He is known all over Goa. We were classmates from the times of Lyceum through Escola Médica de Goa. Until this day we are two inseparable buddies. He has many pristine, praiseworthy qualities, but what I admire very much is his uncanny knack for cracking jokes. Sidney can pull off an amusing one at an informal dinner party or tell a highbrow quip at a formal gathering drawing guffaws. He knows to hit the funny bone with an element of surprise and never flops. Steve Goodier said “Humour can make a serious difference in all areas of life and looking for a reason to laugh is necessary because even a glint of humour helps us to get through the dull times, to cope with the difficult times, to enjoy the good times and handle the scary times.”
In my youthful days, I remember fondly, how I couldn’t do without the monthly magazine “Reader’s Digest.” Skipping other articles I would jump to the feature “Laughter is Your Best Medicine.” After chuckling through the yarns I would spend the next few days smiling away as the funny anecdote came to my mind. Little did I know I was injecting myself with a powerful and effective “drug!”
Laughter is indeed good medicine. It relaxes your body and stimulates endorphins, promoting a feeling of well-being that helps us look at stressful or unhappy situations in a new light. Laughter also stimulates the brain to counteract depressive symptoms, allay chronic pain and improve quality of life in cancer survivors.
What happens when we laugh? Our bodies perform rhythmic, vocalised, expiratory and involuntary actions. Fifteen facial muscles contract and stimulation of the “zygomatic major” muscle (the main lifting mechanism of your upper lip) occurs. Meanwhile, the larynx is half-closed by the epiglottis so that air intake occurs irregularly, making you gasp. In extreme circumstances, the tear ducts are activated, so that while the mouth is opening and closing the face becomes moist and often red (or purple). The noises that usually accompany this bizarre behaviour range from sedate giggles to boisterous guffaws.
Khalil Gibran wrote, “In the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter. For in the dew of hilarity the heart finds its morning and is refreshed.” Spreading laughter can reduce pain, buoy mood, counter stress hormones, enhance immune function, heighten alertness and creativity and improve heart function. Psychologist and laugh therapist Steve Wilson notes that laughter and exercise have almost similar effects. He recommends laughing as just one effective way to ramp up our heart performance. One minute of laughter is apparently more effective than ten minutes on the rowing machine in promoting good health. Diabetics actually see their blood sugar levels fall after eating a meal during a comedy show. What is more, our body doesn’t know the difference between spontaneous and simulated laughter. Either way, health benefits occur. So if you’re not in a laughable mood now, you better get there and right away!
A new study — led by Georgia State University — suggests combining laughter with moderate exercise to improve the mental health of older adults, as well as to boost their motivation and ability to engage in physical activity. Published online in September 2016, the study vouches that adding laughter to physical activity may provide a wealth of benefits for older adults.
It is well established that physical activity at any age is beneficial for health. But despite recommendations one in four adults do not engage in regular exercise. ‘Putting the fun in fitness’, i.e., combining laughter with physical activity would boost exercise enjoyment for the elderly, enabling them to reap the associated health benefits. The real secret here is that we must choose to laugh even without there being any humorous stimuli. The combination of laughter and exercise may influence older adults to begin exercising and to stick with the programme. The study by the Georgia University also revealed that laughter boosts the motivation to take part in other exercise programmes or activities for 90 per cent of participants. More important, in the “LaughActive” programme conducted by the researchers significant improvements in mental health and aerobic endurance were noticed. Such an approach encourages even people with “cognitive impairment” to reap the health benefits of laughter since simulated laughter does not require cognitive skills at all to “get the joke,” because there is really no joke to understand.
All over the world there’s a proliferation of the so-called “Laughter Clubs”. Laughter is a powerful healing modality that is simple, funny and filled with amusement that works simultaneously on the body, mind and spirit. No particular equipment is required. All can practise and benefit. It’s a form of exercise. We choose to laugh, because we can. “Laughter yoga” (Hasyayoga) is a practice involving prolonged voluntary laughter. It is based on the belief that voluntary laughter provides the same physiological and psychological benefits as spontaneous laughter. Forced laughter soon turns into real and contagious laughter spreading joy and merriment all around.
If you, however, feel embarrassed to laugh in the presence of others don’t worry; just walk in front of your mirror at home, laugh away to your heart’s content, and catapult yourself to real good health. Laughter, truly, is the best medicine!
(Dr Francisco Colaço is a seniormost consulting
physician, pioneer of Echocardiography in Goa and column writer)
