<h1>Laughter For Health & Happiness</h1>

Laughter is by all means an elixir of health and happiness. People with a carefree, gay and cheerful attitude are free from stresses and strains, worries and tensions. Those who take life cheerfully and positively wearing a smile on their faces are more successful. Genuine cheerfulness comes from a sense of humor which helps a man see things in a true perspective and enjoy life truly. Instead of crumbling down under the pressure of tension and negative feelings, we must learn to laugh away our blues and make life a boon worth living.

Laugher is rightly called the best medicine as it relieves not only one who laughs but all those around him too. A healthy sense of humor helps you laugh at the worst situations and above all at yourself, a very positive sign to live a happy life. A sense of humor makes you more acceptable in society. It improves your “face value” and you are welcome everywhere especially at parties, feasts, picnics and social gatherings. Such cheerful, funny persons make these events quite enjoyable for the participants, as they charge the atmosphere there with mirth and laughter. Actually they speed up the spirit of friendship and promote happiness.

Laugh and make others laugh and in the process we get rid of nervousness and depression which adversely affect your physical, as well as mental health. If you learn to relax with a sense of humor you can keep away boredom and fatigue, job pressures and domestic worries. Accept a carefree humorous nature as your disposition. It is proved that laughter enhances hormones which stimulate the heart and acts as a natural pain killer. Laughter removes stress, burns calories and improves one’s digestion and enlivens spirits. Remember, genuine cheerfulness with the humorous disposition is an almost certain index of a happy mind and a pure good heart. If you learn to laugh at yourself it will ease all your tensions and worries. Laughing at yourself is of immense benefit for your puffed up pride.

If one observes the process of laughter “Ho-Ho, Ha-Ha” carefully, one will see that during the course of laughter there is a rhythmic movement of the diaphragm, abdominal muscles and inter-coastal muscles which help to expel the air from the lungs in rhythmic jerks which produces rhythmic vibrations from the vocal cords.

Also, there is a contraction of the throat, palate muscles and facial muscles. There are some pranayam kriyas such as Kapalbhati and Bhastrika which involve such rhythmic contractions of all the groups of muscles involved in laughter.

Scientifically speaking, even when one exhales completely some amount of air called residual air is left. This is more in those suffering from asthma or chronic bronchitis. There are more chances of bacterial infection and less exchange of oxygen if the residual volume is more. Prolonged respiration as in pranayam and some dynamic breathing exercises help to remove residual air which contains more carbon dioxide and replace it with fresh air, which contains more oxygen. This is how deep breathing and laughter help to increase the net supply of oxygen to the body for better functioning.

Dr. Joachim Gardemann of Germany in his health prescription advises his patients to laugh and be merry. He says, “we really have to encourage laughing and being happy. It is one of mankind’s most health promoting resources”. The fact that a lot of things, serious health problems among them, can benefit from a dose of good humor was a major theme in the film, Patch Adam’s in which actor Robin Williams played a doctor who dressed up in a clown’s costume to entertain and help cure sick children.

In India, Dr. K.K. Aggarwal of Heart Care Foundation once said, “If you wait to be happy, you will wait forever. If you are happy now, you will be happy forever. Explaining the therapeutic effect of laughter, Dr. Aggarwal said that laughter releases chemicals like neuropeptides that improve health and have antioxidant properties. Laughter is also the best medicine to tackle life style disorders, including stress, high blood pressure, depression, psychological problems and even heart disease. Also in many ways laughter is like meditation - you not only lose track of time, but you emerge as a more relaxed and carefree person afterwards.

Dr. Fry of U.S.A. describes laughter as “inner jogging” and says that it is good for a person’s cardiovascular system. Laughter has been known to have cured serious illnesses and helped people get over bad phases in their lives. Apart from this, laughter is a good exercise. It gives exercise to our diaphragm and various muscles. It is also responsible for the secretion of certain hormones which are good for our health. Laughter is thus a refreshing act which helps us cope with life. A wonder medicine, laughter can save on medical expenses by strengthening the immune system, which plays a key role in preventing a large number of diseases.

The one benefit everybody gets from laughter is a sense of well being. After 15 minutes of laughter in the morning, you will feel fresh throughout the day. There is no medicine like laughter which gives instant results. You start feeling freshness straightaway. Laughter therapy is ideally suited for today’s stress ridden life style. It can be compared to any form of meditation or relaxation. In these you have to make concerted efforts to completely detach oneself. In laughter, it takes place naturally effortlessly. Hence, laughter therapy is the easiest form of meditation, a form which brings you instant relaxation. It is beneficial to singers and actors. Increased lung capacity, exercise of the diaphragm and abdominal muscles will help to gain better control over speech. It may enhance self confidence and reduce stage fright.

Laughter is an excellent exercise for your facial muscles. It tones up these muscles and improves facial expressions. When you laugh your face becomes red due to an increase in blood supply which nourishes the facial skin and makes it glow. Laughing people look more cheerful and attractive. By squeezing the tear glands through laughter, it moistens the eyes adding a sparkle to them. Laughter exercises the abdominal muscles and helps to improve muscle tone of those with pot bellies. The massage to the digestive tract provided by laughter helps maintain good bowel movements. Good tone of abdominal muscles also prevents constipation by proper evacuation and bowel movements.

Laughter brings people together and improves interpersonal relationships. Laughter has a spiritual dimension as well and if this dimension is added to the knowledge of the people involved in the laughter movement, then it would be more golden than gold. So, keep laughing because you know if you laugh the world will laugh with you and you if you cry you will cry alone. And life is not worth crying. It is worth laughing, worth enjoying. Hence laugh for your life, for your health, for your happiness and for your well being!