Without Dash

Laughter is a universal language that goes beyond all barriers: language, age, gender, social or racial background. Laughter builds up relationships and improves communication. It interrupts the power struggle and breaks down instinctive barriers between people. But seriously, when you are amongst people in traffic, in a shopping mall, or at work, have a look around you. Do you see all those glum faces around you? All these morose expressions? Depressed people, people on a hurry. There seems to be made little use of this universal language, as people find fewer reasons to laugh.

When you see depressed people, you will notice that they walk slowly, talk slowly. Their body functions will be slow as well and it is not strange that if you are deeply unhappy or have reason to be very sad, that your body reacts to it as to an illness. It gets feverish and people feel tired and detached. This is because body and mind are very much connected.

The link between body and mind also works in the opposite direction. If you are happy, you will feel good and healthy. In fact, if you are unhappy, but behave as if you are happy, your feeling will soon follow. Bringing laughter to your body has many benefits, according to doctors and experts.
More than 70 percent of illnesses are related to stress; high blood pressure, heart disease, depression, migraine, allergies, anxieties, ulcers, etc. And even though laughing will not cure any longstanding illnesses as heart disease, it improves one’s condition very much. Researchers say that with 10 minutes of laughter per day:

• blood pressure improves, because directly after laughing it drops 10-20 mm
• blood supply and oxygen supply improves, which is good for the cardiovascular system
• lymphocytes (a type of white blood cells) counts and antibody levels increase, which improves the immune system
• antibodies in the mucous membranes increase, which will protect you from colds, sore throats and chest infections
• endorphin levels will improve, which reduces pain from chronic ailments
• face muscles will tone up and skin will glow, which makes us look younger

So, we all have to add 10 minutes of laughter to our day. (Just add it to the 10 minutes of flossing, 10 minutes of strength exercises, 10 minutes of brain exercises, 10 minutes of decluttering, 10 minutes of social marketing, 10 minutes of learning French, etc.) But how do we add laughter if there is nothing funny? We are so used to suppressing our emotions that we do not know anymore how to laugh without any external stimulus like a good joke.

Apparently, we can program laughter into our body; we can train our body and mind to laugh at will. According to the principles of neuro-linguistic association and to scientific research, repetition is the key to programming your brain until the body develops a reaction that can be triggered without actively thinking with the rational brain. Laughter exercises include chanting “ho ho ha ha” and exclaiming expressions of joy repeatedly. After a while the brain will develop new connections and start producing neuropeptides and hormones in the body that can be triggered easily.

Laughter Yoga is based on this concept that anyone can laugh for no reason, without depending on humor. It uses the body-mind link to change the state of mind through physical gestures like clapping, chanting, laughing and breathing exercises. The concept started in 1995 in Mumbai with just a few people, but now there are thousands of Laughter Clubs around the world, where people can learn and practice Laughter Yoga.

Tags: Health, laughter