Laughter heals. Healing laughter against diseases - laughter therapy for health How do you understand the expression laughter heals

Positive psychology 27.09.2015

Dear readers, today I invite everyone to relax a little and talk about laughter therapy. Let's have this pleasant treatment and take our minds off the hustle and bustle of life. He laughs best who... no, does not laugh last. Rather, the one who laughs a lot and often, bringing pleasure not only to his soul, but also to his body. You ask, what does this have to do with the body? It is precisely about Doctor Laughter as a professional physician that we will talk in this article. Well, let’s have fun and heal at the same time!

Probably, many will agree with me that nothing charges you with positivity and cheerfulness more than moments of sincere laughter in the company of friends or family. Admit it, have you noticed what mood you get after watching a good comedy or a funny program? You will laugh heartily, and then for several more hours you will feel elated and feel almost like flying. Great, right?

But it turns out that laughter can be used not only in everyday life and for idle pastime. There is a separate branch of science - laughter therapy, or gelotology, which deals with laughter professionally.

Laughter therapy (gelotology). Laughter therapy is serious!

A little history

The science of laughter and its impact on a person’s physical and mental health - gelotology (from the Greek “gelos” - laughter) - originated in the USA in the 70s of the last century. It was introduced into official medicine by the American journalist Norman Cousins. Being bedridden, and, according to doctors, without a single chance of recovery, he decided to radically change his lifestyle.

Since Norman didn’t want to just give up and live out his days sadly, he began to have fun: he watched comedies all day long, listened to jokes and funny stories, and laughed uncontrollably. According to sources, after a week his pain stopped, and after another month he was able to move. Soon he began to walk and went to work.

Such an amazing story prompted scientists in Europe and America to direct their attention to studying the phenomenon of laughter and its influence on the human psyche. Gradually, laughter therapy emerged as a separate psychotherapeutic method.

Gelotology has not yet found proper distribution in the post-Soviet space. Also almost absent Scientific research psychological aspect of laughter by domestic scientists. I would like to believe that this is it for now. And the time will come when in our country laughter will finally be taken seriously. However, practicing laughter at home is not at all prohibited and, as you may have guessed, it is very useful, even if this practice is unsystematic.

In addition, hospital clowning is gradually becoming widespread - visits of trained actors or ordinary people to children's hospitals. Funny clowns come to the kids, make them laugh, play with them, thereby easing their condition at least a little. Is this not enough?

An interesting fact is that there is a special branch of yoga – hasya yoga. Followers of this trend happily practice group laughter, combining it with traditional exercises.

Laughter therapy. Benefit for health

Meanwhile, research by foreign scientists has proven excellent health benefits of laughter , extending to both the human psyche and his physical body. Chemically, this effect is explained by the fact that the so-called “hormones of happiness” - endorphins - produced during laughter have a strong beneficial effect on the human immune, respiratory, cardiovascular, and digestive systems.
It is our attitude towards life (whether we think positively or only see negativity) that affects our health, including our immunity. Laughter affects the part of the brain that responds to the Joy of Life.

From a psychological point of view , laughter helps release suppressed emotions. Psychologists know how difficult it is to “get close” to such painful feelings for a person as shame, fear, anger. Usually people prefer to hide them, deny them, not notice them. This habit is acquired in childhood with the light hand of parental attitudes “You can’t cry!”, “It’s a shame to act like that,” “Good children don’t behave so badly!” etc. Over time, former boys and girls turn into adult uncles and aunts who do not allow themselves to be angry, to be angry, to be “inconvenient”, not like everyone else. Under the cover of laughter, everyone is equal - both the prince and the pauper. A person returns to a carefree childhood, temporarily removing the mask of invulnerability and inviolability. Gradually, tensions and pressures are released from the body, and it literally becomes easier to breathe.

Also, the state of relaxation that follows the release of tension helps you look at the world with wide eyes. In such an even positive state of consciousness, a person becomes more receptive and flexible. Breaking his own attitudes that limit his thinking and worldview, he comes to the ability to introduce novelty into his life, to find answers to previously insoluble or complex questions. This can be compared to, for example, going out into the fresh air and suddenly noticing that the limits of the Universe are not limited to your apartment or even the street. But in fact, there are still so many interesting, unknown, desirable things!

Who is laughter therapy suitable for?

What does the cheerful doctor treat? As the experience of the “pioneer” of laughter therapy Norman Cousins shows, Doctor Laughter is capable of working miracles even in seemingly hopeless situations. Of course, no one denies drug treatment, especially in severe cases, but still the experience of foreign countries has shown the ability of gelotology to provide significant assistance in:

lowering blood pressure;
reducing stress levels;
increasing the activity of the body's immune system;
improving brain function, as well as mood and overall well-being.

That is, it is directly shown patients suffering from depressive conditions, hypertensive patients, people with reduced immunity, and simply those who want to be treated in a fun and easy way. After all, in addition to all the bonuses listed above, laughter unites people, helps them relax and look at their lives in a new way. This means that in certain doses it is indicated for everyone!

What happens at the moment when a person laughs?

Hyperventilation occurs. They are saturated with oxygen.
Blood circulation increases.
The muscles located in the pelvic area work very well.
The work of the cardiovascular muscle is activated.
Let's activate the happiness zone. We influence the mood.
We increase our immunity.

Laughter therapy. results

What will we get by doing this kind of treatment?

You and I receive the hormone of joy.
We just relax, have fun and joy.
We develop self-confidence and a sense of humor.
We remove the negativity.
We increase our creative activity.
We repress stress, get rid of it.

Contraindications for laughter therapy

There is no scientific data on contraindications to this method. Can laughter be harmful? How do you think?

Laughter therapy. Exercises at home

There are many exercises used in laughter therapy. Let's look at the simplest ones that can easily be done at home:

In moments of fatigue, read a few jokes and laugh heartily.
Try making faces at yourself while standing in front of the mirror.
When something annoys you, try to smile and turn your attention to something pleasant.
Allow yourself to watch humorous programs and comedies more often.
Take part in fun quests, games, and friendly gatherings.
Take a piece of refined sugar and squeeze it between your teeth without closing your mouth. Now look in the mirror.
Listen to a recording of infectious laughter.
To get an idea of how laughter therapy classes can take place in groups, watch the video.

Laughter therapy. Video

The science of laughter originated in the 70s of the last century in America.

And the founder of gelotology, Norman Cousins, went down in history as “the man who managed to make death laugh.”

He suffered from a rare joint disease.

When the doctors gave up, Cousins locked himself in a room and watched comedies for hours.

The result was stunning for doctors.

After a week, the patient’s pain disappeared, after a month he began to move, and after two months he went back to work.

Since then, the influence of laughter on humans has begun to be studied in the USA and Europe.

Humor is as important in our lives as air, food and water.

Laughter is an indispensable helper in difficult situations.

And if a person knows how to laugh at himself and can look at problems from a different angle, he will never give up, but will overcome difficulties with optimism.

Cancer is treated with laughter

Laughter has a huge impact on the body.

It improves mood and well-being.

And not only when a person laughs at something.

Sometimes the positive charge from a good joke lasts us the whole day!

This is due to the intensive production of neurotransmitters by our body: dopamine, serotonin and “happiness hormones” - endorphins.

Laughter- a useful physical exercise that forces 80 muscle groups to work simultaneously! A person’s shoulders move, the diaphragm vibrates, and the muscles of the neck, back and face relax.

Some scientists compare a minute of laughter to 25 minutes of fitness.

When laughing, your heart rate increases.

Physical exercise has a similar effect.

Laughter is a panacea for almost all diseases.

Cardiovascular diseases and cancer are no exception.

It reduces the production of stress hormones and cholesterol levels, normalizes blood pressure and strengthens the immune system.

Sometimes just laughing is enough to get rid of a headache.

A newborn baby begins to laugh no earlier than a month after birth.

He learns this from his mother.

If she is cheerful, looks at things with optimism, and laughs often, then the baby will also borrow this.

Between the ages of one and five years a person laughs most often.

Kids know how to enjoy life like no one else.

Children laugh often, sincerely and a lot, they are almost always in a wonderful mood.

They are ready for exploits and new discoveries.

The whole world is open to them.

Perhaps because they... laugh.

5 minutes of laughter replace 40 rest

Foreign doctors use laughter therapy to treat various diseases.

After all, a cheerful, optimistic person recovers faster.

It’s a pity that laughter therapy “came” to us only recently.

In the USA, where there are more than 600 laughter therapy specialists, there are Laughter Centers.

People go there like they go to fitness clubs, because it is easier to improve their mood during group laughter sessions and the results last longer.

This is a great pastime: 5 minutes of laughter replaces 40 minutes of relaxation.

Laughter is a contagious “thing”.

In good company, laughter occurs 30 times more often than when alone.

Interestingly, the narrator laughs one and a half times more often than his listeners.

In addition, laughter has a good effect on breathing.

Laughing is very beneficial for pregnant women.

Laughter therapy is also used during childbirth, at the first stage of contractions, it reduces pain.

However, laughter therapy has certain contraindications.

Laughing for a long time is not recommended for people who have a hernia, eye disease or pulmonary diseases: chronic bronchitis, pneumonia, tuberculosis.

This is dangerous when there is a threat of pregnancy failure or postoperative complications.

In this case, people need peace; they should not strain their facial muscles and other parts of the body.

For others, laughter is medicine.

You can organize humor sessions yourself.

For example, live by the rules: “I must laugh at least 10 minutes in the morning, 10 at lunch and the same amount in the evening.”

Watch comedies, humorous programs, read jokes, make an archive of cartoons or funny photos.

Communicate more with cheerful people, extroverts.

It is advisable to find some comic moments and make yourself laugh.

There are plenty of options - you can stand in front of a mirror and “make different funny faces.”

However, there are people who claim that they... don’t know how to laugh.

Perhaps the reason is the serious position they occupy?

In such cases, doctors advise laughing artificially for 5-10 minutes.

This is enough for the facial muscles to work and the brain to be “saturated” with oxygen.

There are... clowns working in hospitals

If abroad a smile has become one of the components healthy image life, such as, say, playing sports or giving up bad habits, then our compatriots are still far from this.

You need to laugh often and a lot.

This improves both physical and mental well-being.

The hardest thing for psychotherapists is to get a person to laugh.

Many people consider this treatment... frivolous.

People hope to get a miracle pill that will immediately return what they lost.

But this doesn’t happen!

Eat simple methods, from which you need to start working on yourself.

And one of them is laughter therapy.

If a person is cheerful, looks at things with optimism, learns to appreciate the life that he was born and lives, the world around him will change.

Of course, laughter therapy cannot be used as an independent method of treatment, only as an additional one.

In foreign clinics, you can often see a clown next to doctors.

He works in a full-time position and treats both adults and children with laughter.

It would be very useful to introduce a similar practice here too.

After all, little patients lack so much positive emotions!

Where can you get them in the hospital?

Have you noticed that as a person grows up, he gradually loses the ability to rejoice and smile, more often being in a sad or depressed state, justifying himself by saying that there is nothing to be happy about, life is like that.

Do you need to look for a reason in life to smile or be happy? Maybe you should look around and smile like you did in childhood. The sun outside the window, the blue sky, and even better, laugh.

After all, laughter, according to doctors, is considered harmless drug, causing euphoria in the body. AND positive influence Laughter for health is already a scientifically proven fact.

The science of laughter therapy, what is it?

The science of laughter therapy or gelotology originated in the last century on the American continent, the founder of which was psychiatrist William Fry, who conducted scientific research on the effects of laughter on human health.

The development of the science of gelotology was helped by an extraordinary incident that happened to the editor of one of the magazines, Norman Cousins, who through his illness proved that laughter is good for health.

He was taken to the hospital in serious condition with ankylosing spondylitis, which affects one person out of 500. The doctors had already given up on him, but Norman did not give up.

Lying in a hospital bed, he remembered the scientific findings of William Fry that one should not succumb to depression, it has a destructive effect on the immune system and the entire body as a whole. He moved to a hotel and, under the supervision of a nurse, overcoming unbearable pain, watched comedy films for several hours in a row and laughed heartily.

After a while, Cousins noticed that the pain was receding and he fell asleep for the first time in many months. He watched movies and laughed 6 hours a day and the disease receded, and not just receded. After 2 months, Cousins was able to return to work. Cousins made death laugh and she forgot about her responsibilities, and laughter therapy saved his life.

This case became a new impetus in the development of the science of gelotology. But people knew about the health benefits of laughter back in ancient times:

The Bible says: “A sad spirit dries up the bones, but a cheerful heart does good as medicine.” Aristotle taught to cure illnesses with laughter, Z. Freud also considered a joke to be an “effective medicine.” Shakespeare has the following words: “A merry heart lives long,” and I. Kant: “Laughter gives health, activating all vital processes.”

Apparently, it was not in vain that jesters served in the royal courts, who lifted the mood with jokes and infectious laughter, preserving the health of their masters.

Health benefits of laughter

Scientists have created a computer model of laughter, which shows that during laughter, special impulses are created in the form of impulses that have a beneficial effect on nervous system and brain function. Therefore, experts recommend laughing every day to heal the body, improving its mental and physical condition:

Laughter is the best cure for illness

☻ Laughter relieves nervous tension, depression, stress resistance increases, since joy hormones block the production of stress hormones. Just one minute of laughter a day can produce a relaxation effect that can replace a 30-minute session with a psychotherapist.

☻ During laughter, health and immunity are strengthened, since the production of immunoglobulin increases, interferon gamma is activated, which protects the body from the occurrence of tumors.

In addition, when laughing, the pain recedes, because at once about a hundred muscles throughout the body begin to contract and vibrate.

☻ Scientists have proven that during laughter, the blood is saturated with oxygen, blood circulation improves, which leads to strengthening of the heart muscle, and normalizes blood pressure, reducing cholesterol levels.

Cheerful laughter is compared to physical exercise, which helps improve the health of the cardiac system.

☻ Statistics show that laughter is the best medicine, because cheerful people are less likely to get heart disease than gloomy and angry people, and they have heart attacks much less often.

It all has to do with the fact that periods of laughter strengthen the endothelial cells that line the inner walls of the heart and blood vessels. And all other diseases occur 70% less often in cheerful people than in pessimists.

☻ Promotes facial rejuvenation. Some women mistakenly believe that laughter increases the number of facial wrinkles. In fact, when you smile, 17 facial muscles come into play, and when you laugh, 80 muscles of the face and body work.

Can working muscles age faster than non-working muscles? This is a kind of toning and rejuvenating exercise for the face and physical exercise for the body!

☻ Metabolism in the body improves, which activates cleansing processes. This occurs due to changes in breathing; during laughter, the internal abdominal muscles are activated, which activates the work of the intestines and lungs.

☻ Laughter has a psychotherapeutic effect on health, because at this time internal complexes are removed, suppressed emotions are released, psychological and physical fatigue, psychological problems are relieved, tension goes away - this is the best medicine for the soul.

☻ A positive attitude and thinking is developed, the ability to laugh at oneself, and the ability to enjoy the surrounding reality and life. Laughter relieves tension, both physical and emotional, and leads the body to general relaxation and promotes success.

☻ Laughter is considered and how social factor, uniting people, seeing a smiling person next to you, you involuntarily smile yourself.

It helps a person adapt, improve relationships, cheer up, and get rid of negative emotions. Even a forced smile is in some cases seen as a step towards reconciliation.

Treatment with laughter therapy

Nowadays, there are several areas of laughter therapy where laughter is used for healing purposes:

Classical laughter therapy

Psychologists and gelotologists use theatrical forms, read funny books, watch comedy videos and films, and tell stories about funny incidents from life to make a sick person laugh. This direction is widely developed in Western countries, in Russia it is not yet so popular.

Yoga of laughter

This direction of laughter therapy was developed by the Indian doctor Madan Kataria in 1995, which is based on just one technique, called the Goodhart technique. Its essence is to learn to laugh when you are not funny at all.

For this purpose, specially developed training schemes are used. Classes are held at Laughter Clubs, which are widely popular in the USA and Western Europe. There are only a few scattered clubs operating in Russia, whose specialists have been trained by American gelotologists.

Read in more detail:

Hospital clowning

This is laughter therapy for children, which has resulted in a real international movement of volunteer clowns and child rehabilitation specialists. They work in inpatient hospitals using clowning, play therapy and art therapy.

This movement also originated in the American circus, where clown Michael Christensen founded the Clown Ambulance Service. The movement quickly began to spread to other countries.

It has also been developed in Russia; Konstantin Sedov is rightfully considered the founder in our country. Laughter therapy for children works in Western traditions, in conjunction with psychological centers, and significantly increases the effectiveness of treatment and the recovery of children.

The impact of laughter therapy on children's health

Laughter therapy for children will relieve tightness, internal stiffness and tension,
develops in children confidence in their strengths and abilities,
increases cheerfulness, adaptation in a team and communication skills,
develops inner harmony of cheerfulness and tranquility,
promotes the development of motor skills,
develops interest in learning new things.

Laughing children have a more stable immune system and rarely get colds.

Possible harm and contraindications for laughter

At first glance, it may seem that laughter has only positive effects without restrictions. It turns out that people with a hernia or eye diseases should not laugh for a long time.

Contagious laughter is contraindicated for pulmonary diseases, pregnant women with a threat of miscarriage, and patients in the postoperative period. Indeed, during laughter, not only the muscles of the face, but also the back, chest, diaphragm, and abdominal cavity tense, causing microvibrations at the cellular level. For everyone else, laughter is the best medicine.

Surprisingly, scientists assure that even if you are not happy, but you smile through force, even in this case everything works, because the body does not understand whether it is a sincere smile or a forced one.

The same muscles work, triggering the same mechanism. It causes the same responses in the body and soul. And this is confirmed by this fact: before exams, students from Malaysia perform special breathing exercises that cause laughter. Those who do this diligently pass exams better than others.

Therefore, for those people who have not had the time to laugh for a long time, who have forgotten how to laugh, doctors advise them to laugh artificially, making an effort on themselves, to perform laughter as an exercise for several minutes in a row.

Remembering the beneficial effects of laughter on a person’s well-being and its benefits, bring all 80 muscles to work. So that the brain is saturated with oxygen and the whole body is filled with healthy energy.

Watch the video to see how contagious laughter can be:

Smile more often, give each other a smile, laugh healthy and live long!

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“...If you want to examine a person and know his soul, then delve not into how he is silent, or how he speaks, or how he cries, or how he is excited by the noblest ideas, but look at him better when he laughs. A person laughs well means he is a good person.”

F. M. Dostoevsky

Portrait of laughter

Is it possible to create a classification of laughter? Let's try to do this based on sound and emotional vibrations.

1. Laughter with “u” - “hu-hu-hu”: here there is almost nothing left of laughter - just a semblance. The man, like a hooting eagle owl, is trying to drown out his own anxiety with a laugh. Usually found in people with prejudices, fearful, and sometimes dishonest.

2. Laughter with “o” - “ho-ho-ho”: thunderous Homeric laughter, often uncontrollable, of truly extraordinary proportions. It can be mocking or protesting, but always comes from a confident person. At times it sounds boastfully threatening, with notes of ironic doubt, critical surprise, and protest.

3. Laughter with “and” - “hee-hee-hee”: a mixture of irony and gloating. Laughter is hidden, cunning, squeezed - a kind of caustic giggle on the sly (it is also called sarcastic). There is no outlet for feelings here, but there is only an internal subtext, some kind of own intention. Often found in young girls.

4. Laughter with “e” - “he-he-he”: not very nice, quiet laugh. Short, forced, bleating. It is often found among inveterate flatterers in response to the boss’s laughter, or it contains something defiant, impudent, envious - continuous grimaces. The more the vowel “e” is heard, the more gloating, rudeness, and contempt. People who laugh this way tend to maintain a certain distance from their interlocutor.

5. Laughter starting with “a” – “ha-ha-ha”: here it is, real laughter! Coming from the heart, full of harmony with the world around us, unclouded joy. Laughter - with the mouth wide open. This is how truly cheerful and kind people laugh.

Life-giving and... laxative

Doctors have long noticed that laughter is an excellent cure for many diseases.

● Psychologists in France believe that laughter... rejuvenates the body! Under its influence, the activity of the endocrine glands improves, headaches and fatigue are relieved, blood pressure is normalized, and the heart begins to work in a favorable rhythm.

● French doctor Felix Bramond sees laughter as an excellent remedy for treating liver diseases and gout.

● Research by Norwegian professor Karl Rudal has shown that laughter unusually strengthens the chest and abdominal muscles, develops the muscles of the shoulder girdle, and in general is a kind of doping for the whole body.

● It turns out that laughter is a great laxative. People who suffer from a lack of humor suffer from constipation more often than funny people. Experts believe that “non-laughers” are more susceptible to stress, which also depresses the digestive system.

● As it turns out, the life-giving properties of laughter are truly limitless, which probably led to the creation of the Association for Therapeutic Humor in America. Neurologist Barry Bittman, one of the founders of psychoneuroimmunology (a branch that studies the influence of emotions on the immune system), believes that laughter therapy helps to significantly strengthen the body's immune functions, including significantly increasing the level of antibodies and cells that kill malignant tumors, and creates reliable natural protection against serious diseases. The results of studies of the blood of patients before, during and after viewing humorous videos presented by him are impressive.

Protection from fear

How does laughter work on a psychological level?

● Frees you from false attitudes and stereotypes, from attachments to a certain way of life, from outdated feelings and emotions.

● Laughter first of all improves the level of mental health, and a healthy spirit also strengthens somatic, that is, physical health.

● Jokes and anecdotes help not only to learn human values, but also to cheerfully part with the outdated past.

● And by comprehending something new, a person, through the funny, gets rid of the fear of the unknown.

● Laughing at yourself is especially helpful. If a person is already laughing, it means that he was able to rise above his own problems, step back, turning them into a convention, a sign.

Source of joy hormones

How does laughter work on a physiological level?

● First of all, breathing changes when laughing: it becomes short, intermittent and deeper. Hyperventilation of the lungs occurs, which means more oxygen enters the brain. A peculiar morphine effect occurs. In addition, a person experiences satisfaction on a hormonal level due to an increase in the so-called joy hormone – endorphin – in the blood. In this way, the body is relieved of overstrain and receives a release.

● However, relaxation should be moderate. After all, laughter is also a burden. If you laugh continuously for several hours, you can not only get tired, but even tear your stomach and die. Scientists have found that a person can laugh for a maximum of an hour on end.

● What is a useful dose of “funny pills”? English psychologists say that this free medicine should be consumed for at least 10 minutes a day. And then we will be calm, reasonable and energetic. But Dr. Petar Bokan proved that during the day, to be healthy, a woman needs to laugh 13-16 times, and a man – at least 17! After all, women are known to be more resistant to the difficulties of life.

Secret weapon

Laughter is truly a weapon. And thanks to its powerful charge directed against stupidity and hypocrisy, fear and violence, the human race has survived and continues to live in spite of everything.

A patient comes to see a doctor:

- Doctor, my lower abdomen hurts.

- What did you eat?

- “Bounty”.

- To heaven, to heaven!

An angry customer rushes into the pet store and shouts:

- Look what you gave me! Yesterday I bought this songbird from you, and it turns out it has a broken leg!

- So what? – the seller is surprised. – You bought a singer, not a ballerina!

“Before we begin treatment,” the psychiatrist said to the patient, “I must know literally everything about your life.” Start from the beginning.

The patient thought for a second and said:

- So, first I created Heaven and Earth...

Life example

American writer N. Cousins suffered from ankylosing spondylitis (destruction connective tissue spine) – this disease is considered practically incurable. His doctor estimated the chances of recovery as one in five hundred. Cousins reasoned that if negative emotions were the cause of most illnesses, then positive emotions should stimulate recovery. And he began... to be treated with laughter: he moved from the hospital to a hotel, where life was wild and nothing reminded him of the disease, he watched the best comedies, read humorous magazines and books. Gradually, his mobility began to return, and other health indicators improved. The disease has subsided.

Personal opinion

Father Frost:

– I am always in a great mood and good spirits. And so that your soul always feels sunny (even in the most severe cold), I recommend to you, my dears: learn to understand each other, those who are next to you. Believe me, this will only make you feel better and life will become a real fairy tale! And further. My dears, please value kindness, love and understanding in yourself, because it is these qualities that create what you call a miracle. I wish you a good New Year! Sincerely yours, Russian Santa Claus.

Since about the 70s of the last century, scientists have been engaged in a very serious study of laughter. Then interest in this psychological phenomenon swept the scientific community and the United States. Projects have emerged to study the impact of laughter on our health and well-being. Since that time, the scientific community has accumulated a fair amount of information about the healing properties of laughter. Currently, a huge number of laughter therapy specialists - so-called gelotologists - are being trained in the world.

Long before the research began, we knew that laughter improves our mood and well-being - and not only for the time we were laughing. Sometimes the positive effects of a funny joke last all day! At the biochemical level, this is due to the intense release of the neurotransmitters serotonin and dopamine, as well as endorphins. In addition, laughter is a very useful physical exercise, comparable in its effectiveness only to good aerobic exercise. It uses 80 muscle groups - during uproarious laughter, our shoulders and chest shake, and the diaphragm vibrates. At the same time, the muscles of the neck, back and face relax - and this alone is already enough to relieve, for example, a headache. During laughter, like any physical exercise, your heart rate increases and your cholesterol level decreases. At the same time, people’s breathing quality improves and, accordingly, oxygen consumption and blood supply to the body.

Studies have shown that laughter can save you from almost all diseases - and not only psychological problems or neuroses. It reduces the production of stress hormones, normalizes blood pressure, and improves immunity. Also, according to experts, regular laughter will prevent a heart attack from becoming a victim of a heart attack. There are known cases of curing even cancer with laughter therapy.

After all this, all that remains is to laugh. Alas, most of us need some examples of particularly subtle humor for this. We consider it beneath our dignity to watch low-quality humorous programs. We all know a huge number of jokes, but every joke is a one-time thing. Some people have no sense of humor at all, and even a dozen great comedians gathered in one room will not make him laugh. In such cases, psychotherapists offer laughter for no reason. In our country there is a saying: “Laughter without a reason is a sign of a fool,” but from a medical and psychological point of view it is completely incorrect. The happy ability to smile and laugh, without waiting for any special conditions, has long been considered one of the indicators of mental and physical health. This ability is much more important than the ability to make witty jokes or understand jokes instantly. In Japan, there is a legend about the cheerful Zen monk Hotei, who walked around the villages and laughed so infectiously that everyone around him joined him. And in the end, the whole crowd was engulfed in healing laughter.

A professional laughter therapist will always find an approach to the patient and take measures to ensure that he laughs as much as necessary for his recovery. But if a specialist is not at hand, you can try laughter therapy on your own. Each of us can try to live a fun day by trying to laugh before going to bed, and then early in the morning, right after we wake up. You can achieve the best effect if you start laughing with your eyes closed.

Nowadays, there are laughter therapy exercises, some of which last even three hours. It is difficult to carry out such procedures without a specialist, and besides, they are usually done as part of a course, sometimes even lasting several weeks. In addition to laughter, therapy sometimes also includes causeless, but equally healing crying, as well as rest and introspection, and even dancing.

In our time, full of “stress and passion,” a smile and joyful laughter have become as fashionable attributes of a healthy lifestyle as playing sports, proper nutrition and giving up bad habits. In many European countries, laughter centers have already been opened, where people come like they go to fitness clubs. They just teach you to enjoy life: to smile at sunny and cloudy weather, rain and howling wind, the laughter of a baby and the glance of a passerby. And, I must say, not only professional psychotherapists do this. For example, in the USA, “humor” is actively promoted by actor Charles Metcalf (the term belongs to him). He usually begins his seminars with a simple exercise: stand up - sigh - laugh. According to Metcalf, it is very important to recognize the absurdity of the misfortune or failure that has befallen you. In addition, he advises to always keep a clown nose with you and sometimes put it on - in front of a mirror or even in public. According to the actor, this simple exercise will make you much happier than the habit of going to the bar after work.