Laugh without reason, is it possible?
Although we laugh often, we have seldom cared to know what it is? Will it have any benefit? And any number of other questions.
Well, laughter is nothing more than the response offered by the body to express joy, happiness and other positive emotions that promote a pleasant and optimal state of mind to the human being. It is an innate habit, that each person has and does not require learning. Despite this, personal growth and some situations of modern life; they collaborate with the need to "relearn".
This fact is evidenced when we recognize that children up to six (6) years old laugh on average 300 times a day; while adults considered laughing, do it about 100 times; and those who are cataloged with very little sense of humor, only 15 times.
Much of the responsibility for this phenomenon falls on the existing social conditioning regarding laughter in many areas of life, which undoubtedly favor the loss of the ability to recognize the positive and fun side of life; since these precepts, according to unfounded myths in individuals, are only and exclusively part of children; and when it grows, it is not valid to keep them.
In the event that someone wants to resume this attitude, it is considered not very serious and without commitment to the activities and responsibilities that it carries out daily; and all because seriousness, according to global criteria, should be the main characteristic of adults. Additionally, serious memories are replacing fun or happy ones, causing laughter to slowly fade away.
Another element that is involved in this event is the fear of being observed and judged by others. Thinking What will they think of me? Associated with laughter and the frequency in which it is used, it generates that spontaneous laughter is hidden, since there is a latent fear that people will make fun of this behavior, considering it "childish and not serious".
In today's world, full of tensions and great commitments for people, it is necessary to carry out activities that promote physical, mental and spiritual health. It is for this reason that one of them is as simple as laughing frequently, this being a natural method to help lift your spirits.
Laughter helps to replenish the body from stress to which it is exposed on a frequent and daily basis. In addition, it generates pleasure in people to socialize and laugh together; this being a socially valuable signal.
By laughing we forget all our thoughts; dealing only with expressing joy. This allows us to live the present effectively, without attachments to the past and uncertainties regarding the future.
This simple gesture generates in our body a large number of actions; such as: accelerating breathing, which forces us to clean and expand the capacity of the lungs, renewing 6 liters of dirty air for 12 liters of much cleaner air; also, it oxygenates the brain, when receiving new air; the diaphragm contracts continuously, generating light massages to the internal organs, relaxing tense muscles, reducing stress.
Additionally, laughter contributes to burning calories; because when laughing, approximately 400 muscles of the body are mobilized (including some of the stomach, which can only be exercised with laughter); And some research has estimated that laughing 100 times is equivalent to doing aerobic exercise for 10 minutes or 15 minutes on the bike.
Chemically, it causes the secretion of the hormone called serotonin; It has calming effects, making the person feel better about himself. In addition, it helps the brain to secrete endorphins, these natural sedatives being similar to morphine; acting as a natural drug that circulates through the body, and whose effects are hundreds of times stronger than heroin and morphine. It is important to note that both hormones are completely free, and do not cause adverse reactions.
This is why, for 5 to 6 minutes of laughter, they act as a pain reliever; while noting that the release of these substances protects the body from infections, strengthening the immune system and the heart, which makes the body more resistant to diseases
Additionally, it favors the spirit and immunizes the organism against depression and anguish; Thus enhancing creativity and imagination, since when you laugh, adrenaline levels increase.
Thanks to the oxygenation of the body through laughter, the idea that laughter favors wrinkles on the face is denied; generating an opposite effect, that is, it tones the skin; this being a more effective method to delay the signs of aging on the face.
Another additional benefit is that it acts as an internal massage, through which the vertebral column and especially the cervical one; they stretch by laughing, releasing the tensions that build up in that area.
One point that has been verified through scientific studies is that when a person laughs out loud or just makes the gesture of laughing (Open your lips a little and slightly show your teeth), it is causing the same effects on the brain and receiving the general benefits of this "exercise".
Laughter is generally associated with teasing, jokes, and jokes. While it is true that these elements trigger laughter, causing the wide variety of benefits mentioned above; They are not the only way to laugh.
From the need to laugh, to have better health; and considering that jokes and jokes are finite resources, that when reusing them they do not add great value to the process; Dr. Madan Kataria, a Hindu doctor, meeting with 4 people created a technique called "Laughter Yoga"; whose fundamental basis is to laugh for no reason, since it does not use humor to provoke it. It combines traditional Yoga, breathing exercises, stretching and guided relaxation, with exercises that contain a high content of imagination, which provoke laughter.
This phenomenon was born in 1995, and is currently present in a large part of the countries of the world, through laughter clubs, where people have a space to laugh freely, and enjoy the benefits that this fact provides them.
Although we know that laughter is a spontaneous reaction; It is difficult for many people to understand laughing for no reason. This is why at the beginning of sessions of this technique, the laughter is fake, since the nature of the exercises is unconventional. But when sharing with the rest of the people who participate, and listening to their laughter, the laugh itself undergoes a change that favors spontaneity in the process. This change occurs thanks to the viral component of laughter, which is highly contagious. No matter what reason you laugh, people who listen to someone else in it will laugh.
There are testimonies, which affirm this fact; and even people have come to discover their true and natural laugh; learning to show it without problems and prejudices to the world, since they have understood the importance of laughing, and what this phenomenon generates in their lives, after constantly practicing it, not only in sessions within laughter clubs, but alone at home, on the way to work, with their families; in short, showing the world that laughing for no reason IS possible, and better yet: it is necessary to preserve health.
The practice of laughter without reason, allows people to connect with themselves at the time, place and for the time desired; even regardless of the circumstances. The important thing is to internalize this, in addition to recognizing that the decision to do it or not is in the hands of each person.
