"Always laugh when you can, it is cheap medicine." — Lord Byron
Mark Twain once remarked that “The human race has only one really effective weapon and that is laughter.” For me laughter continues to be a powerful form of healing, and one that we can embrace when needed. And as poet Lord Byron pointed out, it is indeed “cheap medicine”!
Laughter feels GOOD! Laughter relaxes the body, decreases stress hormones (thereby boosting your immune system), tones the muscles, improves both respiration and circulation, and releases “feel good” endorphins.
And laughter can help you shift perspective, to see a current (or chronic) situation in a different light, perhaps giving you some distance to contemplate, sense or feel other possibilities. It can also be used to release emotions.
Consider a little “risa terapia” aka laughter therapy:
😊 Begin by shaking out the tension, shaking your hands and feet, wiggling your fingers, rotating your shoulders.
😊 Visualize the emotion you want to release — tension, stress, anxiety or other emotion(s).
😊 Warm up the throat with a little “ha ha ha” and repeat until you feel fully relaxed.
😆 Step it up with bigger laughs… from “ha” to “HA”.
😆 With each big “HA”, visualize the unwanted emotion being expelled and released.
😆 Keep it going…. feel those deep belly laughs, feel the joy that is bubbling up, feel the stress being released, feel what it is like to be stress-free!
TIP: consider joining a laughter yoga group.
Make laughter therapy part of your day.
Image Credit: giselaatje on Pixabay