Risotherapy: When Laughter Heals

Did you know that with a good risotherapy session, you can relax your facial muscles, reduce stress and even delay the signs of aging?

The sentences sing, dance or… laugh. Risotherapy is a strategy increasingly used in patients who suffer from emotional or health problems.

If the method explained as such is quite modern, it is obvious that laughter has helped to heal or resolve any type of adverse situation since the beginning of mankind.

Find out more about it in this article!

Risotherapy in history

Human beings have laughed since the days of the caves and since they learned to make fires. But the idea that laughter is healing and influencing the body emerged quite a while later.

• For example, in China, those who followed the Tao philosophy claimed that a smile ensured happiness, health and longevity. They therefore advised laughing several times a day.
• In the Middle Ages, jesters were not only used to support the king but in the courts, it was also believed that they were necessary for good digestion.
• Since the 16th century, several philosophers, physicians and psychologists like Immanuel Kant and Sigmund Freud have asserted that laughter is a psycho-somatic phenomenon which frees our organism from its negative energy and, therefore, serves to better live.

When we laugh out loud, there are between 100 and 400 muscles involved. Laughter is good for emotional and physical health, and it is the fundamental driving force for many people who want to get out of a bad patch.

Did you know that when we are children we laugh up to 300 times a day? Over time, it decreases, until a day comes when we don’t even smile anymore.

Having a good sense of humor increases the immune system and allows us to deal with problems. Laughter is one of the main barriers against stress, nervousness and illness.

If we laugh, we experience happiness and we see things differently.

Risotherapy and its benefits

This therapeutic process of temporary growth uses laughter (among other techniques) to help us feel fulfilled, happy, and satisfied. With just 20 seconds of laughter, the body works as if it were doing 3 minutes of aerobic exercise.

• Using different simulations or activities, risotherapy releases both physical and emotional tensions.
• It is practiced in groups and it is necessary to follow the indications of the specialized instructors.
• Through games, dances, body expression or even massages, the idea is that all participants disinhibit themselves and laugh more or less loudly.

We also work to relax the muscles, eliminate tension and promote natural and spontaneous laughter.

The jokes without offense or the antics that one makes during the session help many adults to adopt laughter as a way of living and especially of expressing themselves.

Some group risotherapy exercises may include:

• Inflate a balloon so that with each breath we can release negative things
• Dancing with a balloon hanging from the shoes
• Practice the different tones of laughter (from the lightest to the loudest)
• Tickling a neighbor
• Listening to a child’s laughter (which is highly contagious)

The benefits of laughter

Are you not ready for a risotherapy session yet? If you need more reasons to make the decision, discover all the benefits of laughter here:

1. Laughter strengthens us

We are not talking about muscles but rather about our ability to cope with diseases.

If you suffer from cold hands and feet, instead of using gloves and socks… laugh! This habit will increase your inner warmth, oxygenate tissues, and speed healing from injuries or illnesses.

In addition, it strengthens the immune system, protects against heart disease and stabilizes metabolic functions.

As if that weren’t enough, laughter cleanses the arteries of fat (great if you have cholesterol), stimulates the production of endorphins in the brain, and balances the hormonal system.

2. Laughter clears the mind

When we laugh, we put concerns aside and it is easier for us to find solutions to problems. We even realize that a situation that prevents us from sleeping is less complicated or serious than it seems.

Thus, laughter reduces stress, anxiety and nervousness, and this affects our quality of life, our relationships and our health.

3. Laughter makes you younger

Whatever marks may appear on the sides of the eyes and lips due to laughter as these are just signs that we have had a wonderful time.

The skin is more relaxed, and you will not have acne or signs of premature aging. And you just have to enjoy a good dose of laughter every day!

4. Risotherapy eliminates all the bad things

Often times, we create problems from trivial things that make us beside ourselves. We fall into the street, the internet does not work on the cell phone, we go back to sleep in the morning or we burn a dish …

Instead of cursing the four winds, why don’t you try to laugh at the situation?

You will see that you will analyze things differently and you will find that everything has a solution. Above all, through laughter, you will be able to understand that a bad mood is only one of the paths that we can take when something happens… but it is not the only one.