Life's clowning glory

I begin my day, like many others, sorting out the spam from the work-related and readable e-mails. Almost always there is a funny one-liner or a set of pictures from a colleague or a friend waiting to cheer me up and set my mood for the day.

Humour, we all know, is the source of all amusement that provokes a little smile, if not laughter. The etymological source of the word “humour” is said to lie in “moisture” but the ancient Greeks believed humours were a mix of fluids that controlled human health and emotion. Here lies the basis of the age-old adage “laughter is the best medicine”.
 

Closer in history, we have the 18th-century French philosopher and writer Voltaire, who said: “The art of medicine consists of amusing the patient while nature cures the disease.”

Happy heart is healthy heart

Just as there are umpteen theories why an apple a day or taking the stairs instead of the lift is advised by doctors the world over, there is more than enough research to prove that humour can keep away various medical ailments, including heart diseases.

In a study, Divergent Effects of Laughter and Mental Stress on Arterial Stiffness and Central Hemodynamics (published early this year in Psychosomatic Medicine, a journal of behavioural medicine), tests were conducted to determine changes in circulation and stress-hormone levels. The trial, conducted on 18 healthy adults, proved laughter improved circulation by lessening arterial stiffness and lowering stress-hormone levels. Hardening of arteries has been known to cause heart attacks and strokes.

“Laughter therapy can lead to a lowering of cholesterol levels and inflammatory markers,” says Dr Avril Staunton, senior consultant, RAK Hospital.

“In a study conducted in 2005, at the University of Maryland Centre for Preventative Cardiology, it was found that laughter relieved stress, leading to lower stress hormones and blood pressure. With laughter, the blood pressure falls, the heart rate rises, the blood circulation increases and the oxygenation of the blood is enhanced.”

Manish Pole, CEO of Artistic Yoga, agrees with Staunton. “Laughing regularly has many health benefits. Occupational stress, which is a worldwide phenomenon and can rightly be termed a silent killer, can be greatly reduced and managed if the individual laughs. Of course, it is a preventive therapy and helps in emotional healing too.”

Double dose

Groucho Marx said: “A clown is like an aspirin, only he works twice as fast.” Marx suffered from crippling arthritis and found solace in humour. We have all noticed that laughing, real or fake, releases not just stress but pent-up emotions, making us feel lighter and less burdened because we rid ourselves of negative emotions and frustrations. This release helps us feel positive and hopeful.

“Laughter indicates that a person has hope and a positive attitude. It has been proved that optimism and internal control all point to a better result than an attitude of doom, fear and negativity. So in this respect, laughter appears to help with healing and general health,” says Helen Williams, of Counsellingdubai.com. “Humour helps us see a ‘glass half full instead of a glass half empty’ and helps lighten our outlook. Humour as an attitude can certainly raise hope.”

“With laughing, serotonin levels increase, maybe playing a role in improving depression,” Staunton says.

An ancient Irish proverb says that “a good laugh and a long sleep are the best cures in a doctor’s book”. This led to one man’s recreating laughter as an exercise. Indian doctor Madan Kataria came up with the concept of Laughter Yoga. Participants are made to laugh through eye contact and suggestion. The reason the concept is called “yoga” is because it is combined with the age-old yogic techniques of breathing and meditation.

“Hasya, or Laughter Yoga, works on an incredible biological insight. Our body cannot distinguish the difference between fake laughter and real laughter! This means that simulated laughing gives you all the physiological benefits of real laughter,” Pole says.

Strengthening bonds 

Laughter is known to be contagious. When people are in a group and they hear someone laughing, they often join in spontaneously. Laughing together helps us connect. When two people in a relationship share a common sense of humour, it can reduce stress between them and defuse conflict. By introducing more humour and playfulness into your relationships, you can strengthen them and make them more satisfying.

“In my counselling practice, I come across many clients who have lost the ability to see their relationship except with coldness and resentment,” Williams says. “Couples who are in the habit of ‘playing together’ and enjoying fun and laughter can often learn to see their relationship problems as something to work on rather than the end of the road. Humour tends more towards reality and couples who share a humorous approach are more able to release resentment rather than store up the pain and hurt within. 
 
“An attitude of gratitude also enables us to respond to life with more acceptance and emotional vigour and laughter enables us to create this stance more readily. I believe it is my responsibility to create opportunities for fun and laughter within my family as often as possible. We need to show our children how to belly laugh and give them many opportunities to share this together. Laughter really does make the world go round,” she adds.
 
An unknown person once said “a good, real, unrestrained, hearty laugh is a sort of glorified internal massage, performed rapidly and automatically. It manipulates and revitalises corners and unexplored crannies of the system that are unresponsive to most other exercise methods.”

Humour is thus only a behaviour that expresses the way in which we perceive life and our surroundings. 
 
It may not always be an automatic response, but it can be developed to face better the challenges life throws at us.