“Laughter is truly the best medicine,” says Dr. José Mattiauda with a smile. He observed it repeatedly in his practice: laughter works wonders.
Thirty years ago, Dr. Mattiauda took a Sunday walk around a small town in Argentina. While walking, he heard a strange sound coming from a nearby cave. He entered the cave and found a group of people laughing. The laughter was contagious, and the more they laughed, the more the people around him laughed, including him.
Dr. Mattiauda soon realized this was not just any cave, but a secret laughter therapy clinic or laughter club. As laughter spread, everyone felt a healing power over them in both body and soul. The word spread and people flocked to the cave to laugh.
In 1995, Dr. Madan Kataria started Laughter Clubs and Laughter Yoga in India. There are now 5,000 of them in more than 50 countries (200 in the United States). Laughter sessions are usually held in groups in the morning to get the day started.
Norman Cousins was the first person to try laughter therapy “scientifically.” With positive thinking and laughter, he got rid of an arthritic disease thought irreversible (ankylosing spondylitis). He published his experiences in an article in The New England Journal of Medicine in 1976. He recovered from his illness after six months of watching comic movies and taking vitamin C.
In the early 1980s, Dr. Hunter “Patch” Adams—played in the movies by Robin Williams—began to treat his patients with laughter and humor as therapeutic tools. Today, therapeutic clowns visit thousands of patients in hospitals around the world.
In our youth, we laughed up to 300 times a day, without any reason, for pure pleasure. In adulthood, ten times a day is sufficient. Or less. Work and social conventions encourage us to be more severe and lose our ability to laugh.
People with a sense of humor are less likely to be upset by stressful experiences. Also, laughter helps oxygenate the body, reduce muscle tension, massage the ribs, work the diaphragm, and increase the lungs’ respiratory capacity. By generating powerful positive emotions, laughter and humor produce analgesic effects and boost immunity. Viewing life with a humorous attitude reduces stress and indirectly improves health. In short, laughing and developing a sense of humor are good for physical, mental and emotional health.
Advantages of laughter:
1 Soothes pain. It is not surprising to see clowns strolling the corridors of hospitals. Laughter triggers endorphins, which relieve pain. 2 Contagious. People with a good sense of humor tend to have more friends. Many women select their partners based on a good mood, rather than physical beauty.
3 Reduces tension. Showing a smile on your face allows you to send positive signals to the brain and, therefore, relax the rest of the body. An imbalance of hormonal transmitters in the brain causes depression. Laughter triggers increased secretion of hormones, such as serotonin and endorphins, which provide a feel-good effect. 4 Helps you lose weight. When we laugh, the heart rate accelerates, the abdominal contract, and we decrease body fat.
5 Improves digestion. The contractions of the belly, provoked by laughter, create a natural massage of the internal organs, including the stomach and intestine. 6 Combats stress. Laughter reduces the production of cortisol, the hormone responsible for generating stress, causing a feeling of happiness.
7 Injects health. Positivism is so powerful in the body that it strengthens the immune system, besides having analgesic effects. 8 Seduces. People are more attracted to those with a greater sense of humor.
9 Lowers blood pressure. With exercise, laughter increases the volume of blood expelled by the heart. It also promotes the dilation of the blood vessels, thus lowering blood pressure. 10 Relaxation. The rhythmic muscle contractions that result from a good laugh provide a relaxation effect comparable to moderate physical exercise. In addition, viewing humorous films decreases bronchial hyperactivity in cases of asthma.
Bottom Line. Laughter is an essential part of life. Not only does it boost the immune system and stimulate many organs, but it can also lower blood pressure. Laughter is one of the most natural ways to reduce stress hormones, such as cortisol, helping regulate them in the body. It increases oxygen-rich air intake, stimulates the heart, lungs, and muscles, and increases endorphins that can help improve our mood.
Laughing is a great way to connect with others, and can even help improve our physical health. Laughter is within everyone’s reach: it is not dangerous for any medical condition, or almost. It is only necessary to be careful after a recent surgical intervention.
ENCYCLOPEDIA. Laughter.
