LAUGH YOURSELF WELL

A chapter from my upcoming book reminds us to laugh, chortle and chuckle through today! Doctor's orders!

LAUGH YOUR TROUBLES AWAY

Did you know you can laugh for no reason, feel upbeat fast and save a fortune on medical bills? You might feel a bit silly at first but the benefits are proven and worth it. For instance,did you know that 20 minutes of hearty laughter is equivalent to 10 minutes on an exercise bike? It's also a wonderful way to erase lines and look younger.

No joking, you can laugh your way to fitness and health of mind, body and heart, like thousands of people worldwide who take the “laugh-a-day” prescription of medical doctor Madan Kataria, famous for pioneering his Laughter Yoga therapy world-wide.

I trained with him as a Laughter Yoga Leader and for two days we belly-laughed till I ached. What a tonic!

I interviewed Dr Kataria and he told me:

"Laughter yoga is a perfect way to laugh and get exercise at the same time. It treats laughter as a body exercise so it’s easy to laugh even if you’re depressed or in a bad mood," he says.

Dubbed the “giggling guru” by The Times of London and featured in Time Magazine, CNN and National Geographic, Dr Kataria, with his wife Madhuna, founded Laughter Yoga more than 12 years ago and they've since seen it spreading like a tonic to more than 50 countries where people practise it in more than 5000 Laughter Clubs, Yoga studios, corporate boardrooms, as well as schools, hospitals and prisons.

“The Singapore police have introduced it for their staff,” said Dr Kataria who believes that learning to laugh "for no reason" is the modern day cure-all for both stress - and crime - reduction.

Scientific studies prove the benefits of regular uninhibited laughter for your immune system, heart, energy and vitality. People who are sick or who get sick often should laugh more as medical research shows that laughter strengthens our immune system and helps us to fight off disease, colds, flu and even cancer. Hearty laughter provides an aerobic workout that exercises the heart, diaphragm, abdominal, respiratory and facial muscles.

Laughter yoga workouts include flexing and exercise of the arm, leg, and back muscles. The exercises strengthen facial muscles and reduce wrinkles. Laughter yoga sessions stimulate the lymphatic system and boost our immune system, and can reduce levels of stress poisons in our bodies by 50% or more within an hour. Benefits include improved cardiovascular health and reduced blood pressure. Laughter is used in old age homes and in hospitals around the world to speed healing and improve patients’ mental outlook. It can be especially beneficial to cancer patients.

Growing up one of eight children in a small rural community in India, Kataria says people laughed spontaneously and often, but when he went to Bombay to study medicine, he found that city people need a reason to laugh… a mental understanding of why something is funny.

“I call it the difference between happiness and joy,” he says.

“Happiness has adult conditions attached and lies in the past or future. By contrast, joyfulness is childlike and present moment." Children laugh 300-400 times a day during their important formative years, but adult laughter has reduced to just 5-10 times a day," says Dr Kataria.

“Laughter really is the best medicine because it reduces stress and conflict, within and without, and it is important for ourselves and our modern society that we find ways to laugh more to cope with stress,” he says.