Laughter Is The Best Medicine

"I intend to laugh often." | Support Myrena's Intent

Charlie Chaplin once said "a day without laughter is a day wasted." People have long said that laughter is the best medicine, and we know now of its many positive physiological effects. Laughter is known to reduce pain, reduce stress, increase our body's resistance to disease and improve the function of blood vessels and increase blood flow, which can help protect us against a heart attack and other cardiovascular problems. Laughter can also help us burn calories. There is plenty of evidence on why we should laugh, so why don't we?

Dr. Madan Kataria, a physician in India, developed an exercise known as laughter yoga in the '90s. He was doing a research on an article about laughter being the best medicine, when he got the idea. He started a laughter club, where people gathered in a park and just laughed for no rhyme or reason. The concept of laughter yoga is based on the observation that our body cannot differentiate between fake and real laughter. We do not need to be happy or hear something funny, we can just laugh and still get the same physiological and psychological benefits. What started as five people in a park has now spread to thousands of laughter clubs in more than 50 countries.

So take a moment today, check out from your life and just laugh. Laugh for absolutely no reason at all.

More from Intent Blog:

Laughter As Therapy
Laughter Meditation for Parents & Kids
Laughing Animals

Share your intent at Intent.com.

For more by Intent, click here.

 

Follow Intent on Twitter: www.twitter.com/intentdotcom

Comments

[Claude Hosch]

08:16 PM on 08/03/2012

Reader's Digest used to have a section titled "Laughter Is The Best Medicine;" filled with humor and wit, along with "Points To Ponder." I would read those sections last as my reward for reading the rest. Reader's Digest taught me to laugh for the sake of laughing. My grandkids ask what I'm laughing about, and think it strange when I say "nothing." I call it letting the little boy in me come out to play. The little boy in me gets me through tough times by treating big things like little things. I'm actually laughing about this comment :-)).