KOCHI: Always laugh when you can, it is cheap medicine
~ Lord Byron
Laughter is indeed the best medicine known to humanity. It boosts mental health and also acts as an anti-ageing agent. Every year, on the first Sunday of May, the world marks ‘Laughter Day’ — an idea mooted in 1998 by Dr Madan Kataria, founder of the Laughter Yoga Movement.
The day is dedicated to having a good laugh with loved ones and spreading awareness of the benefits of LOL. Here, we look at what tickles people’s funny bones today and the zing of laughter yoga. For many people, cracking a joke and having a good laugh with friends have been replaced by DMs of hilarious, relatable memes and trolls to one’s squad. Digital jokes are today’s laughing pills, for all age groups.
From a cute, naughty pet dog’s video to a comedy dance scene, the laugh births from the handheld device screens nowadays. One of the Malayali’s favourite comedy digital content creators in social media, Shanmughadas J S, popularly known as Dasettan Kozhikode, says the pandemic break helped him get traction with his humour content.
“I began with TikTok videos in 2019 as a means to get my daughter, who was then a toddler, to laugh. But later, I succeeded in putting smiles on many faces,” says Dasettan, who works with KSEB. “I have received negative comments and backlash, too, but I laugh them out.”
Dasettan sees laughter as his tool to make others happy. “All that matters to me is getting another to forget their worries for a few seconds and have a hearty laugh,” he says. “The old lifestyle of sitting together and conversing jokes is a rarity these days. Digital screens have taken over. With my content, I try to spread positivity by making my viewers laugh.”
His definition of a good joke: One should feel the humour from the heart and laugh. Actor Anantharaman Ajay, of Romancham fame, says that even though he misses out on real communication and banters of the past, the comedy memes, trolls and reels are also his way for a good belly laugh.
“Now, comedy generated in digital content is relatable to everyday life. Gone are the days when we joked innocently, no matter if it was body shaming or sexuality. Now, we are all very cautious about political correctness. Intelligent jokes are the present trend,” he says. “It is hard to make one laugh in the present world.”
This is evident in films, too, he adds. “Comedy is becoming too sensitive; people can’t make or take a joke these days. I think it should change.” Another prominent digital content creator Sanju Madhu, who recently made his way to films, believes there is a dearth of humour in people’s lives on account of the stressful lifestyles they lead.He adds that sitcoms generate hysterical guffaws among the present audience. “Counter humour is no more. Rather, comic expressions and situational jokes work well now,” he says.
Laugh to de-stress
Kochi-based life coach Koruth Varghese concurs with Sanju’s view that laughter is fading from our lives. He blames limited social interactions, device addiction and peer stress. Many people have become social animals without the ability to laugh from the heart, he says.
“Do you know that a good laugh can lose extra calories and burn fat?” asks Koruth.
“While laughing, the brain releases endorphins which make one feel happy and lifts your mood.
Laughing is a therapy for mind and body to expel the toxicity of our thoughts.”
Highs of laughter yoga
There are people who take laughter therapy seriously.
An early morning visit to Kanakakunnu grounds confirms this.
The place is filled with raucous laughter and giggles. Under the guidance of veteran yoga practitioner Jayaprakash P S, ‘Chirikkoottayma’, a group of over 30 individuals of various age groups, has been practising laughter yoga for more than a decade.
The yoga guru, aged 72, notes laughter, as a form of exercise, boosts the happy hormones. “Dr Madan Kataria conceptualised laughter yoga for his patient’s mental well-being. The concept expanded, and now, the laughter yoga movement is present globally,” he says.
The morning session starts with warm-up exercises like stretching and body movements. “Seniors enrol in these sessions as it helps them eliminate the loneliness, anxieties and depression of old age,” adds Jayaprakash.
Practising laughing yoga outdoors, surrounded by fresh air, can work wonders. “Besides voluntary laughs, the yoga session includes deep breathing, jumping movements and clapping,” he explains. “Laughter yoga also takes us back to childlike nature, free of worries.”
Jayaprakash emphasises that laughter yoga can be a great remedy for the woes of the present-day lifestyle. “Keep all that tension at bay,” he smiles. So, keep laughing. And do spread the message, as Charles Dickens wrote in A Christmas Carol: “There is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good humour.”
The laughter pill
According to a Mayo Clinic report, laughter can: