Maxim and I want to make this blog as interesting (as well as valuable) as possible, so from time to time we’ll post amusing videos and maybe even a joke or two. Maxim is an inveterate joker BTW so watch out! Did you know that one of the very best ways of reducing stress is to laugh? There are even laughter clubs all over the world. Just as most of us recognize the importance of regular exercise to maintain good physical and emotional health, you’ve probably never given much thought to a practice which specifically exercises your emotions? The health benefits of this very silly and infectious New Age pastime as a way of managing stress are legion.

I first came across laughter as a therapeutic treatment, delivering the ‘feel good factor’ and in particular helping to relieve the effects of stress, many years ago when I lived in India, and waddya know, this seems to be where the earliest laughter clubs first appeared! I wonder if there is any connection. I’ll tell you more one day about The Mystic Rose meditation once we’ve gotten you used to the idea of laughing for half an hour every so often, as its pretty extreme, but the upside is Radical Transformation. If you feel you’re ready for a far-reaching emotional makeover, I’ll be posting an article about it shortly.

Dr. Madan Kataria, is an MD from Mumbai, India and is widely known as the ‘Guru of Giggling’. While researching the health benefits of laughter, he was amazed by the number of studies showing the important psychological and physiological advantages of laughing, particularly for managing stress. Looking for a way to deliver these benefits to his patients and other people, the upshot is Laughter Yoga, a unique exercise routine that combines group laughter exercises and yoga breathing. They are well aware of how hard it is to laugh when you don’t feel like it at all but they use the ‘fake it till you make it’ system…and the result is pretty darn amusing as you’ll see below.

I feel sure we’ll keep coming back to laughter as a stress management technique because it’s free and practically instant, but more than that, it helps you have a Class One experience… meaning that it feels good, it’s something that does you good and it does the same for others too since laughter and its positive effects can be pretty contagious. Just remember that sometimes you also need to be appropriate i.e. watch where you make use of it; but then again we could start a laughter epidemic to combat the stress one! Let me know what you think.

Be writing for you again soon but in the meantime I hoped you might enjoy this video.

No disrespect but Indian people are so engaging when they celebrate and laugh…