Laughter has its avowed benefits and the most valued one, in my belief, is helping somebody through it. How divine it would make you feel if you really can cheer your pal, sibling or partner to see the brighter side by inducing the positive attitude towards the problem through laughter. Undoubtedly, it is possible as I explained earlier under the heading “Laughter- It is the Best Medicine”. Let us take a look at the following cute image to refresh the proven advantages this free-of-cost medicine swears to bestow upon us.
Keeping in view these known and researched benefits, “Laughter Day” is celebrated globally on the first Sunday of May each year. The credit of this celebration goes to an Indian physician, Dr. Madan Kataria, who is also the inventor of Laughter Yoga and the writer of the book ‘Laugh for No Reason’. More than 70 countries take part into the Laughter day with an underlying message of promotion of good health and a positive perception towards the challenges, hurdles and downfalls that the difficult circumstances throw at us.
I felt sorry today when I realized how I missed the Laughter Day and the pleasure to share it with my people who are so buried under their chronic problems. But next year I hope not miss a chance to laugh and make laugh over the governmental catastrophe, corruption, load shedding, CNG strikes and sky-rocketing prices of everyday goods. This will not kill the problems but an escape from the crisis though for a day can count for something.
Getting back to Dr. Kataria who invented the technique called Laughter Yoga; through ages people had known the phrase “Laughter is the best medicine” but to the emotionally or materially challenged people this had remained a foreign concept. Laughter Yoga, through its breakthrough results has made possible the access and availability of this technique. You just put in a very small amount of effort to learn this and then with your family and friends, you can practice it whenever you want with the notable positive results.
Statistics reveal that there are about 8,000 laughter clubs being run in 65 countries. Each club has a head called the laugh captain who encourages the people to join the group. Starting with the little stretching and breathing to warm-up the lungs for the laugh, the captain begins with the chanting of ha ha and ho ho while clapping and the people follow. Maintaining an eye contact is the vital of this yoga practice so the mirror neurons do their job and the people when looking at the other person doing such childish moves and making funny voices begin to chuckle; the other one follows and then the loud uncontrollable laughter bursts and spreads in the entire group. This is how the contagious nature of laughter does the drill. With no jokes and no tickling involved, genuine laughter makes the tears stream down the cheeks. 20 minutes of this Laughter yoga is sufficient to provide the physiological benefits and positive mental attitude. The session ends with the Laughter Meditation; do not perceive it as sitting quiet in a Buddha pose to converge your thoughts. It is as simple as sitting down and relaxing while letting the natural laughter flows and welcoming the emotional ease.
Moreover, while looking for the Laughter Yoga clubs, I came to read an interesting experience of this exercise enjoyed and illustrated by Bonnie Vaughan. It really did make me laugh. I have never experienced laughter yoga myself but after reading her I am truly motivated. I would strongly recommend you to check http://www.jewishcarewa.com.au/?page_id=529 to get more convinced.
Godspeed 🙂
This Article is Written by “Ghalia Akram” Senior Author At Envirocivil.com
Originally published by www.envirocivil.com
