“I intend to laugh often.”
Charlie Chaplin once said “a day without laughter is a day wasted.” But how many of us actually laugh on a daily basis? Apparently not as many. Growing up comes with its own set of not so fun side effects. We have more troubles and responsibilities. But becoming older does not have to mean that we have to become serious.
People have long said that laughter is the best medicine and we know now of its many positive physiological effects. Laughter is known to reduce pain, reduce stress, increase our body’s resistance to disease and improve the function of blood vessels and increase blood flow, which helps protect us against a heart attack and other cardiovascular problems. Laughter also helps us burn calories. There is plenty of evidence on why we should laugh, then why don’t we?
Dr. Madan Kataria, a physician in India, developed an exercise known as laughter yoga in the 90s. He was doing a research on an article about laughter being the best medicine, when he got the idea. He started a laughter club, where people gathered in a park and just laughed for no rhyme or reason. The concept of laughter yoga is based on the observation that our body cannot differentiate between fake and real laughter. We do not need to be happy or hear something funny, we can just laugh and still get the same physiological and psychological benefits. What started as 5 people in a park has now spread to thousands of laughter clubs in over 50 countries.
So take a moment today, check out from your life and just laugh. Laugh for absolutely no reason at all.
