Quantum Medicine and Energy Healing - Laughter Theraphy

"Laughter is the human gift for coping and for survival. - Laughter Therapist, Enda Junkins, LCSW, LMFT, BCD

Laughter Therapy, also called humor therapy, is an Alternative Medicine and energy healing technique that uses the natural physiological process of laughter to help relieve physical discomfort, emotional stress or mental dis-tress and promote overall health and wellness. Laughter is a form of the new medicine of the future: Quantum Medicine. All one needs is a state of consciousness, awareness and intention to transform any situation. Laugh to awaken your soul and set your spirit free.

Those of us who saw "The Secret" can recall the woman who had cancer and told her story of how she transformed her health using laughter.

A growing body of research supports the theory that laughter may have therapeutic value. According to some studies, Laughter Therapy may provide physical, mental and emotional benefits, such as: boost the immune system and circulatory system,enhance oxygen intake, stimulate the heart and lungs, trigger the release of endorphins (the body’s natural painkillers), relieve pain, balance blood pressure, improve overall attitude, and reduce stress, tension to produce a general sense of well-being.

For years, the use of humor has been used in medicine. Surgeons used humor to distract patients from pain as early as the 13th century. Later, in the 20th century, came the scientific study of the effect of humor on physical wellness. Many credit this to Norman Cousins. After years of prolonged pain from a serious illness, Cousins claims to have cured himself with a self-invented regimen of laughter and vitamins.

In his 1979 book Anatomy of an Illness Cousins describes how watching comedic movies helped him recover:

"After a stressful trip to cold-war Russia in 1964, Saturday Review editor Norman Cousins tells how he developed a debilitating illness which confines him to bed. He is admitted to hospital for tests and treatments, and is diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis, but his condition deteriorates and he is given a gloomy prognosis. He notices that the depressing routine of hospital life tends to produce side effects that aggravate his condition. With the blessing of one of his doctors, he checks out of hospital and into a comfortable (yet less expensive) hotel where the food is better and he can watch funny movies while he medicates himself with high doses of Vitamin C. He is convinced that the slow improvement in his condition is owing to his individualized methods of therapy and his having taken charge of his own situation." - Jacalyn Duffin, NYU School of Medicine

“Children laugh over 300 times a day whereas adults laugh only 15 times”.  Dr. Kataria Laughter Yoga Specialist 

Those of use that practice Alternative Medicine know that laughter really is the best medicine. So laugh more. Laughter Therapy is free and quick. If you are feeling blue, down, grumpy, irritable, frustrated or simply misunderstood, consider that you are taking life excessively serious. Stop. Take a deep breath and interrupt any negative thoughts, feelings or negative conversations. Consider cracking a smile.  Lightening up a bit and laugh at yourself and the situation. Life is short and your happiness is within you. Keep your joy in your heart by laughing.

Over the years, researchers have conducted studies to explore the impact of laughter on health. After evaluating participants before and after a humorous event or a comedy movie, studies revealed that episodes of laughter helped to reduce stress-related hormones, boost the immune system and relieve pain in participants.

Today more than ever, people are turning to humor for therapy and healing. Medical journals have acknowledged that Laughter Therapy can help improve quality of life for patients with chronic illnesses. Patients, doctors and health-care professionals are all finding that laughter may indeed be the best medicine. Laughter is infectious. 

Hospitals around the country are incorporating formal and informal laughter therapy programs into their therapeutic regimens. Many hospitals now offer laughter therapy programs as an integrative complementary treatment to illness including cancer offers supportive options, including laughter therapy; to help patients cope they receive conventional cancer treatments. Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA) first introduced Laughter Therapy to the center due to patient requests, and the therapy strives to help patients use and enjoy laughter as a tool for healing process. 

Laughter Clubs are popping up all around the world and becoming as popular as Rotary Clubs in the United States. Laughter Club is based not on humor or jokes, but rather on laughter as a physical exercise. Dr. Katherine Puckett uses them in the center and leads one group laughter exercise, which involves patients standing in a circle, with the leader in the middle. Patients put their fingertips on their cheekbones, chest or lower abdomen and make “ha ha” or “hee hee” sounds until they felt vibrations through their bodies. Dr. Puckett says during these exercises, it is hard for people not to join in because laughter is so contagious.

In countries such as India, Laughing Club  participants gather in the early morning for the sole purpose of laughing. Humor is a universal language. It's a contagious emotion and a natural diversion. It brings other people in and breaks down barriers. Best of all it is free and has no known side reactions.

"No joke is needed to get members of one of Mumbai's 37 laughing clubs to erupt with glee. Instead, they breathe deeply, yoga-like, reach for the sky to reduce inhibitions, then force a 'ho, ho, ha, ha' until the laughter becomes contagious. It reduces stress, claims Dr. Madan Kataria, the clubs' founder. 'Laughing is my mission,' he says, 'I want to spread it all over the world.'"

Photo from "India: Fifty Years of Independence," May 1997

National Geographic magazine

Photograph by Steve McCurry

"Healthy, non-ridiculing and connecting laughter provides physiological, psychological and spiritual benefits you probably never realized or imagined.We are born with the gift of laughter -it's being serious that we learn.

So, learn to laugh, and live, all over again."

- Annette Goodheart,Ph.D., MFCC

"Laughter is the human gift for coping and for survival. Laughter ringing, laughter pealing, laughter roaring, laughter bubbling. Chuckling. Giggling. Snickering. Snorting. These are the sounds of soul saving laughter which springs from our emotional core and helps us feel better, see things more clearly, and creatively weigh and use our options. Laughter helps us roll with the punches that inevitably come our way. The power of laughter is unleashed every time we laugh. In today's stressful world, we need to laugh much more."

- Laughter Therapist, Enda Junkins, LCSW, LMFT, BCD

Thank you for your insight and contribution on Laughter Therapy

http://www.laughtertherapy.com

http://www.teehee.com

http://litmed.med.nyu.edu/Annotation?action=view&annid=1700

http://www.holisticonline.com/humor_therapy/humor_therapy.htm

http://www.cancercenter.com/complementary-alternative-medicine/laughter-therapy.cfm
http://thehealthylivinglounge.com
http://www.laughteryogawithcoty.com/images/com_services.png
http://www.laughterlawyer.com.au

Saquina Akanni

The Prosperity Doctor
www.saquinaakanni.com