Welcome to My Blog - Bhushan Kachru

  Live to Laugh, Laugh to Live

                                                                                                Credit-Peter Bucks (Unsplash)

When a toddler gets up in the morning, the first thing he/she does is looks and smiles at the mother.   The mother cherishes those moments and touches the face and the toddler starts chuckling and giggling. I recall when I was a school kid, my late mother would admonish whenever I had a hefty laugh.  She felt it was arrogance and not in tune with the discipline. But today who cares, whenever the occasion demands, I do laugh loudly from the interior of my soul.   I bet often people around know whose bang and bashing laughter is this.   Isn’t life a full circle when we watch small children filling our hearts with laughter and bringing happiness and humor to our being? There are no fears and tensions just oneness everywhere.  Laughing is a manifestation of our child within and who wouldn’t wish to provoke the child regularly to reincarnate heartfelt laughter in our lives. I am sure most would agree that ‘laughter is be- all and end- all’ in our well being.

 

What an irony, as we grow in age and responsibilities, laughter gradually takes a back seat, gets more ‘few and far between’ and may even become lighter. Some of us forget to laugh because we often ‘live in the past, look at the future’. A hefty laugh speaks volumes about our inner personality dynamics and life perspectives. Unfortunately we tend to forget that laughing and humor are channels of expressing love, relationships and our overall well being. It is a chord of unification and brings people irrespective of economic status together. As per a study, a ‘healthy child laughs approximately four hundred times a day while an adult fifteen times a day’. Laughing installs optimism and shifts focus from problems and acts as a conduit in cheering the mind. It helps in releasing fear, anger, and often brings people on the same page. It is said that by laughter, our body undergoes serious transmutations that helps healing mentally, physically and emotionally. While it is absolutely essential to work hard and try to stay one step ahead in our careers, but at the same time don’t forget to laugh to release negative energies and rejuvenate.    

 

Laughing   helps to bring heart and mind instantly to the present moment, as also elevates mood, sets in ambience and optimism   that become our spirit. People, who laugh loud have a positive outlook, are often extroverts, transparent, have balanced emotions and make instant connect. The roaring laughter is like ‘icing on the cake’ and acts as a bridge to intimacy and togetherness. Laughing often acts as an index to our mind and those found laughing and smiling regularly depict their attitudes towards life and a cheerful behavior. To me hefty laugh and giggling  has same spirit  as that of watching early morning   chirping birds, silent ripples in the water, flowers and whispering tree leaves  . Humor and laughter are like a value chains in our system and binds and bonds us together. Really, the more we ‘live to laugh, the more reason to laugh to live’.  According to ‘The Gerontologist’, incorporating intentional laughter into strength, balance and flexibility workouts for older adults improved both performance and enjoyment.  From ‘the slight giggle to a belly chuckle’, laughter it is said has more benefits and has been linked to health benefits similar to proper diet and exercise.     

                                                                                        Credit-Laughter Yoga University

 Laughter Yoga

 To stimulate brain, nervous system, and muscular system, University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center had some years back added laughter yoga as a complementary therapy. It has also gained immense popularity across. One can hear loud sounds of Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha   during early mornings in the neighborhood parks. People in small groups participate in laughing exercises to release stress and maintain a healthy mind and body. Why not form groups of friends and acquaintances from the neighborhood and assemble daily in the morning hours in a park. Stand in a circle and raise both hands. Now in a chorus, all participants loudly laugh HA HA HA. Keep doing this for 5 minutes. Now take a little rest and repeat couple of times. To add still more fun, move around in circles, make funny gestures, giggle, and shake a bit the body and keep laughing loudly. If possible make it spicier and dance for few minutes on some soft music. After a little rest, clap you both hands with full energy till these become somewhat red and little hot. It is said that such an activity helps in reducing BP and also adds joy, vitality and resilience. 

                    

                                                                                               Credit-Vinicius Wiesehofer (Unsplash

 Reactivate Laughter

 1 When we get in modes of anger, disagreements; and hatred, laughter acts as a powerful tool for managing conflicts and reducing tensions.  Use humour to smooth disagreements, and communicate in a way that builds up    relationships. To minimize stress, try watching funny movies/videos, TV serials along with family /friends. Make it a point to be mentally in tune with the show and participate whole heartedly to laugh fully. If some one is books freak, it is advisable to shift to books on jokes and laughter.

 

2 Whenever feasible try playing   games like ‘seeks and hides’, treasurer hunt etc. with the kids. This will slowly strengthen positivity.  Also while we laugh, the muscles of the face tone up and the ageing process may gradually slow down.  Our faces will shine and look young, fresh, and as if it has been massaged by the opposite sex.    

 

3 Avoid the stage managed laugh and curtain wailed feelings of pseudo happiness? For example, I have observed often in parties, groups of ladies chit chatting and laughing. From the face and laughing style of some, one can make out, they are neither mentally present nor they are laughing from their heart. In all probability they are evaluating dresses and judging people on social comparisons.

  

4 Make it a point to laugh loud during the day as and when you find an opportunity to do so.  At times whether at work or otherwise, we pass through some tense moments. Take a break for 5 minutes and get yourself locked in the rest room. Now look at the mirror and start laughing and giggling silently. Watch your facial movements etc. After a little while get back to your seat. It helps shift the focus.  

 

5 A Japanese research states, laughing before sleeping generates melatonin in the body that allows us to have a sounder sleep. Melatonin is a natural hormone secreted by the pineal gland of our body. It is surprising to know that pineal gland is also our spiritual transmitter and when we are healthy and rest properly, it helps in attaining higher-level of consciousness and may connect us to the divine.

 

6 It is said that stress hormones reduce when we laugh and take a nap, our body relaxes, and stress hormones drop to a great extent. It is why doctors recommend joining a leisure club or having a sound sleep, to patients suffering from depression. One study surprisingly found that laughing for 10 to 15 minutes a day can burn approximately 40 calories.

 

7 It is said that laughter jogging may help to improve the functions of blood vessels and increase blood flow, which can help protect us against a heart attacks and other cardiovascular problems. A study in Norway found that people with a strong sense of humour outlived those who don’t laugh as much. The difference was particularly notable for those battling cancer.

 

To tap it- “HEARTY LAUGHTER IS A GOOD WAY TO JOG INTERNALLY WITHOUT HAVING TO GO OUTDOORS.”

 

 Bhushan  Kachru