I have just completed a Research Study with a group of people who were attending a Pain Management Program at one of our major health organizations. Most of them were in chronic pain and had undergone surgery, or some other sort of invasive procedure, that hadn’t worked. They couldn’t authentically laugh. In fact they could hardly laugh at all. And when they did it hurt. By using the Laughter Quotient Voice App, I could analyze each person’s laughter to find… Continue Reading
Laughter Connects
We just completed our 13th Annual Laughter Conference and Joy Festival on the Gold Coast. It was similar in structure to others but ended up being like no other. The reason remains a mystery, but those who I have asked said that we connected in a way that they had never experienced before. With every Research Study that we have completed there has been a consensus that the people in the groups being studied were so much more connected to each… Continue Reading
Breathe in first…and then, laugh it out.
I was chatting via Skype with a doctor from a UK University this week about the Laughter Quotient. While he was interested in this new and ground breaking concept, he was concerned that I had given away the Laughter Yoga side of things. When I enquired why that could be a concern for him, he stated quite clearly that the breathing, in his opinion, was equally as important as the laughing. His statement was half right because the process of… Continue Reading
The Laughter Quotient and Authentic Laughter.
I was recently asked about the correlation between the Laughter Quotient and Authentic Laughter. If we use the presupposition that “Every person’s laughter is unique and is right for them, then how can a mathematical equation be used to determine someone’s authentic laugh if everyone’s is different”? The answer is easy. It can’t. But what it can do is help to get someone closer to finding it, especially when they say they can’t. At present, I’m conducting a Research Study… Continue Reading
The Logistics and Location of the Larynx.
The larynx houses the vocal folds and manipulates pitch and volume that is essential for making speech sounds. It is situated just below where the tract of the pharynx splits into the trachea and the oesophagus. It is also part of the respiratory system. Humans use the larynx to breathe, talk (laugh), and swallow. Its outer wall of cartilage forms the area of the front of the neck referred to as the Adam’s apple. The vocal cords, two bands of muscle, form a V inside the larynx…. Continue Reading
The Body Language of Laughter.
A look of surprise…bend the trunk…shake the head…clutch the abdomen…slap your thighs. What’s this person doing? Some sort of new age exercise program? Actually if you could hear as well as see them, you would realize that they are in fact laughing. Laughter is a whole of body experience. The Laughter Quotient was created so that it can be administered by a health professional in the same way that a conventional medicine is. The doctor, nurse, or therapist, will be… Continue Reading
Are we avoiding pain or seeking pleasure with laughter?
As humans, we seek pleasure or wish to avoid pain. But which comes first, the chicken or the egg? The answer is simple. It depends on where we are, at any particular point in time. For example, if we are in pain then we want it to stop. And it’s not until it does, that we are in a position of being able to seek pleasure. So when we laugh and do laughter exercises, or attend a laughter session, what we… Continue Reading
What are the benefits of the Laughter Quotient
It’s always been said that Laughter is the Best Medicine. But it’s not actually a real medicine, because a medicine is something that’s prescribed to you by a health professional, or your mum. I’ll never forget the times when my mum would come toward me with a foreign bad tasting liquid on a tablespoon and direct me to “Take my medicine”. The Laughter Quotient was created so that it can be administered by a health professional in the same way… Continue Reading
