Laughing your way towards better health

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MALACCA: Laughter is the best medicine, they say, and 80 people who were “coaxed” into a laughter therapy session felt the benefits of loosening up right away.

Fun-loving laugh therapist Dr Dhilip Kumar, from the Kevala Centre, spent 45 minutes loosening up the crowd at Dataran Pahlawan Megamall with jokes before getting them to try laughing.

The 60-year-old psychotherapist from Teluk Intan guided them to a laughing session under the “Laughing our Way out of this Recession” event organised by a law firm for several of its staff members, associates and clients.

Stress-reliever: Participants in the laughter therapy session enjoying themselves as they perform the ‘handphone laugh’ in Malacca Saturday.

He then taught participants how to release their energy by leading them to perform several deep breaths while breaking into rounds of “ha-ha-ha”, with legs bent and arms stretched.

Other than practising individual laughs, the crowd also broke into small groups to learn more laughing techniques such as the “teh tarik laugh”, “handphone laugh”, “forgiveness laugh” and “swinging laugh”.

Dr Dhilip said laughter brought people together and removed emotional barriers.

“Many people have not actually experienced a good laugh before, usually due to shyness, resistance or a lack of self-confidence.

“But when someone laughs, it is so beneficial that it exercises the entire body, including the heart and lungs,” he said.

He said laughter therapy was an alternative way of avoiding over-dependence on medication, as it was scientifically proven that laughter reduced joint pains, and heart and lung diseases.

Dr Dhilip, who has conducted similar sessions in Penang, Kuala Lumpur and Ipoh, and in countries like Australia, Britain and Switzerland, said laughter therapy was gaining popularity in some hospitals in the United States and India.

“One must realise that there is no medication for stress. Instead, medication is only to suppress stress and may lead to addiction.

“In trying times like these, laughter therapy should be widely promoted, especially when dealing with stress,” he said, adding that he wished to hold a similar session in a stadium some day.

Consultant Chee Kong Chi, 54, who helped organise the event, said he felt rejuvenated and more alert after a good laughing session.

He hoped more people would come forward to join in their future sessions.