Laughter.. Not All Laughter Is Created Equal

[Penny_Lane]

I dont really know WHY I am posting this.. but I was just thinking about this today...
Laughter is so fun! I love it! It truely is a smile that bursts! But there are many diferent kinds of laughter... Have you all noticed?
Laughter that is the result of a heartwamring experience is much different than the laughter of a freinds joke and different from the laughter of someone when they realize they did something silly.
Hearty laughter, giggles, hoots, cackles, belly laughter, cackles, snickers...
And then there is the stimulated smiling...
...Stimulated smiling goes with the beleive that if you want to FEEL happy, ACT happy. This doenst mean that your saddnesss should be suppressed, FEEL your sadness and ACT happy anyway! Smile!@ It softens your muscles... Say "ha, ha, ha"
And there is Transendental Chuckling...
... I do this EVERY morning after I learned about the laughter therapy clinics. After you wake up each morning, sit cross legged (Criss Cross Applesauce/Indain Style) in front of a mirror and laugh.. for no reason whatsoever for two or three breaths... It truely does set you up for a fun day and a better outlook on life!
Has anyone here ever been to a Laughter Clinic/ Laughter Therapy/ Laughter SEssion?
... I love when people laugh and you can TELL you touched them on a deeper level...
......OH! And that game where we all lay down with our head on someones belly and then you have to go down the line saying "ha" (1st person) "Ha, ha" (2nd person) "Ha, ha, ha" (3rd person) And it always ends up in laughter!!!

[Nettie Belle]

That sounds like a fun thing to do. I think I will suggest that at my job tomorrow. Maybe right before the stuffy meetings I have to go to. I think they will love it. It might be good since we just went SMOKE FREE at our hospital on Thursday and we have a lot of cranky people roaming the halls. I'll just laugh at them ... they'll wonder what I'm up to.

Seriously, it does sound like a good thing to do in the morning, and I think I will try it. After my two cups of coffee.

THANKS for the tip!

[Penny_Lane]

I also heard that:
Children laugh 400 times a day (Average)
Adults laugh 5 times a day (Average)
Though I dont think these numbers are true (One of my professors proclaimed it to the class out of the blue.. NOT related to our topic of discussion for the day "Frankenstein and Myth" .. although it is a very interesting class)
BUT
I can see where that COULD be SOMEWHAT true..
We, as adults, tend to live in our heads... always thinking about things in the future or past or whatnot.
Children live in the present.
...So do clowns... And I beleive that is how clowns are able to make everyone laugh! They represent and bring out the inner child in us all.

BTW... I learned that the Hopi describe the role of a clown as a "delight maker" And that made me smile ^-^

[The_Princess_of_Bozonia]

Penny, thanks for sharing that technique! You never know when it will come in handy.

[SparkyDMFD]

Howdy!

Yeppers......last February I became a "Certified Laughter Leader" (CLL) with the World Laughter Tour. Why? Well, I'm not sure ....just sounded like fun and it was! It's also added another dimension to my life of comedy. I just held my first official "class" last week at a local hospital.

It's truly amazing some of the valuable information you can learn by attending one of these workshops about the therapeudic value of humor.

It's hilarious to participate in one and can be EXHAUSTING!

The class I took was through the World Laughter Tour http://www.worldlaughtertour.com/

They hold them all over the country. Check them out!

Sparky