Laughter Is The Best Medicine

Laughter Is The Best Medicine
Whether it’s looking at memes or watching your favorite comic series, laughing feels good.
When we say laughter is the best medicine what do we actually mean? The healing properties of laughter have been observed since biblical times; in the book of Proverbs you’ll find “A merry heart doeth good like a medicine”.
There is evidence that laughter has a lot of benefits including emotional, physical and social benefits. Research is still ongoing to determine the therapeutic value of laughter. Different
physiological and psychological effects of laughter have been reported, e.g. reduced pain, decreased stress, improved immunity to diseases, elevated moods and improving social
relationships. Laughter releases a rush of stress busting endorphins. According to relief theory laughter is a mechanism by which tension is decreased.
Laughter is often used as an indicator of happiness, but do we need to be happy to benefit from laughter? You do not need to be happy or have a sense of humor to benefit from laughter.
With this in mind there are a number of therapies aimed to induce laughter called Laughter Therapies.

Improve Your Sense Of Humor
Make humor easily accessible.
Curate your social media to include humorous content, listen to stand-up comedy or humorous podcasts. Watch those cheesy sitcoms, scroll through your friends stories on Whatsapp or
Instagram, watch funny skits on Tiktok. There is so much content available that is humorous.
Make a habit of spending time with people who make you laugh.
Laugh at yourself.
We often find ourselves in absurd situations, laughing in these moments can help diffuse the tension or stress caused by the situation. It may not be the best situation to be in but at least
you got a laugh out of it.

Share.
Sometimes when spending time with friends and colleagues, we often find ourselves looking at our phones. It is during these moments you hear the person next to you chuckle to themselves,
and even better they stretch out their phone to show you what made them laugh. When you find something funny try to spread the laughter, inbox or post it on your handles. You may just
as easily make someone’s day and as a plus it may help to strengthen your relationship.
Know when it’s appropriate to make fun.
It is good to practice emotional intelligence and situational awareness even when we are trying to make fun or crack a joke. Do not laugh at another person’s expense or minimize what they are going through.
Consider laughter therapy.
Laughter therapy aims at getting people to laugh in both individual and group sessions.
Laughter therapy may include laughter exercises, comedy movies, books and games.’
We could all use a little more laughter in our lives. Make sure you laugh every day, remember that it’s okay to force it and it gets easier the more you practice.

By Monica Musyoka,
Hospital Psychologist,
Chiromo Hospital Group.