Sadness, despondency, loss of strength? We’ll fix it! Forcing ourselves to smile, we trigger chemical processes that make us truly happy, says Dmitry Efimov, laughter yoga ambassador in Russia. This is a practice that helps lift your spirits. He tells how therapy works and what exercises you can start with right now.
Doctors put an end to Norman Cousins: he suffered from ankylosing spondylitis (Bekhterev’s disease), in which the bones grow together, causing incredible pain. Then he decided to help himself, locked himself at home and began to watch comedies. Two months later, he came out of there on his own two feet and became the founder of laughter therapy.
This story, which happened in the 1960s, interested the Indian physician, physiologist and therapist Madan Kataria thirty years later, and he gathered a group where anecdotes and funny stories were told. But everyone’s idea of funny is different, and the group broke up.
“Madan took a break and immersed himself in reading,” says Dmitry Efimov, the official representative of laughter yoga in Russia. – One study said that the brain and body do not distinguish between artificial and natural laughter, in both cases endorphin is produced.
An experiment was conducted in Germany: participants took a pencil in their mouth so that their lips took the form of a smile, and their hormonal levels changed. The brain reads the facial expression and gives a reaction. And Madan found a way out: he created gymnastics, where we laugh without jokes and various jokes.
This is the main difference between laughter yoga and laughter therapy – in yoga, laughter does not need reasons. At the same time, it still helps to produce “happiness hormones”.
Grow up and get serious
How much do we laugh? On average, an adult laughs 10-12 times a day, says Dmitry Efimov, citing research from Stanford University: “Considering that children under 6 laugh 400 times a day, the question arises – where does laughter disappear later? There are adults who do not laugh once a week, they come to me.
In Russia, we laugh an average of 5 times a day – I mean not a smile, but a burst of laughter. Its average duration for a Russian is 3 seconds. There are Russian regions where it is not customary to show joy, however, like other emotions, for example, in Yakutia, where I come from.
But emotions are energy, if it is not released, psychosomatic problems begin. The stress hormone cortisol builds up, causing distress. What can lower it? Endorphin! It’s not about eliminating sadness and anger. It’s about balance, which most lack.
“Once I met with the wife of Madan Kataria, and she greeted me: “Happy day,” recalls Dmitry Efimov. – I say: “Hello.” She corrected: “No, happy day! What do we want on New Year’s Eve? Happy year. A year is 365 days. So why don’t we wish you a happy day?”
“Laugh” fear and sadness
By the type of breathing, laughter resembles pranayama: it is also breathing exercises. “Watch yourself,” suggests Dmitry Efimov, “if we laugh with our chest, then we use a lung capacity of one liter. And if we breathe in the stomach, the volume will increase.
So, take a deep breath through your belly and as you exhale, start laughing. 10–15 minutes is a milestone beyond which the therapeutic effect begins: oxygen circulation in the body improves (this is mild hyperventilation, prevention of hypoxia), immunoglobulin is produced, immunity is strengthened. The work of the cardiovascular system is stimulated, the intestines are massaged. 80 muscle groups are included.
“According to research by the University of California, 15 minutes of laughter is like an hour on a rowing machine,” says Dmitry Efimov. – And if we laugh for an hour, then we burn up to 350 kcal, this is a happy fitness! I’m not talking about facial rejuvenation by improving blood supply.”
When we laugh (see above “5 rules…”), we relieve stress on all levels: emotional, mental and physical. We can “make fun” of fear and sadness, because when crying and laughing, the same endorphin hormone is produced.
There is an expression “laugh to tears” – this actually happens with a long laugh. And as a result, we feel liberation, physical lightness. During laughter, we relax, disconnect from external stimuli. Those who have tried it also claim that the laughter that we “launch” ourselves will soon become sincere and really cheer up. Let’s check?
5 rules for a good laugh
You need to laugh correctly, accompanying this process with a therapeutic load. Dmitry Efimov tells how.
1. “Many do not believe that they can laugh for a long time. And that you can make yourself laugh. But anyone can laugh if they start with the letter “A”. Inhale deeply through your belly and as you exhale say “Ahhh…”. Laugh for at least 10 minutes.”
2. “Open your mouth wide. No need to laugh with clenched lips or teeth. When the mouth is open, energy is released. This turns on the stomach, the diaphragm.
3. “The louder you laugh, the better. Some at the trainings are surprised: how do you withstand such noise? But only in this way anger, irritation, sadness come out of us. At marathons, many begin to cry on the 20th day. I myself cried for the first time after an hour of laughter, because earlier we were taught to hide emotions. Let them go.”
4. “Exhale to the end. You can laugh at 4 “A”, at 8 “A”, at 12 “A”. I laugh at 40 “A”. And I do it in one breath and exhale. Laughter starts loudly, and at the end I already laugh silently.
5. “Turn on your whole body. Move, wave your hands, clap your hands. When we turn on corporality, the head turns off. We do such an exercise – a “cocktail of joy.” Imagine that in one hand a glass of joy, in the other – laughter. And we mix, pouring from one glass to another, and at the same time laughing.