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Laugh your way to health and happiness
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Mara Denardo (http://freerangestock.com)
Have you ever met someone who was a beaming light of joy? These kinds of people are overflowing with contagious joy.
My grandmother, Rosa Maria Perez, was one of those people. She was my lighthouse. She always liked to sing and tell jokes. And she had a roaring laugh. Her energy didn’t just make those around her smile, it made them loosen up, get out of their stuffy identities, relax, and become a little more goofy themselves.
That is what I call grandma’s special therapy. That healing power that she was gifted with is within everyone’s reach. It is the healing power of laughter.
Laughter has been shown to lower blood pressure, reduce stress, increase muscle flexion, and boost immune function. Laughter also triggers the release of endorphins, the body's natural painkillers, and produces a general sense of well-being.
Laugh therapy is used in many different settings from hospitials as a supplement to regular treatments, to businesses, and schools as a way to discuss things that normally would be difficult.
Karen Williams, of the Ha Ha Institute, dedicates her life to teaching people to approach difficult situations with a sense of laughter.
Williams often tells groups of cancer and AIDS patients, “humor is a sense, and it is just as important as the rest of your senses.”
She adds that taking a lighter approach to living gives people access to spontaneous joy, and allows them to release sadness, and other issues that they had been holding on to.
The best way to incorporate laugher into your life is to have a positive outlook on life, and to engage in those activities that bring out the best in you. Don’t take life so seriously. And trust that everything is going to be okay.
There are also a number of laughing exercises you could do.
One exercise my grandmother used to do everyday goes as follows:
Ha ha ha ha
Hee hee hee hee
Hi hi hi hi hi
Ho ho ho ho
Hu hu hu hu
She would do this for 5 to 15 minutes. After a couple of minutes of hearing her laughter penetrate thru the walls that separated our rooms, I would find myself busting up too.
This technique is also know as the Laughing Meditation and can be practiced upon waking, or anytime you need a feel-good boost.
If you know someone whose motivation is low and is not open to the laughing exercises get creative. Rent their favorite comedy, play their favorite childhood game, go to a comedy club, or just get up and dance like fools.
Laughter is not just to be seen as a therapy, but as a way of life.
For more info contact your funny friends or: Karen Williams of the HaHa Institute at www.hahainstitute.com, or at haha@multiverse.com
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