LOVING LAUGHTER
Did you know we have a national awareness day for some of the strangest things, checking out the https://nationaldaycalendar.com/march/ it seems “National dadgum that’s a good day” shares the same date as self-injury awareness day on the 1st of March, and my favourite, National “handbag day”, shares the same date as World Mental Health day 10th October. As a Solution Focused Hypnotherapist, these four national awareness days actually have a similar significance, because two of them make me laugh, raising my feel-good hormones, and the other two allow me to explain how laughter can have such a beneficial impact on our mental health. Laughter enhances your intake of oxygen-rich air, stimulates your heart, lungs and muscles, and increases the endorphins that are released by your brain.
The physiological study of laughter even has a name, Gelotology; who knew? I did some more research and found that laughing releases dopamine, oxytocin and endorphins, replacing the cortisol in our bloodstream. Dopamine enhances learning, motivation, and attention; Oxytocin is our “empathy hormone”; when it enters our bloodstream, we get that feeling of relatedness, and Endorphins trigger feelings of pleasure; apparently, people can endure approx. 15% more pain just by laughing for a few minutes beforehand. There are other health benefits from laughing, too, such as improved immune functioning, stress relief, improved cardiovascular health, reduced anxiety, a sense of safety, and improved mood.
Anyone who has seen a Solution Focused Hypnotherapist will know we have fun in our clinics; people often leave the session laughing; that’s because we focus on the three Ps, positive thinking, positive interaction and positive action, all of which help us release those feel-good hormones. I use Solution Focused Therapy in conjunction with Brain Based Therapy; each session begins with your best hopes; this is designed to encourage you to imagine a future where the problem no longer exists; focusing on your preferred future is extremely beneficial and leads to achievements. We enhance this by applying hypnosis. Combining these techniques allows us to understand why our brains work to create many unwanted symptoms and behaviours and how we can harness their powers to make lasting and positive changes. So, let’s get laughing; here is one of the worst jokes I could find to get you started: Two fish are in a tank. One says to the other, “Do you know how to drive this thing?” Have a fabulous day. LOL!