LAUGHTER, SPIRITUAL NOURISHMENT

By Vicky Vananda

Laughter is a source of health. Laughing is natural; in fact, a baby born 36 hours ago can offer a smile to their parents. Children are more willingness to laugh than adults. A baby can laugh 300 times a day, while an adult does it between fifteen and hundred times a day.[1]

For thousands of years, Traditional Chinese Medicine relates the different vowels used in laughter with internal body vibrations producing healing effects on us[2]. The Taoist philosophy advises that to be healthy one must laugh 30 times a day.

Some other experts say that 3 times a day is sufficient if it is for more than one minute each.

Laughter as a source of health appears in various cultures:

The Bible says for example: "A joyful heart is like the good medicine, but a depress spirit dries the bones.”

Laughter, in recent decades has appeared in Christian circles, above all in the Pentecostal Church where the “The cult of laughter " or " Holy Laughter " is practiced, but is not widely accepted. Mantis Rodeen Harward Browne induces people to laugh uncontrollably until they fall into a trance and they also make sounds as animals do. This began in South Africa in 1994 and has its origins in India with certain “Gurus”.

Hunter Doherty, "Patch" Adams founded the Gesundheit Institute in 1971. After being hospitalized three times in one year for wanting to end his life, he decided: "You don't kill yourself, !stupid!; you make revolution". He is the inventor of “the laughter therapy” for medical and therapeutic purposes, and he is responsible for its inclusion in modern medicine.[3]

Some books have mentioned the “Hindu meditation laugh”, saying that laughing is in fact a meditation technique in itself and that it is a way to know oneself internally thus helping one to be more conscious about the world.

In India, Bhagwn Rajneesh , Osho, promoted a meditation called  "the mystic rose ", which consisted of three hours of laughter daily during nine days.

The most persecuted cultures are those who have a well-developed sense of humor, such as the Jews. Chasidism, practiced by Lithuanian and Russian Jews under communist rule, believed that religion shouldn´t be sad but humorous and injected their religious rites with lively dancing and singing.

The psychiatrist William Fry, who has studied the effects of laughter for more than 25 years, says that three minutes of intense laughter is equivalent to about ten minutes of rowing vigorously. It is also said that one minute of daily laughter is equal to 45 minutes of relaxation.

It has been proved that people with AIDS or cancer have a higher resistance to illness when humorous moods are consistent. In Canada, specifically in Ottawa, these patients are treated with laughter therapy sessions.

Norman Cousins, a famous critic and editor of the “Saturday Review” in New York, wrote the book "Anatomy of Laughter” after having suffered Anklylosing Spondylitis. Combining his laugher therapies with doses of vitamin C and following the doctor’s indications, he healed completely.[4]

Laughter Yoga was developed in 1995 by Dr. Madan Kataria, a doctor from India. His method consists in combining yogic breathing exercises called Pranayama - which have a powerful and immediate effect on our physiology and that has been used for over 4000 years to influence the body, the soul and the emotions - with stretching exercises, applause and simple pantomime games which provoke laughter. This increases the intake of oxygen and helps our brain create endorphins. It is based on the scientifically proven premise that the body does not recognize the difference between provoked laughter and real laughter thus providing the physiological benefits. This practice started with only 5 people gathered in a park in Mumbai, India and today there are over 5000 Laughter Clubs, run by professionals, in more than 55 countries worldwide. [5] Dr. Kataria is convinced that it is possible to change the world and says: “When you laugh, you change, and when you change, the world around changes as well. If there are more people happy, that happiness will stay around. So that peace will spread".[6]

ACCORDING TO SOME EXPERTS, LAUGHTER:

+ Is a powerful anti–depressant which significantly reduces the hormones that cause stress and depression (cortisol).

+ Produces endorphins (natural analgesics) in the body. Endorphins create a positive mental state, raising optimism and self-esteem.

+ Quickly strengthens the immune system by increasing antiviral cells, anti-cancer cells, and anti–infectious cells. It also raises the immunoglobulin A levels, the first line of defense, protecting us from viral infections such as colds and coughs.

+ Is an excellent cardiovascular and aerobic exercise that elevates the pulse. One minute of laughter is equal to 10 minutes of rowing, running or machine exercise, according to Dr. W. Fry’s investigation.

+ Is a factor that lowers blood pressure.

+ Combines deep inhalation and complete exhalation, producing excellent ventilation, good resting, as well as relaxation.

+ Increases lung capacity.

+ Produces a reaction similar to "jogging" but on the inside, which massages and promotes circulation of the digestive and lymphatic systems.

+ Increases blood circulation helping our body to eliminate wastes.

+ Is a fun aerobic exercise that requires no effort, no special clothing. It is very suitable for sedentary people, and for those confined to a bed or wheelchair. It is beneficial for the elderly people.

+ Makes facing the challenges of our daily life easier by raising our optimism.

+ Intensifies our present, so it's a wonderful form of meditation.

+ Nullifies our negative emotions such as anger, resentment, fear, boredom, shyness, anxiety, etc.

+ Develops personality.

+ Improves our self-esteem.

+ Promotes the teamwork.

+ Improves communication.

+ Increases productivity and motivation to innovate.

+ Develops leadership and creativity.[7]

+ Rejuvenates and regenerates.

+ Is sexy.

+ Is good for relationships.

+ Opens the heart.

+ Allows us a glimpse of freedom from the mind.[8]

+ Stimulates the thymus, also called the “gland of happiness." There are theories that say that laughter regulates emotions and that it is directly connected to the senses, to the consciousness and our language. The thymus grows when we are happy and shrinks when we are stressed or sick.[9]

When we laugh, the brain causes our body to secrete endorphins. A simple smile emits the necessary information to enable the segregation of natural drugs that circulate throughout the body and which are hundreds of times stronger than heroin and morphine, but free of the side effects. Endorphins, specifically "encephalins," have the ability to relieve pain, sending messages from the brain to the lymphocytes and other cells to counteract viruses and bacteria. Endorphins also play a balancing function between vitality and depression and between health and illness. Laughter is a good medicine that renews energy and encourages the patient, stimulating almost every organ, increasing the blood circulation that follows the vibrating massage produced by spasms of the diaphragm. It increases the organs function and disease resistance increases.[10]

LAUGHING MORE WILL ALLOW US TO LIVE LONGER, HEALTHY, JOYFULL, CHEERFULL...

WELL… LET´S LAUGH!