Why do they say that laughter is the best medicine?

And why did doctors in Ancient Greece recommend that their patients go to see comedies as an integral part of the healing process?

Greek mythology saw laughter as an antitode to pain and crying, suggesting an emotional and psychological connection. Furthermore, health in Ancient Greece was seen as a balance between body, psyche and sociability and laughter contributed to this balance through emotional relief and social cohesion.

Being an adult means putting aside the game and laughing less, as “it is necessary to demonstrate a certain seriousness”, which can be plausible if contextualized. Laughter and play are two super important practices for our well-being: not too recent research has shown the effectiveness of these two tools on a physical, emotional and psychic level.

“I don’t have time for this, I have important things to think about“ I have heard several times. It is typical of our culture to believe that the elements of laughter and play are to be practiced exclusively during childhood, then they are put aside for “grown-up” commitments. Psychotherapist Annette Goodheart, a pioneer of laughter therapy, and Psychiatrist Stuart Brown, founder of the National Institute for Play, tell us that laughter and play are more than just fun, for both children and adults. For our physical and mental health.

What is practiced in laughter clubs is an unconditional laugh, that is, without the use of comic supports, and this is counterintuitive and revolutionary. And we play a lot, games of all kinds, the kind we used to play as kids, or the kind that challenge our mental elasticity.

MY FIRST TIME

I have to admit that my first session in a club was quite disconcerting. I got confused and showed up for the second lesson, missing all the explanation of why it was important to practice it. I had decided to enroll in the course because, after my 18th move, I had a physical and emotional down and I could no longer find the bright side of life. For a rational person like me, being in a room with other unknown people and laughing unconditionally was almost a shock. The only information I was able to glean was that the body does not distinguish a spontaneous laugh from an induced one, so it was also okay to pretend to laugh to achieve the goal of feeling better. At the end of the session I walked home and I felt an unusual sensation of lightness, my facial muscles had worked a lot and so I imagine that my mouth was still slightly smiling. I looked at passers-by, someone smiled at me, I wasn’t used to it. Once home, our dogs and cats would not stop being around me and this behavior was rather unusual. The next day I woke up in a good mood, I thought “What a beautiful day today”, and this feeling of lightness lasted for quite a while. However, I thought it was a coincidence. Continuing to attend, however, I realized that the sensation of feeling relieved was more and more present and I was so impressed by this, that I decided in a short time, to become a Leader, to be able to lead a club too. There was only one problem: I felt very uncomfortable speaking in front of others! I can say that, by insisting on practice, something inexplicable happened to me. I am used to exposing myself, I have attended a million activities, even theater and theatrical improvisation. What worked for me to speak in public was the activity carried out in the club and I will always be grateful to myself for giving myself permission to try!

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