Laughter makes us feel happier, healthier and more alive.
Laughter produces the following physiological benefits
Laughter releases endorphins – the body’s ‘feel good’ chemicals
Acts as an aerobic exercise – a bit like internal jogging!
Unleashes inhibitions and breaks down barriers
Generates better communication and team building
Helps boost our immune system, helping to resist disease and manage stress
Tones muscles, improves respiration and circulation, boosting oxygen supply
Encourages positive thinking and creativity
Relaxes the whole body and so reduces stress and tension
For more of the science behind Laughter Therapy and information including research articles click here
“Laughter is the shortest distance between two people” Victor Borge
Genuine, infectious and healing.
Amazingly, our body cannot differentiate between real and pretend or simulated laughter – either way we still benefit by having a right good laugh. Our body instinctively WANTS us to feel happy and to experience positive emotions – so even a pretend or faked laugh triggers the same physiological response as when we laugh genuinely – releasing endorphins which halt the stress response and reduce the detrimental effects of stress on our heart.
The same is true of smiling – even a faked smile releases endorphins and halts the stress response. Research (ref Dr Sanjay Gupta) has shown that simply holding a pencil between our teeth to make a grimace tricks our body into believing we are feeling happy; this action stretches our lips into a (kind of!) smile thus engaging our zygomaticus major and minor muscles which then trigger our brain’s emotional centre to release dopamine and serotonin. Whether a smile is faked or real, the emotional response in our brain is triggered and the same physiological react occurs.
We use Laughter Yoga and childlike playfulness to trigger laughter and all the amazing health benefits it brings.
Developed by Dr Madan Kataria, Laughter Yoga uses “unconditional laughter” so that we “laugh for no reason”. Triggered through exercises rather than humour or comedy unconditional laughter is generated from the body rather than the mind and when practised in a group, laughter quickly becomes genuine, infectious and healing.
Laughter Yoga enables us to laugh when we don’t feel like laughing and even when we feel we have nothing to laugh about.
To find out more about this click here Laughter Yoga International
For details on our Laughter Workshops and all the work we do contact us
“Jo’s Laughter Workshop really changed the way I deal with life and I have to say although it is hard to laugh at certain incidents in life, it really changes how a situation unfolds when you laugh at a problem. I never thought one workshop could have such a positive impact on my life but yours did.” Suzy R
“At The Voice House, we all know what singing can do for you both physically and emotionally. Jo’s laughter workshop added another dimension though, releasing endorphins and cementing the group in a different way. We all had a great time too. I thoroughly enjoyed it and I was sore for days from all the laughter!” Bea F