The Transformative Power of Laughter
The Transformative Power of Laughter
We might think this is obvious, but many do not realise how little laughter actually goes on. Most people can probably remember times when having a good laugh can lift your spirits, shake off the blues and make you feel a whole lot better. It can also change the atmosphere in a room and with groups of people. So we probably instinctively know it is good for us. But the harsh fact is that, as a German psychologist, Dr Michael Titze, has found, in the 1950’s people used to laugh 18 minutes a day, but today we laugh not more than 6 minutes a day, despite the huge rise in the standard of living. Small children can laugh up to 300-400 times a day, but when we grow up to be adults this frequency comes down to less than 15 times a day, if at all. People, it seems are less happy and it shows in the decline in laughter. The reasons are not hard to find and most people’s list would probably include old favourites like the high pressure nature of modern living, the decline of the family, increased divorce rates, more people living on their own, the emphasis on the pursuit of material goals, the availability through mass communication of instant bad news, crowded transport, insecure employment, high debt levels, and so on.
As laughter training has been showing along with the recent general interest in Positive Psychology however, is that it is perfectly possible to change this situation. One factor is our perception. Laughter is usually seen as dependent on a “sense of humour”: we believe we must have a reason to laugh, that laughter is about laughing “at” something or somebody else, that it only happens on certain occasions and that it depends on “one’s sense of humour” ie. it is dependent on external stimuli or a belief you have about your personality.
The recent explosion of interest in Indian techniques of laughter training however, has put a different light on the issue. Dr Madan Kataria, a Indian physician, discovered that through the use of laughter exercises that tap into one’s childlike playfulness it was very easy to help a whole group of people to dissolve into peels of laughter that had lasting benefits. Madan showed, in his “Laughter Yoga” (see www.laughteryoga.org) that one can laugh for no good reason, that laughter was something that can be spontaneously generated from within oneself. One just needed to discover it and this could be done through simple laughter exercises, done in groups because laughter is infectious. It was supported by breathing exercises - hence the Yoga bit. As a result of his work, laughter clubs have been springing up around the world – there are now over 5000.
This activity is supported by scientific research, which has been discovering that laughter has immense physiological and psychological benefits. Even if you pretend to laugh or act happy, your body produces “happiness” chemicals. Our bodies do not know the difference between thinking about doing something and actually doing it. Whatever the source of laughter, it leads to the same set of physiological changes in the body. Laughter generates the release of positive chemicals, which
• Enrich the blood with plentiful supplies of oxygen
• Boost the immune system and bring relaxation
• Counteract harmful stress chemicals
• Release endorphins, the body’s pain-killer hormone, and give a sense of well-being
• Counteract depression, anxiety and psychosomatic problems
• Ensure good sleep
• Bring a happy glow to your face and make your eyes shine
In the 1970’s, it was Norman Cousins, author of “The Anatomy of an Illness”, who found that a large part of what cured him of a potentially fatal illness was watching funny films. This sparked serious scientific interest. Subsequently Dr William Fry of Stanford University, California, showed that laughter stimulated the heart rate, provided good cardio-vascular exercise and decreased the chances of respiratory infections whilst Dr Lee Berk of Loma Linda University Medical Centre, California, proved that laughter produced fewer arrhythmias, lowered blood pressure, lowered the levels of stress hormones, (particularly cortisol), reduced the need for medication and ultimately resulted in fewer heart attacks. Laughter has been so beneficial physiologically, that it’s sometimes called “internal jogging”.
This has been mirrored by the psychological benefits that underpin the benefits that business has been seeing. If you feel good in your body, you are likely to start feeling good in yourself. As we saw at the start of this article, the transforming power of laughter really shows itself in people’s ability to build their EQ, to shift their state, to feel less stressed, to feel better in themselves, and to feel more connected to others. Hence laughter fosters our relationships and helps us bond. It enhances our capacity to feel we can achieve more. Laughter enhances our creative potential. We let go of our egos! Business people often say that they want fun in the workplace. Now it is possible to create that. Laughter training is fundamentally about us getting in touch with our fun side, accessing part of our hidden potential. Hence it is truly transformative.
The Transformative Power of Laughter - To learn more about this author, visit John Gloster-Smith's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
“People who laugh together, work well together”. This may seem obvious, but evidence shows that this vital behaviour is both beneficial and in short supply in today’s high-pressure existence. Recently, across the world, companies have been noticing this and have started to invest in laughter training. They have been finding, for example, that it boosts sales. A Danish company, Four Systems in Copenhagen, raised its sales by a massive 40%. After a recent programme we ran, a participant reported a 100% results from his sales calls that day. Companies also find that it boosts communication and team working. It is hard to be in conflict with someone you laugh with. Laughter has big EQ connotations: to laugh means to drop your barriers, to let go of a bad mood, to shift anxiety, to change a perspective, to feel less stressed. As it is a right-brained function, the brain is able to tap into enhanced creativity and innovation.
We might think this is obvious, but many do not realise how little laughter actually goes on. Most people can probably remember times when having a good laugh can lift your spirits, shake off the blues and make you feel a whole lot better. It can also change the atmosphere in a room and with groups of people. So we probably instinctively know it is good for us. But the harsh fact is that, as a German psychologist, Dr Michael Titze, has found, in the 1950’s people used to laugh 18 minutes a day, but today we laugh not more than 6 minutes a day, despite the huge rise in the standard of living. Small children can laugh up to 300-400 times a day, but when we grow up to be adults this frequency comes down to less than 15 times a day, if at all. People, it seems are less happy and it shows in the decline in laughter. The reasons are not hard to find and most people’s list would probably include old favourites like the high pressure nature of modern living, the decline of the family, increased divorce rates, more people living on their own, the emphasis on the pursuit of material goals, the availability through mass communication of instant bad news, crowded transport, insecure employment, high debt levels, and so on.
As laughter training has been showing along with the recent general interest in Positive Psychology however, is that it is perfectly possible to change this situation. One factor is our perception. Laughter is usually seen as dependent on a “sense of humour”: we believe we must have a reason to laugh, that laughter is about laughing “at” something or somebody else, that it only happens on certain occasions and that it depends on “one’s sense of humour” ie. it is dependent on external stimuli or a belief you have about your personality.
The recent explosion of interest in Indian techniques of laughter training however, has put a different light on the issue. Dr Madan Kataria, a Indian physician, discovered that through the use of laughter exercises that tap into one’s childlike playfulness it was very easy to help a whole group of people to dissolve into peels of laughter that had lasting benefits. Madan showed, in his “Laughter Yoga” (see www.laughteryoga.org) that one can laugh for no good reason, that laughter was something that can be spontaneously generated from within oneself. One just needed to discover it and this could be done through simple laughter exercises, done in groups because laughter is infectious. It was supported by breathing exercises - hence the Yoga bit. As a result of his work, laughter clubs have been springing up around the world – there are now over 5000.
This activity is supported by scientific research, which has been discovering that laughter has immense physiological and psychological benefits. Even if you pretend to laugh or act happy, your body produces “happiness” chemicals. Our bodies do not know the difference between thinking about doing something and actually doing it. Whatever the source of laughter, it leads to the same set of physiological changes in the body. Laughter generates the release of positive chemicals, which
• Enrich the blood with plentiful supplies of oxygen
• Boost the immune system and bring relaxation
• Counteract harmful stress chemicals
• Release endorphins, the body’s pain-killer hormone, and give a sense of well-being
• Counteract depression, anxiety and psychosomatic problems
• Ensure good sleep
• Bring a happy glow to your face and make your eyes shine
In the 1970’s, it was Norman Cousins, author of “The Anatomy of an Illness”, who found that a large part of what cured him of a potentially fatal illness was watching funny films. This sparked serious scientific interest. Subsequently Dr William Fry of Stanford University, California, showed that laughter stimulated the heart rate, provided good cardio-vascular exercise and decreased the chances of respiratory infections whilst Dr Lee Berk of Loma Linda University Medical Centre, California, proved that laughter produced fewer arrhythmias, lowered blood pressure, lowered the levels of stress hormones, (particularly cortisol), reduced the need for medication and ultimately resulted in fewer heart attacks. Laughter has been so beneficial physiologically, that it’s sometimes called “internal jogging”.
This has been mirrored by the psychological benefits that underpin the benefits that business has been seeing. If you feel good in your body, you are likely to start feeling good in yourself. As we saw at the start of this article, the transforming power of laughter really shows itself in people’s ability to build their EQ, to shift their state, to feel less stressed, to feel better in themselves, and to feel more connected to others. Hence laughter fosters our relationships and helps us bond. It enhances our capacity to feel we can achieve more. Laughter enhances our creative potential. We let go of our egos! Business people often say that they want fun in the workplace. Now it is possible to create that. Laughter training is fundamentally about us getting in touch with our fun side, accessing part of our hidden potential. Hence it is truly transformative.
The Transformative Power of Laughter - To learn more about this author, visit John Gloster-Smith's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
| |||
 |
No article feedback found. | ||
|
Leave Your Feedback | ||
|
|||
 Laughter
| |||
 Laughter is a great stress reducer. If you have never read Norman Cousins’ account of his experience of self-healing as described in Anatomy of an Illness, I encourage you to do so. When diagnosed with an incurable ... |
|||
|
LAUGHTER AND YOUR HEALTH
| |||
| Did you know that according to research, children laugh about 400 times a day while adults only laugh about 15 times a day? Some how we lost the ability to laugh, as we got older. Could it be that putting more hum... |
|||
|
The Transformative Power of Laughter
| |||
| Laughter makes you feel good. It also releases powerful chemicals in the body that bring about healing. It is an invaluable tool in helping people discover more about their potential. It is something that can be act... |
|||
|
Achieve More: Lighten Up and Laugh Often!
| |||
| Laughter and the workplace are good companions. Happy people are more productive and more keenly aware of their surroundings and function. If yours is a dreary, serious, workplace think of all that you are missing. |
|||
|
We Just Need to Have FUN
| |||
| Do you have fun everyday? The kind of fun that Cyndi Lauper knew that girls wanted to have, although she chose to ignore the poor guys! The fun that makes you run out on a sunny day and play in the park, with or wit... |
|||
| |||
John PowerJohn Power, founder of Biltmore Franchise Consulting, has extensive experience developing and marketing franchises and business opportunities. He has been in and around franchising for over twenty years. From 1980 through 1990 he conceptualized, organized, and developed the American Video Association. He grew AVA to 2,000 national members, before selling the company it 1990. It was later merged into another home video marketing company. From 2000 to 2005 he worked as a contract marketing and human resources consultant to several local and national companies. In 2005 Mr. Power began working as a franchise development consultant on a full-time basis. Since that time he has helped more than three dozen companies initiate and develop their franchising program. He notes that there are many companies interested in developing a franchise program, and who need his specialized assistance. Mr. Power is a “hands-on” franchise consultant. He said, “I am the ‘nuts and bolts’ person who tends to the details for my clients.” Mr. Power holds a B.S. degree with a major in Marketing. See: www.biltmorefranchise.com You may contact Mr. Power at: jpower@biltmorefranchise.co - Visit John Power's Website |
|||
Kim CastleWith nearly two decades in the advertising and design business, with clients like Domino's Pizza, General Motors, Direct TV, Pedigree, Wolfgang Puck, Higher Octave Music, Hollywood Celebrity Products, Disney, and Paramount, as well as thousands of entrepreneurs around the world define, structure, communicate, and position their business for greater profits, BrandU(R) co-creators Kim Castle and W. Vito Montone discovered that entrepreneurs could experience the same power that big brands command for a fraction of the cost with the world's only process-based results-drive Integral approach to business creation. BrandU(R) is helping entrepreneurs grow with the power of extreme clarity from idea...to brand...to market(TM) and helping one million entrepreneurs become successful and whole so that they can make a difference in the world. Are you one of them? If you want to experience clarity all the way to the bank(TM), get started now at http://www.brandu.com. - Visit Kim Castle's Website |
|||
Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
|||
George LudwigGeorge Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website |
|||
Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
|||
|
To learn more about the Evan Elite Author Program please contact us. | |||
 | |
 John Gloster-Smith (Visit John's Website) John is a very experienced life and executive coach, with 16 years' organisational consulting experience with almost every business sector in the UK. His key focus is in leadership and people development and he specialises in using Gestalt and other process interventions to bring about growth and change. He also delivers retreat centre personal development programmes and trains people in the art of facilitating at emotionally challenging levels. He is an accredited member of the UK Association of Humanistic Psychology Practitioners (Educator and Group Facilitator: see www.ahpp.org) having undergone a rigorous assessment of his training and personal development. He is also an accredited member of the Association for Coaching and adheres to their professional Code of Ethics. He has trained extensively in Humanistic, Transpersonal and Positive Psychology. He has a background of 17 years in Education to senior management level, having been a Head of Department for 10.5 years, and a Head of Examinations, and he holds a Post-Graduate Certificate in Education and a BA (2:1) from Oxford University.
|  |
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
| Modeling the Masters: Learn the true secrets behind Walt Disney's business success factors & grow your company! Video produced by Phanta Media |
|
|
 |
| Have you written articles that would be of value to entrepreneurs? Become an expert on our site by publishing them! Expose yourself to a wide audience, drive more traffic to your website and get more sales! Click Here for details. |
 |
 | ||
|
||
 |
||
|
||
|
| ||
|
|
|
Get advice & tips from famous business owners, new articles by entrepreneur experts, my latest website updates, & special sneak peaks at what's to come!
|
|
|
 |
 Choice of Forum Acronym Soup Leadership Style Assessment Zero Based Budgeting Vertical Market Ad Network |
|
 | ||
 |
Top 50 Blogs For Startups
Top Blogs To Watch In 2009 | |
 |
The Top 10 ProBlogger Posts
Best Posts for Bloggers | |
| ||
 |
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|
|
||||||||||
