Laugh Yourself To Good Health

It is believed that this activity, initiated via creativity and social interaction rather than through comedy and humour, produces an array of positive psychological and physiological benefits ranging from simple mood elevators to stress reduction and pain relief.

These clubs are often run in groups, where eye contact and playfulness is encouraged, and where forced laughter is ideally turned into genuine, contagious laughter. Only a handful of studies have looked into the science of Laughter Yoga, but they have found that there may be a number of medical benefits associated with the activity.

These include improved cardiovascular health, a more positive mood, and more uplifting social associations. It is suggested that laughter clubs may be as beneficial as exercise therapy for patients suffering from depression, and Oxford University discovered that the human pain threshold is significantly higher for those in laughter groups than those participating in a control group.

It is also suggested that Laughter Yoga encourages the production of endorphins, leading to an opiate effect, which assists in social bonding and mood enhancement, as well as with reduced pain and lower stress levels.