Laugh Your Way to Wellbeing – Even If There’s Nothing Funny Going On

We’ve all heard laughter is the best medicine.

Even if there’s nothing funny to laugh about, It’s true.

Laughter brings physical health benefits to active adults. Laughing is good for the cardiovascular system, muscular development – and it even releases those yummy endorphins often described as a “runner’s high.”

Now research shows that simulated laughter is just as good as laughing at a good joke or comedy show. You can fake it and still take all the same benefits.

Master trainer Celeste Green started LaughActive to teach exercise coaches in assisted living facilities how to bring these benefits to their residents. Too many of them don’t exercise at all or enough, with many saying it’s not fun or social enough.

So, Green took her master’s degree in gerontology to develop her training protocol. It offers great inspiration for people in plenty of group training situations, not just those who are in assisted living centers.

“Simulated laughter may be ideal for older adults with functional or cognitive impairments,” she says. “The mental stimulus required for humor takes a high mental function, like paying attention and having a quick memory. But with self-initiated laughter, people don’t have to ‘get the joke’ to reap the benefits of laughter.”

Celeste says it’s all backed by science and aims to improve strength, balance, endurance and flexibility.

And the self-induced laughter among groups almost always leads to the real thing.

Try it sometime!