How To Laugh Alone

Here are some practical ideas for you to experiment anytime, anywhere with the concept of laughing as a form of exercise:

The best way to cheer yourself is to try to cheer someone else up. -- Mark Twain

1. Decide To Laugh

When you choose to be sad, nobody can stop you. If you choose to laugh, nobody can stop you either.

You don't need to have a sense of humor, be happy or have any reason to laugh.

Life has no meaning. We as humans give meaning to life and what happens to us. Challenging situations of any kind do not mean that we have to become angry, sad, upset, depressed, whiny or adopt any other negative attitude. The choice is ours. Always.

Say yes to life and laughter. Actually just say yes to anything and everything all the time, and mean it. As Patricia Ryan Madson puts it "Accept all offers. Go along with the plan. Support someone else’s dream. Say "yes"; "right"; "sure"; "I will"; "okay"; "of course"; "YES!" Cultivate all the ways you can imagine to express affirmation. When the answer to all questions is yes, you enter a new world, a world of action, possibility, and adventure [...] Life is too short to argue over which movie to see. Seize the first idea and go with it. Don’t confuse this with being a "yes-man," implying mindless pandering. Saying yes is an act of courage and optimism; it allows you to share control. It is a way to make your partner happy. Yes expands your world."

When asked if he could summarize the teaching of the Bible, The Coran, The Bhagavad Gita and all other holy scriptures in one sentence the sage answered "yes, I think I could: You don't know what you are missing."

Just say yes to life and fake it if you have to. Act Happy. Talk Happy. Behave Happy. Think Happy. Ignore the negative. Focus exclusively on whatever is positive in your life (even if all you have to be happy for is the fact that your wrinkles don't hurt.) Become an expert at inverse paranoia: believe that everybody is out there to help and love you.

2. Experience group laughter sessions as often as you can.

• Click here to learn more about the Laughter Yoga method of laughter exercises
• Click here to find a Laughter Club near you.

3. Just fake it

Here are some of many ways to prepare for free-flow laughter on your own:

1. Make a broadest possible grin/smile without a sound (and mouth firmly shut) for a few minutes. Better still: do this in front of a mirror smiling at yourself. It is important that you do not fake this smile! A fake smile only engages the muscles of the mouth. A true smiles engages both the muscles of the mouth and the eyes (pars lateralis).
2. Open your mouth wide (gently!) doing a very subdued long, deep laughter almost like a whisper, again for a few minutes. Do this in front of a mirror if you have one handy and don't forget to make your eyes smile.
3. Start your laughter engine! Insert an imaginary ignition key into your belly button and crank it in 4 laugh! (ha! ha ha! ha ha ha! then truly let it out...)
4. Breathe in deeply…then throw your hands up in the air and laugh very loudly with abandon for as long as is comfortable to you. Repeat at least for two three minutes (don’t look at your watch! End the exercise when you feel like it or tears start flowing from your eyes).
5. Playfulness leads to laughter, and laughter leads to playfulness. Try this: look at yourself in a mirror and make your left hand laugh (i.e. do whatever you think your hand would do if it could laugh on its own) and accompany the movement with a vocal "ha ha ha". Great! Now make your right hand laugh. Next comes the left elbow, the right, the left shoulder, the right, your head, your hips, your knees, your ankles, your feet, each in turn. End up by shaking your whole body as if every part was laughing uproariously. You can play some upbeat music to help you with it. Unless you are super uptight that should at least make you smile.

4. Seek Outside Stimuli

• Seek laughing people
• Collect toys and play with them!
• Laugh along with strangers
• Laugh with children (visit your local playground) or even better, a baby
• Play with small animals
• Visit our fun zone
• Watch funny movies: AFI's List Of 100 Funniest American Movies Of All Time
• Watch inspiring movies: AFI's List Of 100 Most Inspiring Films Of All Time

5. Creatively Approach Stress Management

Become a smile millionaire, just because.

Play with laughter cues (finish all your sentences with "Ha Ha Ha" or "Tee Hee Hee"). A great application of this is to share your embarassing moments and then say "ha ha ha".

Get Some Perspective: see small annoyances for what they really are - just small annoyances. To put a stressful situation into perspective, first try visualizing it getting completely out of control to an absurd degree. Exaggerating your predicament helps you differentiate a small annoyance from a life-threatening problem and allows you to find the humor in the situation.

Another tactic is to write about the stressful situation with a funny slant. Start by simply writing about the problem. Then ask your self: What's a simple solution to my situation, and what's the most ridiculous? Write about both. Your imagination is bound to push a laugh button. Putting your thoughts on paper also allows you to gain some distance from the event, and it gives you the opportunity to revisit the humorous scenario the next time a similar situation occurs.

Express Yourself: state your frustration out loud while doing something silly (e.g. jump on one foot 3 times and then twirl around. Adding a playful element to any charged situation helps counteract stress.)

Shout a positive motto during your most stress-filled moments (this may work best when you're alone.) For instance, you're in your car, stuck in traffic, and you have an appointment in 10 minutes. Rather than blame the drivers around you for everything wrong in your day, shout "I'm so happy" or "I'm really in love with life"

Pull out the props: breathe your stress out into a balloon, write it on a piece of paper and burn it, wear a clown nose, transfer your negativity to a plant (it will know how to recycle it.)

6. Experience Childlike Playfulness

Act silly
Ask lots of questions
Be a clown
Be a kid at heart
Be a smile millionaire
Be, do, and sing dobedobedo
Blow bubbles
Build sand castles
Climb trees
Collect rainbows
Dance
Dance funky
Daydream
Do a belly flop contest
Do nothing
Doodle
Draw and paint
Draw cartoons
Enjoy having a body
Fall down and get up again
Feel happy
Find out how things work
Fly kites
Get really exited about everything, just for fun
Get new sneakers
Give Gag gifts
Give up worry, guilt and shame
Go barefoot
Go on adventures (in doubt, just “go”. Void does not exist. Something will happen.)
Have a comedy night
Have a food fight (click here to watch an example)
Have a funny toy throwing contest (i.e. rubber chicken)
Have a merry heart
Have a pillow fight
Have a Water fight
Have pillow fights
Have theme days
Hold hands
Hug and kiss
Jump in mud puddles
Just show up
Laugh a lot
Learn new stuff
Listen to music
Look at the sky
Make funny faces
Make funny Sound effects
Make mistakes
Make new friends
Make up new rules
Play Charades
Play under the covers
Play with toys
Put on a puppet show
Read children books
Read Comics
Recollect your most embarrassing moment ending each sentence with "ha ha"
Ride bicycles
Say hello to everyone
Say the magic words
Say yes
See things differently
Sing in the shower
Skits
Slip-n-slide
Smell flowers
Smile
Speak pig Latin
Spend time with a baby
Start anywhere
Stay innocent
Stay up late
Stop along the way
Surprise someone
Take bubble baths
Take care of each other
Take naps
Talk with animals
Tell silly tales & stories
Tell stories
Trust the universe
Try face & finger painting
Try juggling (play!)
Try Karaoke
Try lip synch (cut out the sound of your TV and make up the dialogues yourself)
Walk in the rain
Wander around
Watch funny movies (click here for a suggested list)
Watch funny/silly pictures (i.e. baby pictures)
Watch the moon and stars come out
Wear 2 different shoes or sox
Wear funny costumes
Wear funny noses
Wear silly hats

7. Practice!

Try Gaga Barnes' daily laughter session on the phone. Every day at 9 AM PST on the conference line. Call in 712.432.3900 (Iowa). The access code is 6071292#. Duration= about 20 minutes. Free. Please do not disrupt that call by asking questions. just go along and laugh as directed.

Laughter Yoga is not a substitute for proper medical consultation for physical, mental and psychological illnesses and may not be suitable for everyone. It is contra-indicated for people suffering from uncontrolled high blood pressure, heart disease, epilepsy, any kind of hernia, severe backache and major psychiatric disorders. This list is for guidance only and is not meant to be exhaustive. If in doubt, do not try it, and consult your trained medical professional for guidance. Anyone already undergoing physician-prescribed therapy should seek the advice of his or her doctor before reducing the dosage or stopping such treatment. Even a normal person experiencing discomfort while laughing, must discontinue immediately and seek expert medical help. Please use your common sense: no strain, no new pain.