Learn To Laugh



‘Exercise your smile
Till it becomes easy
Practice your laugh
Till it becomes a habit
In trying times
This is a cushion
To break your fall
And skip along
The journey u sought’
- Naina Midha

Can you count on your hand the variety of laughter you have heard in your life? Now you may be wondering, if there is a variety of laughter also!
Yes, laughter comes in many forms. There is the chortle, the sniggering, shy giggling, the devil's laughter, the horse neighing laughter, the rolling on the floor laughter, the baby’s laugh, the cackle, etc. The list is exhausting and may finish my articles word limit just naming the types of laughter present.
However, all these laughs, the sounds have one thing in common (drum roll please) it’s the joy and relief they bring to us. The exhilaration and the 1000 watt smile that emerges after having laughed at our contentment.
 Why then, does it seem to disappear when we are struggling, facing difficulty, or feeling stuck metaphorically or literally.
It is in those tough times when we need to restore some level of normalcy, and what better way than to laugh at ourselves, in some way acknowledging the situation, accepting the circumstances, and then being able to adapt and or adjust to the situation.

Here are benefits of laughing in tough times:
Acts as biofeedback
Our Brain associates laughter with relaxation, amusement. So when we laugh, the brain receives the message that its time to relax, thereby further relaxing our tensed muscles, releasing the strain that is created with plaguing thoughts running rampant and intruding our daily activities.

Develops your Sense of humor
A sense of humor means the ability to perceive humor or appreciate a joke. There are situations where solutions are none and hence adapting to them is essential for survival. In such situations being amused rather than serious instills a sense of hope for a better future and gives us the psychological strength to face adversity.
“Doctor, I have a ringing in my ears.” “Don’t answer!” – Henny Youngman
(Secoy.k, pinterest.com)


Aids in releasing pent-up energy
According to Herbert Spencer (an eminent psychologist ) in his essay “ On the Physiology of Laughter” emotions take up physical form of nervous energy (Morreal.J,2016). As explained by him, emotions such as fear or anger arouse energy in the body such as clenching of the fist, increase pulse rate, etc. When this energy reaches a peak it explodes as either attacking reflex in anger or feeling reflex in fear. However, laughter has no such action reflex, thereby merely releasing the nervous energy built up in the body as a result of other emotions.

Biological benefits:
 As researched, laughter seems to have many benefits biologically. It lowers the blood pressure, increases oxygen levels in the blood, increases the number of t-cells in the blood that help in fighting infection, and provide immunity. (zurinstitute.com,2020)

Causes a domino effect
Has it ever happened that someone in your presence is laughing and you start smiling or laughing along with them even though you may not know what was funny? Or you look at someone laughing and their way of laughing induces you to laugh as well?
Well this is because laughter produces a rippling effect in the social situations, allowing many people to join in the venture.

Till now we are aware of a type of laughter that comes naturally, but there are more types of laughter called the Simulated and Stimulated laughter.

Simulated laughter is a type of laughter that occurs voluntarily. It is when we decide to laugh even though the situation is not funny.
Have you ever heard people gathered in parks practicing yoga? They usually end their session with simulated laughter, that ‘ha ha ha’ sound which awakens you and scares young children. It is one example of simulated laughter.
Reliving memories that were funny and laughing at them in the present moment is another example.

Stimulated laughter takes place when a person either tickled, massaged hugged, etc. It is a physical reaction that induces laughter.

One can simulate their laugh using a variety of ways:

Watch something hilarious: Stand-up comedy, tv shows, movies of the humor genre, animal video, gags video, etc

Revisit old childhood albums

Practice in front of the mirror: Practice hah hah sounds while looking at yourself

Listen to laughter audios

Read a book be it a joke book or fiction that has lively characters. (although you would also know if the book is funny, once you start reading it)

Try out this worksheet
Read the words in the worksheet at different speeds , slow, fast, slow

Laughter is a self-serving and easy to access tool, created by us, for us but remember disclaimer is always attached.

REFERENCES:


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