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human laughter consists of a series of exhalations with no intervening inhalations
Mice dogs apes and humans make their breath shallow to create rapport Insistence on
breathing at long intervals caused me to stop doing this was so focused on diaphragmatic
breathing that refused to breathe shallowly even when joking with friends This is like refusing
to make anything other than an expressionless face Think of shallow breathing during fun
jovial play as a form of healthy panting that serves as a temporary microbreak or counterpose
to diaphragmatic breathing Refusing to pant is refusing to play
Rehabilitating Your Laughter Will Make It Much More Pleasurable
Gelotology is the study of laughter and the positive effects it can have on the body Proponents
advocate the induction of laughter on therapeutic grounds Laughter yoga hasya yoga and
laughter meditation also use voluntary laughter for therapeutic purposes Studies have shown
that it alleviates both stress and pain These practices assume that voluntary or forced
laughter provides some of the same benefits as spontaneous laughter Voluntary laughter is
often done in groups and may turn into real laughter Participants are instructed to facilitate
laughing by using childlike playfulness and eye contact These practices are great but think
they do not get down to the issues crux From what have seen people who engage in this
practice are mostly laughing superficially To reap the benefits we must isolate and strengthen
the core laughing reflex
The muscles involved in laughing have been traumatized by life stress As an infant your
laugh was primordial and bona fide Years of anxious laughter and worrying that your laugh is
too aggressive have damaged your instinctual laughing pattern As you might expect people
who are depressed or anxious have the least convincing laughs Extremely dominant people
laugh loudly without hesitating at whatever they like Most people however stifle their
laughter in the same way they stifle their posture and breathing This explains why most adults
laughter is eccentric and deviated from the innate laughter pattern
A babys laughter is vivacious and natural To relearn to laugh genuinely it is helpful to
watch infants and toddlers laughing Take the time to search for videos of babies laughing
on the internet and mimic them You will see that infants dont stifle their laughter They dont
worry about their laugh being too forceful or about offending someone Neither should we
Your laugh should shake you to your core and be intensely pleasurable
A hearty and progressive emptying of the lungs applies a significant load to the diaphragm
and the muscles of the chest wall triggering the endorphin system This is why social laughter
is correlated with an elevated pain threshold However most adult laughs hardly activate
the pleasure system at all After years of stifling laughter we have forgotten how to laugh in
a way that produces this response For many people the diaphragms role in laughter has
been weakened so much that laughter no longer recruits endorphins and is draining rather
than energizing
PROGRAM PEACE Self Care Exercises to Reprogram Your Mind and Body
Fake or nervous laughter comes from the throat and often results in increased tension
there During natural laughter the diaphragm does most of the work By training yourself
to laugh through deep contractions of the diaphragm and abdominals you can rebuild an
authentic laugh These muscles should reach exhaustion and start to fail during a good laugh
If your diaphragm and abdominals begin to burn like they did when you were a child you know
that you are doing it right The next exercise will show you exactly how to retrain your
diaphragm to fully participate in the act of laughing
Happiness Exercise Diaphragmatic Laughing
Practice laughing while exhaling completely This involves an uninterrupted emptying of the
lungs Inhale completely only after you laughexhale completely Your exhale should consist
of a long series of laughing sounds punctuated by vocal glottal closure haha equals two
glottal closures The brief closing of the vocal tract glottis against the exhalation allows
pressure to build and makes the laugh sound like a series of rapidfire punches They should
roll out somewhat like the Rs when you roll your tongue Practice this as an exercise and
attempt to make the laughter last for at least five seconds but shoot for to seconds
Laugh all the way to the bottom of your range of exhalation Use the principles of anti
rigidity Try the following variations
Focus on and coordinate the laughs glottal closures so that they proceed at a
smooth and steady rate
Notice inadvertent irregularities in timing as well as the tendency to gulp
choke or falter and iron these out Its okay if it sounds mechanical and
robotic at first while you are relearning the basics
Cause the punctuated exhalations to roll out as fast as possible while
maintaining a fixed rhythm After you gain coordination in speeding them up
try slowing them down
Do this using your voice at various pitches but focus most on using a deep
voice to create a deep laugh
Explore your preferred ways of laughing varying resonance inflection and
timing Modulate each in as many ways as possible
Employ different melodies and model other peoples laughs Spend time
listening to and imitating actor Mark Hamills maniacal Joker laugh
Try laughing while exhaling completely until it turns into a wheeze and you
feel you dont have a cubic centimeter of air left in your lungs Ensure that the
laughing pattern remains coordinated even at the bottom of your exhalation
This will greatly strengthen the muscles involved
Dont raise your shoulders when you laugh and focus on keeping them pushed
toward the floor Maintain the tenets of optimal posture Dont allow your
spine to curve into a forward C shape You might try lying on your stomach
while you laugh to ensure that your spine is straight
Do this with a thoroughly relaxed face or while you massage your face so that
you can laugh heartily without intense facial constriction Induce paroxysms of
Chapter Finding Happiness Through Playfulness Composed Kindness
laughter without raising the eyebrows squinting sneering or tensing any
other muscles
The pressure to keep exhaling should be forceful and have a life of its own It
should feel like a boa constrictor is wrapped around your chest squeezing you
hard and only giving you a short period to inhale every few seconds
Laugh authoritatively compellingly boldly forcefully mightily Work on
making it contagious
Because the muscles are strained stagnant and uncoordinated your laugh may sound like
that of an insane villain at first But with practice it will become friendly and ebullient It is
important to do this exercise loudly gleefully and unhesitatingly so make sure that you are not
worried about others hearing you Do it in a closet or better yet in the car
It will be uncomfortable at first The muscles you engage may be so weak that they feel
susceptible to damage Mine certainly were If so take it easy the first few days and build up to
doing it vigorously Use laughter to work out the cramp in your diaphragm This exercise is a
powerful complement to diaphragmatic breathing exercises and will help you reach muscles
that you otherwise could not To this end try it while lying on your stomach from a forward
fold or from happy baby pose with your belly pushed out
At first the laughing exercise should make you feel weary After only one week you will be
able to push harder and be more adept at coordinating the pulses of laughter After a few
weeks you will be good at it and find yourself laughing more often This exercise transformed