Laughter as Medicine?

"Laughter is a bodily exercise precious to health." ~ Aristotle

In life, there's very little that feels better than a deep, belly laugh that leaves you tearing up and practically gasping for breath. When's the last time you felt that wonderful, silly release? As an adult, how often do you note a child's easy and carefree laughter and smile to yourself wistfully that those days are gone? But, hey, wait a minute. Whoever said that adults can't laugh with the same wanton air?



In fact, adults should make a point of laughing as much as we can! Research has shown that laughter results in reduced levels of stress hormones while increasing healthful hormones like endorphins and neurotransmitters. Laughter buoys the strength of your immune system and is a wonderfully positive coping mechanism for stress, anxiety, and anger. But, you might ask, how are you supposed to find laughter in a situation if depression has you in a stranglehold? Well, here's the cool thing about laughter - it turns out that your body responds positively even when you're faking it! We've all heard the phrase, "fake it until you make it." Well, it fortunately applies to smiling and laughter! How wonderful that we can fool our bodies into maximizing on the physical and emotional benefits of laughter even when we're feeling like laughter is the last thing available to us at the moment. And all that fake joy may very well turn into reality sooner than you might think.

April 1, 2005 Smile Day in Australia - Clown Doctors

There are even "laughing clubs" and "laughter yoga classes" popping up everywhere around the globe. The Humour Foundation's flagship program, "Clown Doctors," has sprouted up all over the world bringing joy and laughter to pediatric patients in hospitals everywhere.

This posting was inspired by the blog post of Cathy Malchiodi, art therapist extraordinaire, on psychologytoday.com. I had the good fortune of attending a workshop on art therapy by Cathy at a conference several years ago and continue to cite things I learned that day to my clients and clinicians I supervise. To visit her post, click on the following link, http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-healing-arts/200806/humor-the-human-gift-coping-and-survival.

I'll also borrow the link that Cathy includes which is fabulous and while watching it, you can't help but smile and laugh, enjoy!