Laughter As An Exercise

In modern society there is a trend: to accomplish success and peak performance in every field of work, you should be healthy. Therefore, many people start to work out their bodies (and unfortunately not their souls), in gyms. After a while, they get bored. Is there an alternative for those of who are not morally satisfied when they gaze at their reflection in the mirror while doing bicep curls? Yes there is!

If you have enough fun, you could be both fit and healthy! Laughing, at the very least, is equally effective for your body as physical exercises. Let’s explore the biological advantages of laughing to learn more about this radical exercise program.

Nuts and Bolts

Motion, emotion, and cognition are the three elements upon which all our laughing, giggling, and guffawing are based. We know that laughing increases blood pressure and heart rate, changes the way we breathe, reduces the levels of certain neurotransmitters (catecholamines and neuroendocrine peptides), and provides a boost to the immune system [1]. Mirthful laughing can further reduce stress and improve the activity of natural killer cells. As low natural killer cell activity is linked to decreased disease resistance and increased morbidity in those with cancer or HIV, laughter might be a useful cognitive-behavioral intervention [2].

Unlike other elements of human behavior, laughter requires the entire body to actively participate. In particular, laughing can help improve cardiac vagal tone. This tone reflects the relationship between our heart rate and breathing. In stressful situations, cardiac vagal tone indicates the "capacity" of your body to regain calm (and presumably carry on). Regular laughter, therefore, can improve our ability to relax. Intense "belly" laughter exercises the diaphragm and tones the abdomen and many other core muscles [3].

200 LAUGHS = INTENSE ROWING FOR 10 MINUTES

Sounds fantastic! What kind of other physical activities can provide low impact exercise without special equipment or accessories? Not to mention burning calories: Dr. William Fry from Stanford University said in a recent interview that laughing 200 times can burn as many calories as rowing intensely for 10 minutes. It also boosts your energy and gives you that "alive" feeling. How else can laughter keep you fit, both mentally and physically? Perhaps you could try Laughing Yoga, a movement that has been slowly growing worldwide.

Serious Yoga Gets Funny

Although adherents of this type of exercise believe that their practices are strongly rooted in scientific evidence, not all doctors agree. Unfortunately, the medical community is reluctant to embrace and support laughter for health. It is claimed that the effects of humor and laughter are nothing but a placebo effect. Laughing Yoga produces all the psychological benefits of natural (involuntary) laughter by voluntarily simulating laughter or by self-inducing laughter. Laughing Yoga then combines this artificial laughter with yogic breathing as a form of group exercise [4].

Could this truly be effective? Well, it has been shown that aerobic laughter exercise significantly increases positive feelings, social identification, personal efficacy, and the morale of healthy employees in the workplace [5]. Doubtless, there is still a lot of research to be done in the area. At present, it is difficult to sift out the cause and effect of these cited health benefits.

In conclusion, there is no “magic bullet” which could save mankind from depression or lack of physical activity. However, it appears that, with laughter, it is possible to improve your physiological and physical state. According to Laughing Yoga, this is “tricking” your brain-body relationship with unconditional laughter, yoga breathing, stretching, and mental preparation with positive thinking. Why “tricking”? At the end of the day, our bodies don’t feel the difference between the effects of conditional and unconditional laughs [2]. Who knows, this interesting new undertaking might be a great alternative to boring gym classes! More importantly, it could also be an exciting new avenue of treatment for many chronic diseases.

[1] Berk et al, Am J Med Sci, 1989

[2] Bennett et al, Altern Ther Health Med, 2003

[3] Martin, Psychol Bul, 2001

[4] Shahidi et al, Int J Geriatr Psychiatry, 2011

[5] Beckman et al, J Prim Prev, 2007

by Nailya Bikmurzina, MSc MedNeuro

this article originally appeared 2015 in CNS Volume 8, Issue 1, Humor