In the Old Testament reads: “A cheerful heart is a very good medicine.” Perhaps one of the most amazing treatments in the medical world is laughing therapy or geloterapia (gelos Greece, laughing), that is, using laughter as medicine to heal.
Ancient cultures such as China or India, even some tribes and some philosophical, has recognized the therapeutic powers of laughter and had been promoted, and promoted it like element to balance health. Currently, and for over 25 years, which successfully implemented in countries like the United States, France, Canada and Switzerland to reduce the emotional impact that produce disease.
But many argue that research on the effects of laughter is “fired” in 1979, after a known case of Norman Cousins, editor of major publications in New York, became ill with ankylosing spondylitis, a type of spinal arthritis is very painful.
The disease is not known and, given this scenario, Cousins fell into a state of depression. The pain they are more stressed even greater. Doctors advised him to try to entertain and laugh a little to feel better. Thus, Cousins began to see the comedy, short of “The Laurel and Hardy” and some of the Marx Brothers. Just starting to see them and laugh out loud, he began to feel better. It was found that ten minutes of laughter can relieve pain for two hours. The more she laughed, feeling better physically. Combining their laughter therapy at a dose of vitamin C, and as directed by a physician, successfully complete the cure of disease and later wrote a book titled “Anatomy of Laughter.”
Free your mind
José Elias, author of “Handbook of laughter therapy” (Orion Publishing), says that laughter therapy is the patient abstract they get a painful situation, to free his mind from the stress that causes this disease, while focusing attention to the ideas and situations that allow gay smile . For him, laughter is a drug is more effective and cheaper, maybe that’s why they can not make Labs, also because it has no counter. ”
Today, many experts in the world, Spain is no exception, do not hesitate to ensure that laughter is the best antidote for illnesses such as depression and anxiety, for example, and is recommended as an analgesic. Who came to agree with Mark Twain when he said that “mankind has one really effective weapon:. Laughter”
One of the ideas that came last year at the Inter-investigator Congress Humor is “when the joy in the doctor-patient relationship, we can achieve more than a therapeutic function. Laughter also improves health and increases physician satisfaction regarding pain, promote communication and adherence to treatment.”
For the World Laughter, Barcelona-based organization that promotes education and professional training that is dedicated to the dynamics of laughter or laughter therapy, laughter therapy basic principle lies in stimulating the production of different hormones (endorphins, for example, also known as the hormone of happiness) that produce the body itself and which mission is to enhance the immune system.
Therapy at the School of Laughter, the first of its kind in Spain, director and founder, Mari Cruz García Rodero, calls for warm laughter, heals. Ensure that the seizure of the diaphragm and movement of body parts are different, especially the face, resulting in an honest and genuine laughter has a beneficial force. Laughter therapy, in his view, is useful for all diseases.
In general, medical data which will run about the effects of laughter are really amazing: when there is laughter, which was launched four hundred muscles, a healthy laugh on average 300 times a day while adults can you be made between 15 and 100 times during 36 hours a day and life, infants first tested them smile. Faced with a laugh, lungs, instead of six liters of air moving, moving twelve, thereby increasing oxygenation of the blood and tissues. Contract your abdominal muscles with a surprise ending to provide an excellent massage the internal organs. Legs and arms are relaxed. It stimulates the intestinal muscles, thus preventing constipation-, and stretch the spine bones, where tensions accumulate.
But of all the benefits of laughter, the experts noted the effects on the immune system as the most relevant. It so happens that a close relationship between people’s emotional state and immune system function you provide this therapy, as well as others such as music therapy and pet therapy, an important role as a supporter in the recovery of people suffering from diseases such as cancer or AIDS, they move quickly when the system depressed immune.
IMPACT LAUGHTER
American Association for Therapeutic Humor (AATH), created 10 years ago, mainly consisting of clowns, doctors, nurses, psychiatrists and other specialists working in the field of psychoneuroimmunology. This association studies how emotions affect the immune system and the relationship of humor and laughter to the welfare and healing. At the same time, spread ideas such as that benefits the body in such a way that laughter, laugh, this effect occurs:
“It moves the diaphragm.
“The lungs move twelve liters of air, rather than the normal six, improve breathing.
“It prevents constipation.
“It strengthens the heart.
“Improving the removal of bile.
“It helps digestion.
“It tones muscles in the face, because of prolonged laughter on almost all muscle.
“This creates a sound that eliminates insomnia, fatigue.
“It stimulates the spleen.
“It lowers blood pressure and improve blood flow by relaxing the arterial smooth muscle.
LEARNING TO LAUGH
It is clear that the ability to laugh start changed to seriousness when we become adults. Experts say that, like other sports, you need to practice: how easy to laugh then provoke laughter and vice versa.
In addition, you learn to laugh like this:
“Any bad news, add a good one.
“Relativizes you laugh at their problems.
“Look happy solution, absurd and funny.
“Expose your problems and laugh at them later.
“Creating a cartoon or funny picture what you fear.
“Find him a sense of humor to every negative situation.
“Every time you do some exercises, reward yourself.
In addition:
“Insert laughter in your life as usual.
“Laughter in the mirror.
“From reading the paper behind.
“When you fall, try to watch a funny movie.
“Keep your personal video library.
“Always looking for a company that you people happy.
“Finding myself when laughter as more routine.
»Learn how to tickle, even for yourself.
“Laughter three times a day, minimum.




