"This person arrived at the laughter club. She did not make eye-contact, looked downcast,anxious with her head looking down. A few minutes into the laughter session, she started to make eye contact, cautiously smile, then laughed. At the end of the session, she told the class, she had lung cancer and forced herself to come to the laughter class in an attempt to elevate her mood and now she felt relaxed and even joyful." ( quote from Sophie, leader of Laughter club)
The above was from an interview with Sophie T, leader of the Sunflower Laughter Club in Ottawa. Another story that Sophie shared was about a person who had not smiled for 2 years and was suicidal. After a visit to the laughter club, he laughed which gave him hope to continue his treatment.
These are not isolated incidents. There are other testimonies that you will find on Sophie's website as well as the website of Laughter Club International. Please see the links given at the end of this article. So who attends the laughter clubs? According to Sophie, they are divided into two groups 1. Those who want to prevent stress related diseases 2. Those who have heard about the benefits of laughter and curious to see if it works for them!
Research studies both done in 2007, one in India and the other in the USA both show that laughter decreased blood pressure and all the other benefits mentioned in Laughter Therapy - 2. The link below will show some amazing testimonials of people who gave laughter a chance to work on them. You will also read details of the studies done in 2007.
In Dr. Kateria's words, an " happiness cocktail" is produced in the body during laughter and you can have as much of this cocktail without a hangover effect the next morning. So what are you waiting for??? Make yourself the happiness cocktail!
My appreciation to Sophie Terrase and Dr Kateria's website as well as my friends at the laughter club!
http://www.laughteryoga.org/
Agapelife/P.Nicholas
