Laughing our way to enlightenment and good health is an idea that came to me after reading Taoist philosophies and doing some of their practices. Working as a healer it is obvious that all our physical body issues including disease and suffering are caused by physiological stress. In turn this is caused by negative mental and emotional patterns and our caustic environment. This includes electromagnetic pollution and what we ingest. In fact eastern philosophies consider all negative emotions as the beginning of disease.
The first big step to enlightenment and good health is to be at peace with ourselves. The ‘lower’ emotions have to be transmuted!! To intervene and allow this process to take place we must allow more chi or cosmic energies to enter our human electromagnetic field (HEF). There are many tools and ways to do this. This is a process and therefore a disciplined healing or spiritual practice must be used on a daily basis. One of the easiest tools to use as part of that practice is the power of laughter.
A good belly laugh, one in which tears begin to roll down our faces, has the most amazing physiological effects on the body. Laughing is a very natural and soothing method of calming the nervous system, for example by stimulating the vagus nerve, digestive, circulatory and immune systems. In this way more energy is generated and made available.
Deliberately taking the time to laugh as part of our “spiritual practice” is an easy way to connect and get to know ourselves. This leads to Self Mastery. Everybody wants to laugh. Laughing for our health teaches us how to connect way down in our lower abdominal area. Laughing will therefore strengthen our abdominal muscles, the diaphragm and the urogenital muscles of the pelvic floor. When our lower abdominal area, that is the Lower Dan Tien in Taoist philosophy, is stimulated by deep belly laughing we create awareness and energy in this area. Laughing from our Lower Tan Tien or second brain stimulates all this area and also the heart, brain and thymus gland. Awareness and energy in this area allows us to release many fear patterns and to once again connect with our essence.
As a therapist I frequently become aware of clients holding patterns or tension in the psoas, buttocks, lower back and abdominal area. Many people hold tension in these muscles because of anxiety and fear. We have also forgotten how to naturally breath the body because of negative emotional patterns. A deep belly laugh will help to “reset” the system and move you from chest breathing back to abdominal breathing.
Allowing laughter to clear tensions in the abdominal area actually feels like a workout in the beginning if you are not used to having a good laugh. However this is only because of the tension that is held in this area. A good belly laugh will relax this area. The vibration created will also relax other areas such as the diaphragm, sternum, spine and organs of the body. Laughter triggers the release of endorphins and therefore will promote an overall sense of well-being.
You Must Laugh Every Day As Part Of Your Spiritual Practice
We live in a society where we are experts at knowing what colour of clothes goes best with our eyes yet we know little or nothing about our internal organs. Most don’t even know where they are positioned and consider it the job of experts to know. In other words something/someone outside of self. We therefore give over our power to them and due to our ignorance conform to the prevailing methods of treatment. This further limits us because the root cause is often never dealt with. That root cause always comes from you.
Earlier I said that all disease arises from physiological stress which comes from negative emotional patterns and our polluted environment. When you release negative emotions you automatically cannot keep doing things which are unresourceful to yourself. This includes eating chemically rich drinks and foods and living in a polluted environment. You will automatically improve your diet and living situation even if it means moving to a different area or country.
Laughter takes you into a different consciousness state. For most the everyday consciousness level is known as the beta wave. This is changing for some of us who are moving towards Self Mastery. When the beta rhythm is engaged only the left hand brain functions and is associated very much with the mundane world and linear thinking. For example organising a meeting, paying the bills or how to get from A to B. When we are in this state for too long life becomes a drag. When we move into other states such as Alpha, Theta, Delta and Gamma, we are in altered states of consciousness where both left and right hand hemispheres of the brain communicate with each other.
Instead of taking part in sequential and mundane routine we become excited about our lives. We become more creative and imaginative and begin to understand the underlying nature of reality. We are able to download higher understandings and knowledge. When we laugh we activate these other consciousness levels. A study done by Loma Linda University in 2014 demonstrated that:
“Subjects who engage in joyful laughter produce substantial brain gamma wave band frequencies (30 to 40 Hz), which, according to other published research, are now known to be similar to those experienced by people who meditate and reach a state of contentment and happiness……”
The Mental and Emotional Benefits of Laughing:
- Regular laughing interrupts old outdated and repetitive negative thinking patterns and therefore those default “pathways” are no longer reinforced. There is then less likely hood of the negative emotional patterns which follow;
- Laughing eases all negative emotions with the corresponding positive effect on the physical body;
- Laughing improves your mood with the corresponding decrease in physiological stress leading to a much stronger constitution.
The Physical Benefits of Regular Laughing:
- Laughter triggers the release of endorphins and our whole body relaxes just as it does after a workout;
- It boosts the immune system;
- Protects the heart – just like a workout regular laughing improves the function of the whole cardiovascular system;
- It is a good pain relief;
- Laughter reduces physiological stress which ultimately has very beneficial effects on the physical body.
The Social Benefits of Regular Laughing:
- Laughing is a universal language found in every race irrespective of social, ethnic, and cultural differences. It brings people together;
- Laughter automatically brings us into social interactions even with complete strangers. It therefore strengthens existing relationships and forges new ones;
- Laughter helps diffuse conflict and can turn a situation around;
- It enhances teamwork and promotes group bonding;
- Regular laughing will keep close relationships intact and help remove the monotony of mundane life.
In a nutshell because of the enhanced effects of regular laughing on mental and emotional patterns the human electromagnetic field will release lower energy patterns in the longer term. This filters down into the physical body as feelings of lightness, ease and general well being. It is therefore very important that we use laughter on a regular basis as part of our spiritual practice.
