Laughter Therapy: Are You Ready To Start Laughing All Day?
Laughter therapy is an alternative therapy that can contribute to people’s mental health. It promotes positive states, which has good effects on the body.
Since it is very easy to apply, it is not surprising that it is widely used, both in mental health units and in other circumstances. In fact, important benefits are attributed to it on an emotional, psychological, immune and hormonal level. Do you want to know more? Keep reading!
What is laughter therapy?
According to José Elías, a pioneer in extending laughter therapy in Spain as a mental technique for both personal and professional development, laughter therapy “is a complementary or support therapy, it cannot heal by itself. It is generally practiced in a group, because one of the most important qualities of laughter is that it is contagious ”.
The objective of laughter therapy is that we are able to have another vision of life, perceiving the positive parts of situations, what is more pleasant for us, and a better vision of ourselves.
Benefits of laughter for our health
Laughing provides benefits both physically and mentally. Even so, several studies have been able to determine it. Laughter stimulates the production and release of substances that could positively affect our health:
- Serotonin: A neurotransmitter related to emotions and mood.
- Dopamine: Neurotransmitter important especially in the motor function of the organism.
- Adrenaline: That increases the heart rate.
On the other hand, when we laugh we put different muscles in the arms, legs, abdomen and diaphragm in motion. A single laugh can activate up to 400 muscles throughout the body.
The greatest effect of laughter
The greatest effect of laughter is the immediate positive energy it produces in us. This is very important for our physical and mental state. It allows us to develop high self-esteem and acquire positive attitudes towards problems.
On the other hand, laughter can complement strategies for managing stress and anxiety. Likewise, it contributes to increasing tolerance to subjective pain and minimizes the tendency to depressive states.
Curious fact:
Children laugh approximately 300 times a day, while adults do it between 15 and 20 approximately … Don’t you think it’s time to put some things aside, go back to being a child and start laughing again?
Laughter therapy technique
As we mentioned at the beginning, laughter therapy has become one of the modern techniques to promote mental health. For this reason, its practice emphasizes two types of laughter: rehearsed and spontaneous.
Rehearsed laughter is one that is obtained voluntarily, for no apparent reason. The spontaneous is one that arises naturally as an expression of human emotions. Both are very beneficial, since the brain cannot distinguish between one and the other.
The laughter therapy technique uses different mechanisms and dynamics, which allow a person or group of people to experience the physical and psychological benefits of laughter. L as classes or meetings are divided into theoretical and practical part.
During the theoretical part, a review is made of the benefits of laughter and everything related to it. In practice, a set of activities and exercises are started whose objective is to help attendees achieve an optimal state of well-being to enjoy laughter.
Are you laughing enough? How about you take advantage of the benefits of laughter from now on? Of course, keep in mind that, although laughter could help you, if you have a problem, it is best to consult a psychologist.
