Slow Laughter
A good belly laugh is like getting an internal massage. Your whole body is engaged. No wonder we use the expression to ‘burst out laughing.’ There’s a build up of tension and then a release. The effect is relaxing.
Laughter is a movement. We talk about emotion (a somatic motion). Feelings cause our body to behave in some way. Or perhaps it’s the other way around, our bodies behave in a certain way and feeling comes from that. Yes, that’s how laughter clubs work.
That belly laugh is the big event. It’s being in the moment. When was the last time you laughed so much, tears were streaming down your face and your stomach muscles got a good work out?
There’ve been some studies (aren’t there always?) about how our frequency of laughing declines with age. Young children laugh often and with their whole bodies. But adults do a sort of fake titter. The whole body is no longer engaged.
Most adults tend to get overly rigid. I expect this has to be social conditioning. This isn’t that surprising because we value being in the head more than being in the body, what can you expect? In Victorian times laugher was unseemly. Are we experiencing and epidemic of somberness today? We can be serious without being somber. I know you know that, but I wanted to say it anyway.
I’m not sure what’s changing with me, but something is. I was out walking the other day and got to thinking of this and that, you know how you do.
All of a sudden an amusing thought occurred to me. And there it was— the spontaneous belly laugh. It just welled up. I felt great. I do know that I was walking slowly. Is it fair to say that laughter is the embodiment of joy, or of being alive?
When I was younger, I remember seeing Fawlty Towers for the first time. I laughed so hard and for so long at that.
Are you still able to spontaneously belly laugh? When does it occur?
Laughter is brilliant! It’s energising, the best possible kind of release (of tension etc), the absolute epitome of joyous expression (except for, perhaps… you know… the “s” word…).
I’m pleased to say that, at 35, I do still occasionally belly-laugh. In fact, when I was a teenager and a young adult, I did that polite tittering more than I do now. I’d say this has a lot to do with the fact that I’m far less self-conscious than I was then. I don’t care who sees/hears me laughing - it’s my party and I’ll laugh if I want to!
In my opinion, the comedians, the people who set out to make us laugh, are the gods, the heroes, of this world. They, rather than the politicians, the world leaders, the “celebrities,” are the ones who should be admired and aspired to. Laughter can ease tension, inspire us to think light of our problems, our difficulties, our differences… Laughter can save the world!
And how about this?
Fantastic!
:)
Well, it *looks* fantastic… I have, however, not got around to re-plugging the speakers back into my PC since moving house… partly because I’ve become rather fond of the silence!
Care to provide a script?
Well done for creating some quiet. Quiet isn’t appreciated by everyone, hence my Good Night’s Sleep article.
The script is more or less, ha ha ho ho ha ha ho ho (very slowly). Then the rhythm picks up. After a certain time, the fakery turns in to truery. Spontaneous laughter infects the whole group, thereby releasing health giving endorphins, and probably other sorts of phins too.
Along those lines, there is much truth in the phrase, “Smile and the world smiles with you” - which is doubtless literally true, but also in the sense that if you smile, if you physically contort your facial muscles in a particular way, then there’s a good chance this will also help your *inner world* to smile… Good, simple therapy! (cf. laughter)
Laughter is great therapy! I love children’s cartoons, comedy movies, and watching my dogs for a good laugh. Evey time I do it, I notice how much tension is released. Relax and enjoy - you’ll feel better. :0)
The image here is priceless!
The last great belly laugh was the other day when shopping with my husband for a birthday card for my brother-in-law. My husband found this card: photo of little boy standing next to his pedal car. “It’s a hybrid… runs on snot and boogers!” I belly laughed to the point of tears… in the store. I’m sure they thought I was daft.
Christopher I laugh every day, many times. Hey, I work in Glasgow and it’s genetic there. People are so spontaneously funny. But I agree with you about Fawlty Towers. I have the whole 12 episodes on DVD and I still go there for a great laugh. But one of the times I remember laughing so much was listening to a Bill Bryson audiobook - Fat Girls from Des Moines I think it was called. I was driving at the time and had to pull over onto the hard shoulder cos I couldn’t see the road straight for tears of laughter!
I think Granta printed that piece. It was one of his best. But to actually get someone to laugh heartily when reading (or listening) is the true mark of success.
Ooh! Just remembered! Blackadder! Always chuckle-inducing!
[…] I was reading The Lost Art of Healing, Practicing Compassion in Medicine, by Bernard Lown, and came across the three doctors: doctor quiet, doctor diet, and doctor laughter. […]