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Perhaps It’s Time for Some Laughter Yoga?
It can help reduce stress and boost your mood
Over the past four decades, scientific research has proved that laughter has a profound effect on our bodies and minds.
Studies have shown that laughter releases dopamine and serotonin, decreasing stress hormones and improving mood — which, in turn, could have important implications for stress-related illnesses like high blood pressure, heart diseases, frequent coughs and colds, peptic ulcers, asthma, irritable bowel syndrome, menstrual abnormalities, migraine, and even cancer.
Like mindful breathing exercises, laughter also increases the lung capacity and the net supply of oxygen to the body. As in yogic breathing, when we laugh we exhale for longer than we inhale, getting rid of as much residual air as possible and bringing in fresh air and more oxygen for the next breathing cycle. Both laughter and yogic breathing exercises are intended to stimulate the movement of the diaphragm and the abdominal muscles. The diaphragm is connected to a special branch of the autonomic nervous system called the parasympathetic system, or the calming branch, which is responsible for relaxation.
Children laugh more than adults because they do not place conditions on laughter.
