Laughing is the Best Medicine

Why is Laughing So Important

It can do wonders to lift your spirit and improve your health. It can elevate your mood tremendously by releasing endorphins, a chemical in your body that is responsible for the feeling of excitement and an overall sense of wellbeing. Laughter can reduce stress levels and improve blood flow. It can also improve the immune system by increasing infection-fighting antibodies that results in resistance to disease.

Life is stressful enough, so by using laughter as an avenue to release our stress can be one of the most important things we can do for our health and wellbeing.

Don’t take everything so seriously and when it is overwhelming and there is nothing you can do about it at that moment, just laugh. Why not? What do you have to loose? Even if you are by yourself do something silly or find something funny to laugh about. Read a funny book, watch movie or call a friend that will make you laugh so hard that your belly hurts. You will be so glad that you did. Its fun, try it!! Below is a video on how laughter really can change not only your mindset but improve your health:

Here is another example on how laughing can improve your health

Norman Cousin “The modern father of laughter therapy is thought to be Norman Cousins, for 30 years the editor of the Saturday Review. Cousins recounted his own self-treatment with humor in an article in the New England Journal of Medicine in 1976, after he’d been diagnosed with a very painful, life-threatening form of arthritis called ankylosing spondylitis. Doctors gave him little chance of recovery.

When traditional medicine failed to relieve his pain, Cousins left the hospital, checked into a hotel, took megadoses of vitamin C and watched Marx Brothers films and TV sitcoms, finding that 10 minutes of “belly laughter” allowed him two hours of pain-free sleep. He eventually recovered and wrote a series of best-selling books on humor and healing.

Norman Cousins’ account of healing through laughter was described in his ground-breaking book, Anatomy of an Illness as Described by the Patient, which inspired research into the effect of emotions on health that continues to this day.”

http://www.laughingdiva.com/how-laughter-therapy-cured-norman-cousins-of-a-life-threatening-form-of-arthritis/

What is Laughter Yoga & How Can it Help You?

By Laughter Yoga:

In today’s world, people want to be healthy, they want to be happy, but instead they are getting stressed out, depressed, getting less sleep, more negative thoughts and feeling isolated.

Does this sound like you? Are you someone who wants to move on and bring more laughter and joy into your life? You are in the right place.

Laughter Yoga is a revolutionary idea – simple and profound. An exercise routine, it is sweeping the world and is a complete wellbeing workout. Developed by a medical doctor from India Dr. Madan Kataria and it has spread across 72 countries.

You can laugh with special guided techniques: It’s easy. Anyone can laugh for no reason without relying on humor, jokes or comedy and one can feel the benefits on the very first session!

Real and Contagious Laughter: We initiate laughter as a body exercise in a group and with eye contact and childlike playful ness. It soon turns into real and contagious laughter.

Oxygenates Your Body and Brain: Laughter Yoga is combination of deep breathing exercises from yoga and laughter exercises, which oxygenates our body and brain, makes us feel more healthy and energetic.

Scientifically Proven Benefits

The concept of Laughter Yoga is based on a scientific fact that the body cannot differentiate between fake and real laughter. One gets the same physiological and psychological benefits.

Clinical research conducted at Bangalore, India and in the United States has proved that Laughter lowers the level of stress hormones (epinephrine, cortisol, etc) in the blood.

5 Benefits of Laughter Yoga

Good Mood and More Laughter: Laughter Yoga helps to change your mood within minutes by releasing certain chemicals from your brain cells called endorphins. You will remain cheerful and in a good mood throughout the day and will laugh more than you normally do.

Healthy Exercise to Beat Stress: Laughter Yoga is like an aerobic exercise (cardio workout) which brings more oxygen to the body and brain thereby making one feel more energetic and relaxed.

Health Benefits: Laughter Yoga reduces the stress and strengthens the immune system. You will not fall sick easily and if you have some chronic health conditions, you will heal faster.

Quality of Life: Laughter is a positive energy that helps people to connect with other people quickly and improves relationships. If you laugh more, you will attract many friends.

Positive Attitude in Challenging Times: Everyone can laugh when life is good, but how does one laugh when faced with challenges? Laughter helps to create a positive mental state to deal with negative situations and negative people. It gives hope and optimism to cope with difficult times.

http://www.laughteryoga.org/english