One of the craziest and most uncomfortable things I’ve ever done was my first laughter yoga session. It was an audio Skype session with a group of wonderful ladies that I know and feel quite comfortable with ordinarily. We were having a joint ‘meeting of minds’ and the group leader for this session opened with the suggestion of clearing any negative energy with laughter yoga. Now I’m all for laughing … I love to laugh and sometimes replace my sacred morning ritual of meditation, yoga, gratitude’s and prayer with a few YouTube clips from comedian Michael McIntyre, knowing a good laugh is just what I really need that day. 

Laughter Yoga though? This seemed weird. I agreed, in theory, with what the session leader said, however, and maybe it’s because I’m from the UK and a bit more reserved. All the other ladies were from the US and other parts of the world. They all embraced it and followed the exercises as directed and laughed their socks off 😂. No-one was in the room with me and no-one could see if I was participating or not, so I DIDN’T. I felt foolish and sadly cringed at the whole exercise.

The problem wasn’t the exercise, and certainly not the ladies. The problem was me! I was bizarrely self-conscious, given that no-one could even see me. It was almost like I didn’t want to embarrass myself … in front of myself. What? The fact remains that when the phrase ‘laughter is the best medicine’ was coined, they weren’t talking metaphorically. It is a literal fact. Laughter not only produces similar results to mindfulness and meditation, it is also proven that a good belly laugh for 15 minutes is the equivalent to doing 300 sit-ups and 10 minutes of jogging. It helps your blood circulation and increases oxygen to the body. It is also the best way to quickly clear any negative energy from your system and give you a shot of the happy hormones – endorphins – and increase in the neurotransmitters dopamine and serotonin.

The quickest way we can change our state of mind is by taking some physical action. Consider if someone is depressed and unhappy. How are they usually standing, walking and sitting? Slumped over maybe? Walking slowly with little energy? Sad facial expression? Voice quiet and flat in tone? It takes a lot of energy to maintain that stance (believe me I know, I did it for many years). We’re left feeling dull and lethargic as we’re vibrating at a lower vibrational frequency right at the cellular level.

Imagine our bodies regenerating cells that are vibrating at such a low frequency. Will that bring health or dis-ease? The truth is that most of us can change our state of mind at any time, but we often choose not to. We’ve proven this to ourselves when, for example,  we’re in a bad mood with our families and then someone turns up at the house, and we want to make a good impression in front of them, right? Suddenly we change state and we’re all smiles and our mood is lifted.

Using laughter by starting with a smile will make a difference to your state of mind, but you will need to appreciate the value and, like me, push past any pre-conceived feelings of embarrassment or reservation. The quickest way we can lift our mood is by doing something physically active. Even though a smile, and then laughter, will feel forced at first, you really will need to get over that for your greater good. When you put on laughter in your body, 20-30 seconds later your mind can’t differentiate whether it’s real or fake. Your brain will still produce the same happy endorphins and neurotransmitters, and you’ll feel just as good.

So find something that makes you laugh this week and embrace those happy moments!

Love and blessings, Sam xx