Grandma Might Disapprove, But Laughter is the Best Medicine

If too much bad stress can kill us, wouldn’t you rather die of laughter? There’s a new movement practiced in more than 100 countries called Laughter Yoga. Developed by Indian physician Dr. Madan Kataria, Laughter Yoga combines laughter with breathing exercises and is said to be packed with as many benefits as clowns in a phone booth, bringing more oxygen to the body including the brain, calming the central nervous system, lowering blood pressure, reducing stress hormone levels, and boosting the immune system. And we just thought we were having fun!

Children instinctively know that laughter is good. Research shows that kids laugh 400 times a day, while adults can barely muster a giggle 15 times in the same 24 hours. Seriously, growing up in a houseful of mischievous siblings and laughing at our older brothers at inappropriate times, like in church or during dinner, before church or after dinner, or almost any time grandma was around, was actually doing us good, increasing our circulation and releasing endorphins. If only our parents required us to laugh first thing in the morning instead of swallowing that weird brown liquid by the spoonful in the ‘60s, we might all live longer!

In my family, we had Charlie. Our oldest brother had one of those faces that always looked like he was keeping a hilarious secret. I remember that smirk well. It was like a dam that was about to burst and get us all in trouble.

Charlie’s smirk showed up in places like the backseat of our Lincoln Continental as we were crossing the U.S.-Mexican border. Stress always seemed to show up there. My mom would make us eat however many bananas that were still in the car as we re-entered the U.S. My dad would quiz “the boys” about any fireworks they might be trying to smuggle home. And grandma would sit up straight between my parents and set a good example for us to follow.

Grandma Esther was extremely WASPy and principled. She had the fairest skin of anyone I’d ever seen – so white it was almost transparent. She was well known for her punctual neighborhood walks under her huge orange sun bonnet. That hat went with us everywhere and took up as much space in the back seat as another child. We didn’t like making room for the hat. Charlie stuffed it onto the ledge of the rear window.

Before my dad pulled up to the border, rolled down his window and spoke with the border guard, we were instructed to sit still and be quiet. We watched him answer “no sir” to all the usual questions like, “Do you have fresh produce,” as our cheeks were puffed to their limits with banana mash. When asked about fireworks, he explained that the kids had a few small firecrackers. We saw the guard shake his head and my dad instructed the boys to hand them over. My brother, Jeff, slowly pulled a strand of firecrackers out of his pocket and gave them up, bravely trying to hold back his massive disappointment while obediently chewing a mouthful of banana.

I remember giving him my sad banana face, as we drove into Arizona. That’s when smirking Charlie tapped me on the shoulder and nodded toward grandma’s big ugly orange hat. He lifted it ever so slightly to reveal the largest roll of firecrackers I had ever seen in my life. My eyes must have been as big as my puffed-out cheeks. I looked back at the border to make sure no one was chasing us down. That’s when the dam broke. The three of us in the back seat lost it and projectile banana mash laughter filled the air.

Laughter is contagious and Laughter Yoga leaders like Olivia Vo believe we need more of it. She says the body can’t tell if our laughter is caused by an external force or if we are making ourselves laugh. “It’s all about self-activating your laughter,” she says. “You can practice laughter sounds like ho ho, ha ha, hee hee and laugh for no reason at all. You don’t need to wait to watch a movie or hang out with your friends to laugh. You can just initiate it yourself and the body is so appreciative.”

Olivia wears her joyful heart on her sleeve and also her face. Heart-shaped glasses are her calling card. She brightens rooms, warms up audiences and emcees events. She says we can all derive laughter’s health benefits instantaneously by taking a laughter break. Go ahead, pause, reset, swallow that banana mash and laugh with Olivia on Zonie Living. Watch now at https://starworldwidenetworks.com/episodes/breathing-resetting-healing-with-laughter-yoga-leader-olivia-vo-video. QCBN

By Bonnie Stevens, QCBN

Bonnie Stevens is a public relations consultant. She can be reached at bonnie.stevens@gmail.com.

Photo courtesy of Masha Pavlova: Laughter Yoga leader Olivia Vo, a heart-centered entrepreneur and founder of Savvy Social Pro Enterprises, infuses her joyful energy into her work and play, including Laughter Yoga.