Our columnist tells us why the art of laughter is just the tonic for a stressful day
One of my favourite stories about my menopause is ‘The Day I went Food Shopping’. I’d taken myself off to the supermarket for the weekly family shop, but within seconds of entering I’d totally forgotten what I was there for. I left with a cabbage and a pair of American Tan tights, utterly terrified that I was losing my memory (an actors’ most vital asset).
I’ve shared this story with so many women struggling with the side effects of the change since, and they all roar with laughter. Most had similar stories involving a variation of lost memories (you’d be amazed how many accidentally shoplifted) and slowly, I began to see the funny side, too. I don’t even wear American Tan tights. What was I going to do with them for dinner? And the cabbage is anyone’s guess!
Over time, as I let myself giggle at the sheer ludicrousness of it, I realised the fear had receded. I became convinced that whilst great meds, exercise and diet has its place in tackling tricky moments, laughter is very much the best treatment for easing our suffering.
This idea isn’t just anecdotal. Studies have shown that short-term, laughter works to activate and relieve our physical responses to stress, including reducing our heart rate and blood pressure, leaving us calm and relaxed. Longer-term, when we are in a positive frame of mind, our body releases chemicals that fight stress, relieve pain, and reduce the symptoms of anxiety and depression.
It might feel difficult to enjoy a chuckle when you’re struggling with a nasty hot flush, or when you haven’t slept for days thanks to racing thoughts, but a good giggle could be just what you need to break the cycle of feeling so unpleasant.
It was Norman Cousins, suffering from a deeply painful musculoskeletal condition who first realised the power of laughter to ease suffering. His treatment of watching old Hollywood funnies led to him surviving 25-years longer and he began to study the medical effects of laughter with the support of California University Hospital.
American charity, Stand Up for Mental Health, found such huge benefits that it now uses comedy to promote healing. In the UK, author and comic Stephanie Davies founded Laughology, a consultancy based around the power of laughter and happiness to improve wellbeing.
If you’re not sure you can let loose right now, it might help to join one of the 5,000 laughing yoga clubs running worldwide. This form of yoga, which originated in Japan works on the basis that voluntarily laughing leads irresistibly to involuntarily laughing (at the ridiculous of what you’re doing).
This joyous outpouring of hilarity for the sake of it triggers all the wonderful benefits of being happy, even if you don’t really feel it. It’s a case of faking it ’till you make it, as the brain isn’t able to tell the difference between real and forced laughter. If you’re not sure about it, look at some of the classes on YouTube; I challenge you not to crack a smile in less than 10 seconds.
During my research for this piece, I discovered that laughter has been used to support people with Parkinson’s, cancer, Alzheimer’s and those struggling with grief.
I know myself that when you lose someone you love; it can be hard to allow yourself permission to laugh. For the longest time nothing seems funny, and then when that first laugh bursts, usually unexpectedly from you, it can feel like you’re betraying the memory of your loved one by finding joy in the world again.
In fact, the opposite is the truth; laughter is the most life-affirming thing we can do, connecting us to one another and to our own core selves and releasing us from the prisons of illness, worry and sadness, even just for a minute, although the physical benefits can be felt for up to 45-minutes.
The best thing about laughter therapy is that it’s free – it just depends what works for you. I like a good gin and time with my girlfriends. For you, it might be time at a comedy show, watching silly cat videos online or remembering a joke a friend told you. It doesn’t matter how you get your laughs, but try to break a bad mood with a bit of humour.
