when the body benefits, both psychologically and physiologically. It is scientifically proven that a human body cannot differentiate between fake and actual laughter and thus laughter yoga was born.”

During laughter yoga, feel-good hormones like endorphin and serotonin levels increase. Jigna Sheth, nutritionist and fitness consultant, adds that laughter yoga also involves hand moves and is done in a group up in standing position involving upper and lower body muscles.

LIFESTYLE DIFFERENCES WITH LAUGHTER

Laughter therapy uses a lot of facial expressions and makes a huge lifestyle difference. It helps the mind become sharper. Bhargava says, “It emits negative emotions from the body and makes one more at peace. With the stress melting away from the body, one feels energetic and relieved. Finally, by removing the negativity out of the body, you will experience high confidence.”

Sheth shares that since laughter therapy is generally done in a group, it has the power to heal and share. “Laughter has the power to heal several ailments and prevent diseases. It has transformed the lives of people, ensuring health and happiness,” she says.

Hrugvedita Sanjay Shinde, dietitian, certified diabetic educator and bariatric nutritionist, shares that someone who always has dull facial expressions will not give good vibes to others as well. “If someone’s facial expressions are not good, then you will not feel like communicating with that person. Similarly, if a person has a smiling face and is happy always, then you will get positive vibes from that person. Also, I feel that talking and sharing with more and more people can help one fight depression. Nowadays, depression rates are rising sharply,” he says.

A CALMER AND CONTENT LIFE

Stress is inevitable but how we deal with it is under our control. Laughter changes the way we perceive stress. Coutinho adds, “It teaches us that stressing over situations doesn’t help make situations any better. Laughter helps us cultivate more positive thoughts or at least a positive outlook towards a situation. Laughing in a group develops positive human connections as it is said that ‘Laughter is the shortest distance between two people’. So, it is a great way to enrich relationships and connect people heart to heart.” Even accepting things as they are and letting go, trains your mind to be happy and content.

ADAPTING LAUGHTER THERAPY

Laughter is a natural emotion and it must come out naturally. This can only happen if we stay present in the moment. Most of us are dwelling either in the past or the future and that’s how we miss out on simple pleasures of life. Coutinho points out, “Apart from that, one must also focus on other aspects of health that can prevent them from feeling their best. Like a good sleep, good nutrition, or a healthy gut; food too has a direct impact on your mood and can hijack your mind. It has been studied in yoga that unhealthy foods, alcohol and other intoxicants can bring about feelings of anger and rage.”

Bhargava adds, “Laughter therapy encourages people to laugh continuously for a good 15 to 20 minutes. The process of laughter therapy is very simple — it starts with the group breaking the ice and getting comfortable with each other. This is followed by a warm-up and breathing exercises and then, the laughter session. The therapy can be broadly divided into four steps namely clapping, laughter yoga breathing, playing like a child that triggers positive, happy

thoughts and actions and finally, the laughter yoga exercises. The laughing sessions start off with normal laughter and then extends to laughing from the diaphragm. The therapy ends with meditation.”