Ha Ha Happy February!
If you have read my previous articles, you are already aware that Laughter Yoga is a great exercise routine that alleviates depression and generates a positive mental attitude. This month, I would like to share with you a real-life story from a psychiatrist in Michigan City, who gave due credit to laughter therapy, as being a major reason for his patient to overcome depression and feel better.
In the beginning, the psychiatrist said he had no idea how laughter would help someone with bipolar depression or depression and like all practitioners, thought that it was just a good thing to do. But then he came across an article which said that laughter had the ability to change the chemistry of the brain. This surprised him, so he started to research more about it and found that laughter yoga might be a great way to help those suffering from depression. Though there was medication, he thought that his patients also needed that something extra to reach a level of well-being, being happy and feeling good.
Laughter Yoga turned out to be a very interesting way to accomplish that! He used it to help his patient recover and soon realized that the frequency of relapses declined after his continuous participation. Even the level of well-being between episodes was tremendous and the response to medicine greatly improved. This left him extremely impressed.
His research showed that where laughter happens in the brain, the movement of facial muscles and the understanding that something different is happening in the brain – all happens in areas in the frontal and the temporal lobe, which are the same areas where the research on depression is going on. As shown on an MRI, one can see that the same areas of the brain are affected by laughter that are affected by medication and disease. Hence, the great hope that Laughter Yoga will make a big difference in treating depression and generating feelings of well-being among such patients.
In addition to helping ease symptoms of depression, Laughter Yoga has also been scientifically proven to help reduce symptoms of pain, anxiety and loneliness, while INCREASING feelings of positive attitude, happiness, inclusion and joy.
Why not make it a personal goal to “try something new” or “step outside your comfort zone”? Yes, everyone laughs, but you will receive proven biochemical and physiological changes in your brain by joining in on a laughter yoga session.
Join me for gentle movement, deep breathing, sound, rhythm, child-like playfulness and laughter! Your body and mind will thank you for it!
Randee Young
Certified Laughter Yoga Teacher