LaughterDrive

LAUGHTERDRIVE - EVERYONE LIKES A GOOD LAUGH!

This is simply about laughing. The elation you feel when you laugh is a great way of combating the physical effects of stress. When we laugh, our body relaxes and endorphins (natural painkillers) are released into the blood stream.

A laughter therapist’s aim is to help you laugh more easily. Therapy is available in group or individual sessions – these start with a warm-up followed by a range of activities designed to get you giggling. Laughter doesn’t come easily to everyone, but luckily the body can’t actually distinguish between real and fake laughter. So, faking it has the same beneficial effect.

WHAT EVIDENCE IS THERE AVAILABLE TO SHOW IT WORKS?
Dr Lee Berk of Loma University Medical Centre, California, has been conducting laughter therapy research since the late 1970s. In 1989, Berk studied the effects of laughter in 10 healthy males. Five experimental subjects watched an hour-long comedy while five control subjects didn’t. Blood samples taken from the 10 subjects revealed that cortisol (the hormone our body releases when under stress) in the experimental subjects had decreased more rapidly in comparison to the control group.

Berk’s research has also shown that the level of natural killer cells (a type of immune cell that attacks virus and tumour cells) is increased through laughter. These same cells are suppressed if the body suffers consistent long-term stress.

Researchers at the University of Michigan have also calculated that just 20 seconds of laughter could be as good for the lungs as three minutes spent on a rowing machine.

Click on a heading below and see a summary, and if you’re interested you can GO and read more about it

Here are some initial thoughts about laughter. GO!

Here are some facts and stats  about laughter. GO!

This video explains what happens when we laugh.  GO!

See the top 10 jokes from the last 10 years + of the Edinburgh Fringe. GO!

See a form of exercise that will help your health. GO!

See the physical benefits of laughter. GO!

See the mental benefits of laughter. GO!

See the social benefits of laughter. GO!

See how laughter acually can be the best medicine! GO!

See what happens to our bodies when we laugh. GO!

See how you can counter negativity from others. GO!

If you’re a visitor to our site you can join and download information, assess your own health and create your own action plans, and even contribute to our site.  GO!

We have a video and a testimonial. GO!

See what you can do next. GO!

We have some additional information and stuff on this subject. GO!

Some Initial Thoughts

laughter

How to use LaughterDrive

There are organisations who can help you in this area – follow some of the links in ‘More Info’ below. Laughter is a great way of making yourself feel better, and it’s free! Feel free to have a look at some jokes voted the funniest at the Edinburgh Fringe by clicking on the year below – it expands to give you the best jokes.

Who can do it?
Laughter therapy is suitable for everyone although most therapists work with Elderly groups, young people in care and mental health patients are all thought to benefit especially from laughter therapy. If you’re undecided, remember this: children laugh about 400 times a day whereas adults manage a miserable 15.

What results can I expect?
A laughter therapy session may leave you feeling elated and exhausted in equal measure. Muscle tone and cardiovascular functions may be improved, and oxygen levels in the blood may be boosted.in the healthcare profession or in the workplace, where laughter is used as a means of relieving stress.
In the long term, laughter therapy teaches us that we don’t just have to laugh when we are happy. Laughing in the face of anger, stress or anxiety – even if it’s forced laughter – can actually lift your mood. And it’s infectious, so you can expect to see those around you benefiting from a good giggle too. Speaking of which…

If you can’t get out
There are lots of ways of keeping in touch with friends and having a laugh, whether it’s playing games online or doing a quiz.

Facts About Laughter

calories
1

 can be burned by just 10-15 minutes of laughing (Vanderbilt University study)

a day
1 times

is how often on average an adult laughs (Martin RA, Kuiper NA. International Journal Of Humor Research 1999)

times
1

is how much more likely we are to laugh when we’re in a group (Dr Robert Previne)

hours
1

is the longest stand up comedy show ever, by David Scott aka ‘The Midnight Swinger’

 

How does laughter work?

 

Brainstuff explain what happens in our minds when we laugh.  This video in under 4 minutes tells us about how the brain works when we laugh.

 

 

Watch Now

The Edinburgh Fringe hosts some of the best new comedy

Below are some of the jokes voted as the best in their year.  Click on the year to show that year’s jokes.

 Television channel U&Dave on Monday announced the winner of its 15th Funniest Joke Of The Fringe award – for which 15 jokes were shortlisted.

Panellists attended hundreds of shows during the Fringe, listening out for jokes which make them laugh, then submitted their 10 favourites in an anonymous shortlist to prevent any bias towards household names. A public vote involving 2,000 people was then held, with Mark Simmons voted the winner.

His gags have placed 9th, 6th and 2nd in the joke award at the Fringe – and this year he had a second joke on the shortlist as well as the winning gag. Simmons said: “I’m really chuffed to win U&Dave’s Funniest Joke Of The Fringe. I needed some good news as I was just fired from my job marking exam papers, can’t understand it, I always gave 110%.”

1. I was going to sail around the globe in the world’s smallest ship but I bottled it – Mark Simmons

2. I’ve been taking salsa lessons for months, but I just don’t feel like I’m progressing. It’s just one step forward… two steps back – Alec Snook

3. Ate horse at a restaurant once – wasn’t great. Starter was all right but the mane was dreadful – Alex Kitson

4. I sailed through my driving test. That’s why I failed it – Arthur Smith

5. I love the Olympics. My friend and I invented a new type of relay baton: well, he came up with the idea, I ran with it – Mark Simmons

6. My dad used to say to me “Pints, gallons, litres”, which, I think, speaks volumes – Olaf Falafel

7. British etiquette is confusing. Why is it highbrow to look at boobs in an art gallery but lowbrow when I get them out in Spoons? – Chelsea Birkby

8. I wanted to know which came first the chicken or the egg so I bought a chicken and then I bought an egg and I think I’ve cracked it – Masai Graham

9. My partner told me that she’d never seen the film Gaslight. I told her that she definitely had – Zoe Coombs Marr

10. The conspiracy theory about the moon being made of cheese was started by the hallouminati – Olaf Falafel

11. I’m an extremely emotionally needy non-binary person: my pronouns are ‘there there’ – Sarah Keyworth

12. I’ve got a girlfriend who never stops whining. I wish I’d never bought her that vineyard – Roger Swift

13. Gay people are very bad at maths. We don’t naturally multiply – Lou Wall

14. Keir Starmer looks like an AI-generated image of a substitute teacher – Sophie Duker

15. Growing up rich is a hereditary condition. It affects 1% of people – Olga Koch.

London-based comedian Lorna Rose Treen scooped first place in the annual list, compiled by entertainment channel Dave, with a one-liner about a zookeeper taken from her debut Fringe show Skin Pigeon at Pleasance Courtyard.

1. I started dating a zookeeper, but it turned out he was a cheetah. — Lorna Rose Treen

2. The most British thing I’ve ever heard? A lady who said ‘Well I’m sorry, but I don’t apologise.’ — Liz Guterbock

3. Last year I had a great joke about inflation. But it’s hardly worth it now. — Amos Gill

4. When women gossip we get called bitchy; but when men do it’s called a podcast. — Sikisa

5. I thought I’d start off with a joke about The Titanic — just to break the ice. — Masai Graham, who won the funniest joke award last year.

6. How do coeliac Germans greet each other? Gluten tag. — Frank Lavender

7. My friend got locked in a coffee place overnight. Now he only ever goes into Starbucks, not the rivals. He’s Costa-phobic. — Roger Swift

8. I entered the ‘How not to surrender’ competition and I won hands down. — Bennett Arron

9. Nationwide must have looked pretty silly when they opened their first branch. — William Stone

10. My grandma describes herself as being in her ‘twilight years’ which I love because they’re great films. — Daniel Foxx

Comedy critics attended hundreds of shows across the Fringe to create a shortlist which was voted on by 2,000 members of the public.

The award was formally back for the first time since 2019 and was given blindly as the public was not told the names of the comedians in the running.

1. Masai Graham: “I tried to steal spaghetti from the shop, but the female guard saw me and I couldn’t get pasta.”

2. Mark Simmons: “Did you know, if you get pregnant in the Amazon, it’s next-day delivery.”

3. Olaf Falafel: “My attempts to combine nitrous oxide and Oxo cubes made me a laughing stock.”

4. Hannah Fairweather:”By my age, my parents had a house and a family, and to be fair to me, so do I – but it is the same house and it is the same family.”

5. Will Mars: “I hate funerals – I’m not a mourning person.”

6. Olaf Falafel: “I spent the whole morning building a time machine, so that’s four hours of my life that I’m definitely getting back.”

7. Richard Pulsford: “I sent a food parcel to my first wife. FedEx.”

8. Tim Vine: “I used to live hand to mouth. Do you know what changed my life? Cutlery.”

9. Sophie Duker: “Don’t knock threesomes. Having a threesome is like hiring an intern to do all the jobs you hate.”

10. Will Duggan: “I can’t even be bothered to be apathetic these days.”

Even though the joke spotters weren’t there this year, the competition was kept alive by Will Mars, using a bloke called Dave he found on the Royal Mile.

1. “I thought the word ‘Caesarean’ began with the letter ‘S’ but when I looked in the dictionary, it was in the ‘C’ section.” – Masai Graham

2. “My therapist told me, ‘A problem shared, is a hundred quid’.” – Ivor Dembina

3. “Me and my ex were into role play. I’d pretend to be James Bond and she’s pretend she still loved me.” – Tom Mayhew

4. “The roman emperor’s wife hates playing hide and seek because wherever she goes Julius Caesar.” – Adele Cliff

5. “Marvin Gaye used to keep a sheep in my vineyard. He’d herd it through the grapevine.” – Leo Kearse

6. “Getting a caesarian is dangerous in Russia. If they open you up and find a little girl, they open her up to see if there’s another.” – Ben Clover

7. “My grandparents were married for forty years, but everything took longer back then.” – Will Mars

8. “I think Chewbacca is French because he understands English but refuses to speak it.” – Sameer Katz

9. “I don’t know what you call a small spillage from a pen but I have an inkling.” – Richard Pulsford

10. “People say zoos are inhumane. But that’s because they’re for animals.” – Sameer Katz

Owing to the Covid pandemic, there was no Edinburgh festival, so no fringe.  Here’s a list of some of the jokes the comedians WOULD have told at the festival, courtesy of The Guide.

Marcus Brigstocke
“How many fringe performers does it take to change a lightbulb? 5,000. One to change it and 4,999 to tell them their lightbulb-changing act has been woefully overlooked by the industry and got a standing ovation when there were no critics in.”

Sophie Duker
“I’m so sad that the Edinburgh fringe isn’t happening this year. For those unfamiliar, it’s the biggest arts festival in the world. It’s also the most diverse arts festival in the world – it’s got people from literally all over north London.”

Steven K Amos
“Just because you do a bad job once, it does not make you a bad person. My uncle recently beheaded a woman – not a bad person, bad magician.”

Ivo Graham
“I’m amazed Dominic Cummings kept his job – in most Tory governments you get fired immediately if they find out you went to Durham.”

Ahir Shah
“All of my desires in 2020 sound like the desires of someone from 1920. The other day I genuinely thought: ‘I wonder when I will next be in a motor car.’”

Maisie Adam
“I live with my boyfriend and my brother, both of whom I love very much but in very different ways. The only thing they have in common is they’ve both shared a bath with me at some point in their lives. One was a very erotic experience and the other, he did a poo whilst we were still sat in. It ruined Valentine’s Day.”

Stuart Goldsmith
“I live in a sort of creative community up a hill in Bristol. It’s not a ‘gated community’, but it is quite a steep hill.”

Olga Koch
“I transition my summer dresses into winter by simply being depressed in them.”

David Morgan
“I’m gay and I really love it, but I don’t like it when people refer to us as ‘the gays’ like it’s a nationality. As if we’re all from the same country. I can’t really imagine what that country would be like, other than heavily dependent on immigration.”

Glenn Moore.
“I think the next Jurassic World film should be called A Reptile Dysfunction.”

Sindhu Vee
“The biggest downside to very young children is that they are quite boring. Like, they want to show you they love you by talking to you all the time but everything they know you already know. Literally zero value added in any of those conversations.”

Tom Houghton
“I grew up watching musicals. Miss Saigon, Oliver, Les Mis. Because there’s nothing upper class people like more than going to the theatre and watching other upper class people, dressed as working class people, singing about how hard it is not being upper class people.”

Njambi McGrath
“The British people don’t circumcise because it’s cold.”

Sam Morrison
“The most effective way to make a straight man uncomfortable: when one knocks on your bathroom door, say: ‘Come in.’”

Myq Kaplan
“I’m vegan, but I’m not here to tell you that I’m living my life better than you. I’m merely here to imply it.”

Bobby Mair
“I bought a porn magazine called Barely Legal Russia but when I opened it, there was just pictures of men holding hands.”

Flo & Joan
“You’re not a real fan of the news if you haven’t been watching it from the beginning.”

Angela Barnes
“The main cause of climate change in the UK at the moment is Prince Andrew burning all his clothes and documents.”

Jonny & the Baptists
“If I were God I’d spend all my time appearing at Richard Dawkins. He’d never tell anyone, but it would really piss him off.”

Eleanor Tiernan
“I came out just before lockdown. Suddenly I was free to be who I really was … but only as long as I stayed in my room.”

1. “I keep randomly shouting out ‘Broccoli’ and ‘Cauliflower’ – I think I might have florets” – Olaf Falafel
2. “Someone stole my antidepressants. Whoever they are, I hope they’re happy” – Richard Stott
3. “What’s driving Brexit? From here it looks like it’s probably the Duke of Edinburgh” – Milton Jones
4. “A cowboy asked me if I could help him round up 18 cows. I said, ‘Yes, of course. – That’s 20 cows'” – Jake Lambert
5. “A thesaurus is great. There’s no other word for it” – Ross Smith
6. “Sleep is my favourite thing in the world. It’s the reason I get up in the morning” – Ross Smith
7. “I accidentally booked myself onto an escapology course; I’m really struggling to get out of it” – Adele Cliff
8. “After learning six hours of basic semaphore, I was flagging – Richard Pulsford
9. “To be or not to be a horse rider, that is Equestrian” – Mark Simmons
10. “I’ve got an Eton-themed advent calendar, where all the doors are opened for me by my dad’s contacts” – Ivo Graham

1, Working at the JobCentre has to be a tense job – knowing that if you get fired, you still have to come in the next day. – Adam Rowe:

2, I had a job drilling holes for water – it was well boring – Leo Kearse.

3, I took out a loan to pay for an exorcism. If I don’t pay it back, I’m going to get repossessed.- Olaf Falafel:

4, In my last relationship, I hated being treated like a piece of meat. She was a vegan and refused to touch me – Daniel Audritt:

5, What do colourblind people do when they are told to eat their greens? – Flo and Joan:

6, : I’ve got a new job collecting all the jumpers left in the park at the weekends, but it’s not easy. They keep moving the goalposts. – Darren Walsh

7, Trump said he’d build a wall but he hasn’t even picked up a brick. He’s just another middle-aged man failing on a DIY project. – Justin Moorhouse:

8= “I lost a friend after we had an argument about the Tardis. I thought it was a little thing, but it seemed much bigger once we got into it” – Adele Cliff:

8= : “Why are they calling it Brexit and not The Great British Break Off?” – Alex Edelman

10. “I think love is like central heating. You turn it on before guests arrive and pretend it’s like this all the time” – Laura Lexx

1. “I’m not a fan of the new pound coin, but then again, I hate all change” – Ken Cheng

2. “Trump’s nothing like Hitler. There’s no way he could write a book” – Frankie Boyle

3. “I’ve given up asking rhetorical questions. What’s the point?” – Alexei Sayle

4. “I’m looking for the girl next door type. I’m just gonna keep moving house till I find her” – Lew Fitz

5. “I like to imagine the guy who invented the umbrella was going to call it the ‘brella’. But he hesitated” – Andy Field

6. “Combine Harvesters. And you’ll have a really big restaurant” – Mark Simmons

7. “I’m rubbish with names. It’s not my fault, it’s a condition. There’s a name for it…” – Jimeoin

8. “I have two boys, 5 and 6. We’re no good at naming things in our house” – Ed Byrne

9. “I wasn’t particularly close to my dad before he died… which was lucky, because he trod on a land mine” – Olaf Falafel

10. “Whenever someone says, ‘I don’t believe in coincidences.’ I say, ‘Oh my God, me neither!”‘ – Alasdair Beckett-King

11. “A friend tricked me into going to Wimbledon by telling me it was a men’s singles event” – Angela Barnes

12. “As a vegan, I think people who sell meat are disgusting; but apparently people who sell fruit and veg are grocer” – Adele Cliff

13. “For me dying is a lot like going camping. I don’t want to do it” – Phil Wang

14. “I wonder how many chameleons snuck onto the Ark” – Adam Hess

15. “I went to a Pretenders gig. It was a tribute act” – Tim Vine

“My dad has suggested that I register for a donor card. He’s a man after my own heart” – Masai Graham

“Why is it old people say “there’s no place like home”, yet when you put them in one…” – Stuart Mitchell

“I’ve been happily married for four years – out of a total of 10” – Mark Watson

“Apparently 1 in 3 Britons are conceived in an IKEA bed which is mad because those places are really well lit” – Mark Smith

“I went to a pub quiz in Liverpool, had a few drinks so wasn’t much use. Just for a laugh I wrote The Beatles or Steven Gerrard for every answer… came second” – Will Duggan

“Brexit is a terrible name, sounds like cereal you eat when you are constipated” – Tiff Stevenson

“I often confuse Americans and Canadians. By using long words” – Gary Delaney

“Why is Henry’s wife covered in tooth marks? Because he’s Tudor” – Adele Cliff

“Don’t you hate it when people assume you’re rich because you sound posh and went to private school and have loads of money?” – Annie McGrath

“Is it possible to mistake schizophrenia for telepathy, I hear you ask” – Jordan Brookes

“Hillary Clinton has shown that any woman can be President, as long as your husband did it first” – Michelle Wolf

“I spotted a Marmite van on the motorway. It was heading yeastbound” – Roger Swift

“Back in the day, Instagram just meant a really efficient drug dealer” – Arthur Smith

“I’ll tell you what’s unnatural in the eyes of God. Contact lenses” – Zoe Lyons

“Elton John hates ordering Chinese food. Soya seems to be the hardest word” – Phil Nicol

The top 10 funniest jokes of the Fringe

“I just deleted all the German names off my phone. It’s Hans free” – Darren Walsh

“Kim Kardashian is saddled with a huge arse … but enough about Kanye West” – Stewart Francis

“Surely every car is a people carrier?” – Adam Hess

“What’s the difference between a ‘hippo’ and a ‘Zippo’? One is really heavy, the other is a little lighter” – Masai Graham

“If I could take just one thing to a desert island I probably wouldn’t go” – Dave Green

“Jesus fed 5,000 people with two fishes and a loaf of bread. That’s not a miracle. That’s tapas” – Mark Nelson

“Red sky at night. Shepherd’s delight. Blue sky at night. Day” – Tom Parry

“The first time I met my wife, I knew she was a keeper. She was wearing massive gloves” – Alun Cochrane

“Clowns divorce. Custardy battle” – Simon Munnery

“They’re always telling me to live my dreams. But I don’t want to be naked in an exam I haven’t revised for…” – Grace The Child

The funniest joke was chosen from a shortlist compiled by a panel of judges, who saw an average of 60 shows each at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe.

The shortlisted gags were then put to 2,000 people, with no reference to the comedians who told them, who then voted for the jokes they found the funniest.

The judges also released a list of jokes which just missed out on the shortlist.

“I never lie on my CV…because it creases it.” – Jenny Collier

“If you don’t know what introspection is you need to take a long, hard look at yourself” – Ian Smith

“I usually meet my girlfriend at 12:59 because I like that one-to-one time” – Tom Ward

“Whenever I get to Edinburgh, I’m reminded of the definition of a gentleman. It’s someone who knows how to play the bagpipes, but doesn’t” – Gyles Brandreth

“Let me tell you a little about myself. It’s a reflexive pronoun that means ‘me'” – Ally Houston

“Earlier this year I saw “The Theory of Everything” – loved it. Should’ve been called “Look Who’s Hawking”, that’s my only criticism” – James Acaster

Some of the finalists for funniest joke of the Fringe Festival 2014

“I’ve decided to sell my Hoover… well, it was just collecting dust” – Tim Vine.

“I’ve written a joke about a fat badger, but I couldn’t fit it into my set” – Masai Graham.

“Always leave them wanting more, my uncle used to say to me. Which is why he lost his job in disaster relief” – Mark Watson.

“I was given some Sudoku toilet paper. It didn’t work. You could only fill it in with number ones and number twos” – Bec Hill.

“I wanted to do a show about feminism. But my husband wouldn’t let me” – Ria Lina.

“Money can’t buy you happiness? Well, check this out, I bought myself a Happy Meal” – Paul F Taylor.

“Scotland had oil, but it’s running out thanks to all that deep frying” – Scott Capurro.

“I’ve been married for 10 years, I haven’t made a decision for seven” – Jason Cook.

“This show is about perception and perspective. But it depends how you look at it” – Felicity Ward.

The top 10 were:

Rob Auton – “I heard a rumour that Cadbury is bringing out an oriental chocolate bar. Could be a Chinese Wispa.”

Alex Horne – “I used to work in a shoe-recycling shop. It was sole-destroying.”

Alfie Moore – “I’m in a same-sex marriage… the sex is always the same.”

Tim Vine – “My friend told me he was going to a fancy dress party as an Italian island. I said to him ‘Don’t be Sicily’.”

Gary Delaney – “I can give you the cause of anaphylactic shock in a nutshell.”

Phil Wang – “The Pope is a lot like Doctor Who. He never dies, just keeps being replaced by white men.”

Marcus Brigstocke – “You know you are fat when you hug a child and it gets lost.”

Liam Williams – “The universe implodes. No matter.”

Bobby Mair – “I was adopted at birth and have never met my mum. That makes it very difficult to enjoy any lapdance.”

Chris Coltrane – “The good thing about lending someone your time machine is that you basically get it back immediately.”

The top jokes were:

1.Stewart Francis – “You know who really gives kids a bad name? Posh and Becks.”

2.Tim Vine – “Last night me and my girlfriend watched three DVDs back to back. Luckily I was the one facing the telly. “

3.Will Marsh – “I was raised as an only child, which really annoyed my sister.”

4.Rob Beckett – “You know you’re working class when your TV is bigger than your book case.”

5.Chris Turner – “I’m good friends with 25 letters of the alphabet… I don’t know Y.”

6.Tim Vine – “I took part in the sun tanning Olympics – I just got Bronze.”

7.George Ryegold – “Pornography is often frowned upon, but that’s only because I’m concentrating.”

8.Stewart Francis – “I saw a documentary on how ships are kept together. Riveting!”

9.Lou Sanders – “I waited an hour for my starter so I complained: ‘It’s not rocket salad.”

10.Nish Kumar – “My mum’s so pessimistic, that if there was an Olympics for pessimism… she wouldn’t fancy her chances.”

1) Nick Helm: “I needed a password eight characters long so I picked Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.”

2) Tim Vine: “Crime in multi-storey car parks. That is wrong on so many different levels.”

3) Hannibal Buress: “People say ‘I’m taking it one day at a time’. You know what? So is everybody. That’s how time works.”

4) Tim Key: “Drive-Thru McDonalds was more expensive than I thought… once you’ve hired the car…”

5) Matt Kirshen: “I was playing chess with my friend and he said, ‘Let’s make this interesting’. So we stopped playing chess.”

6) Sarah Millican: “My mother told me, you don’t have to put anything in your mouth you don’t want to. Then she made me eat broccoli, which felt like double standards.”

7) Alan Sharp: “I was in a band which we called The Prevention, because we hoped people would say we were better than The Cure.”

8) Mark Watson: “Someone asked me recently – what would I rather give up, food or sex. Neither! I’m not falling for that one again, wife.”

9) Andrew Lawrence: “I admire these phone hackers. I think they have a lot of patience. I can’t even be bothered to check my OWN voicemails.”

10) DeAnne Smith: “My friend died doing what he loved … Heroin.”

laughter yoga

Laughter decreases stress hormones and improves your resistance to illness

The therapeutic effects of laughter have been clinically studied since the 70s, but Dr Madan Kataria – who developed laughter yoga in Mumbai – is credited with bringing laughter therapy into the mainstream. Kataria set up the first laughter club in 1995. There are now more than 5,000 laughter clubs worldwide.

Laughter Yoga explained
Laughter Yoga is a new form of exercise akin to internal jogging that promotes the use of laughter as a form of physical exercise. It was created in India in the mid-1990s. Laughter Yoga owes its success to having greatly simplified and made accessible to the common man the teachings of earlier laughter pioneers who taught very similar concepts starting decades earlier.
It quickly grew as a grassroots social movement of independent community laughter clubs, promoting the ideal of a non-political, non-religious, non-racial, non-threatening, and non-competitive voluntary (simulated) approach to laughter.
Helpguide.org describes the benefits of laughter as shown below.

laughter physical benefits

Physical benefits of laughter

These are:
• Boosts immunity
• Lowers stress hormones
• Decreases pain
• Relaxes your muscles
• Prevents heart disease

Mental Benefits of laughter

These are:
• Adds joy and zest to life
• Eases anxiety and tension
• Relieves stress
• Improves mood
• Strengthens resilience

Social benefits of laughter

These are:
• Strengthens relationships
• Attracts others to us
• Enhances teamwork
• Helps defuse conflict
• Promotes group bonding

Laughter is the best medicine

Ellen Jacob
“Whoever said laughter is the best medicine was right - it's also the glue that holds friendships together. To laugh together at life's ridiculous turn of events makes those events bearable. To laugh at the funny things in life makes life wonderful. The real gift is having a friend to share…laughter with.”

We agree with the experts and it’s true, laughter makes us feel better. As adults we have to do so many things and life can be very stressful. We need to make time to be happy.

Look at the faces on the tube or the train or the bus and see who is smiling – most look miserable; saying good morning and smiling to someone can make them smile back, go on try it!

How many times have we heard Christmas is for children, no it’s not – the child is in all of us – just reach inside and find it. Let yourself have fun; adults are far too serious but we weren’t once upon a time.

Listen to comedy on your headphones or in the car, you will soon start laughing. Laughter is infectious. If you smile at someone then they might smile back unless you live in London and then they think you are weird!!!

What happens to our bodies when we laugh?

Laughter enhances your intake of oxygen-rich air, stimulates your heart, lungs and muscles, and increases the endorphins that are released by your brain. Activate and relieve your stress response. Laughter triggers the release of endorphins, the body's natural feel-good chemicals. Endorphins promote an overall sense of well-being and can even temporarily relieve pain.

Laughing burns more calories?
This means, laughter will help improve your metabolism naturally, which in turn, influences your body to burn more calories and lose weight. Researchers have determined that just 15 minutes of laughter a day can help you burn between 10 and 40 calories, small we know but its better than being miserable.

Why do we cry when we laugh?
Others theorize people cry while laughing because of too much pressure around the tear ducts due to the body shaking during strong laughter. These tears are called reflex tears, which occur when the eyes come in contact with an irritant such as a strong gust of wind or the aroma of a freshly sliced onion.

Laughter is said to reduce the levels of stress
The hormone known as cortisol that is connected to stress reduces and that also lowers the metabolism rate.

Countering Negative people and situations with a smile to yourself and within

We meet people all the time who say they have a positive mental attitude and are working on their life issues. They say I’m fine when I am at home and focused on me. When I interact with people there seems to be a determination by many to burst my positive bubble. Our reply to that is sure there is, there’s millions of cup half empty people out there waiting to hijack you and destroy what you have because they don’t have it. The way to bat away the negative onslaught is to shrug your shoulders, smile to yourself and laugh under your breath. Feel sorry for them and turn around and walk away from them.

For visitors

Why don't you join us?

You can register to join us as a member, when you’ll be able to download our stuff and comment, or as a YouDriver when you’ll also be able to check your health and set up your own action plans to make some improvements.  If you’ve already registered, sign in below. Or let us know what you think.

Magic moment for Del Boy

Different strokes for different folks...

There are apparently 9 different types of humour, according to an article in the Huffington Post. which you can see here.  We’ve chosen one of our favourites!

"Against the assault of laughter, nothing can stand."
Mark Twain
US Author

Next Steps

It doesn’t matter what stage  you’re at – it’s important to be the best you can be.  At the end of the day it’s about taking personal responsibility – You Drive!

It’s really your choice. You can find out more information about the subject, or see other institutions that can help by going to Support. There you will find organisations, training, coaching, self-help courses and other items to support your personal change. We have also started developing a panel of experts to provide info, advice, help and support. 

Get Support

There are times when you need some help to meet your aims –  a helping hand. That might be  an organisation that can provide you with some help,  some specialised information, a particular book or tool to help, or just getting some background reading material.

We have a lot of items which appear on our Drives and other pages, which you can go to by clicking on the picture or link.  Some contain affiliate links and we may receive a tiny commission for purchases made through these links.

If you know of anything which could help you or our other visitors then please click the button on the right, which will take you to a Contacts page where you contact us.

Experts

We are compiling a list of experts who can provide advice, help or specialised services.  You will be able to access these experts from anywhere on our site you see our ‘Experts’ symbol.  Click the green E to see what our Experts list will look like, with a couple of imaginary ‘experts’ added!

More Information

Scroll down to see more information on this Drive. 

If you register you can also download reports, white papers, quizzes and other collaterals.  We will never ask you for any financial information, and we’ll only send you the information you want. You can register for our site either above or in the footer below.  You can provide your own questions and experiences in order to help other members.  We only moderate for spam and inflammatory language – see our moderation policy.

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More information

Laughter Yoga

Daily Laughter Practices for Health and Happiness

‘Laughter yoga is a perfect way to laugh and get exercise at the same time…I’ve tried it, and it works.’ – Oprah Winfrey


Go to Amazon

Laughter Is the Best Medicine!

A Collection of the 1000 Funniest Quotes to Make You Laugh, Relax, and Refresh! (Quotes of Fun and Inspiration)

Want to come in a good mood instantly? Need some funny and uplifting quotes with many of the truisms from our everyday lives? Looking for a gift that everyone likes? Then, Laughter Is the Best Medicine is your perfect choice!


Go to Amazon

Laughter Is Your Lifeline

“The timing of publication is perfect in this troubled, uncertain world and I am utterly delighted that Jo-Dee has offered such a constructive tool to help get us through.”
Dr Lynda Shaw
Neuroscientist and Author of ‘Your Brain Is Boss’


Go to Amazon

Laugh Your Way to Happiness

Use the Science of Laughter for Total Well-being (Unlock Health, Vitality and Positivity with Laughter, Yoga and More)

There’s no feeling quite like the blissful warmth and serene calm in your body after hysterically cackling with dear friends, and in this book, Lesley Lyle will help you connect with the powerful healing gift laughter can bestow!


Go to Amazon

Laughter Exercises

The Great Big Anthology: Five hundred laughter practices for health, fun and friendship

Laugh abundantly, without needing jokes nor comedy. These exercises are designed for Laughter Yoga sessions, and also work as improv games and to boost creativity.


Go to Amazon

Laughter therapy itself can be to provide help with mental health or stress-related issues, and the US based ‘Laughter Psychotherapist’ Enda Junkins has a site with useful tips. 

Laughter Therapy is the UK’s leading provider of team events and workshops

Laughter Association UK provide facilitators to run workshops, events or conferences

All areas of health are interlinked

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Find your initial focus

You might think that physical, financial and mental health are quite separate, and for some people they are. However, often a problem in one area has a knock-on effect on others. Losing your job can lead to anxiety and depression, which can turn you to drink and impact your health.

You might have a severe issue in one area but that can lead to problems in other areas, and the people treating you for the first problem won’t be equipped to deal with these linked issues.

For example, doctors and nurses can treat you for a physical problem but can’t advise you about your job or finances.  Nor for the anxiety that comes with it, apart from prescribing some drugs, which might or might not be the best solution.

We encourage you to take a holistic view – we look at all areas and offer support across the whole spectrum.

health areas interlinked

Even this view of health is simplistic, as you’ll discover later if you go down that route.  You might want to consider overall health, or wellness or wellbeing, which include additional types of health, such as occupational health (how you are in your job).   Then there’s happiness and quality of life – how do these fit?

If you’re interested in that, click the link here to see more information.

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Stuff you might want regarding laughter

Now you’ve read about laughter you might want to make a bit of a statement.  Have a look at some stuff below we think has some humour value!  We may make pennies on commission, but that’s not the point really.  Click on the image to see more details.

Adult Funny Sarcastic Laughter is Best Medicine Diarrhea T-Shirt

Available in many sizes and colours.

Go to Amazon

laughter best medicine tee shirt

Laughter Yoga Laughing Long Sleeve T-Shirt

Available in many sizes and colours.

Go to Amazon

laughter yoga tee shirt

Despicable Me Minions If You Can’t Laugh At Yourself T-Shirt

Available in many sizes and colours.

Go to Amazon

minions tee shirt

Laughter Gin is The Best Medicine 10oz Mug Cup

  • Exclusively designed and made by Gift Base.
  • White ceramic 10oz mug.
  • Dishwasher and microwave safe.
  • Perfect for coffee, tea or whatever your favourite drink might be.
  • This design available on a number of other Gift Base branded products!

Go to Amazon

best medicine mug

Laughter Exercises

The Great Big Anthology: Five hundred laughter practices for health, fun and friendship

Laugh abundantly, without needing jokes nor comedy. These exercises are designed for Laughter Yoga sessions, and also work as improv games and to boost creativity.

Go to Amazon

laughter exercises book

Laugh Your Way to Happiness

Use the Science of Laughter for Total Well-being (Unlock Health, Vitality and Positivity with Laughter, Yoga and More)

There’s no feeling quite like the blissful warmth and serene calm in your body after hysterically cackling with dear friends, and in this book, Lesley Lyle will help you connect with the powerful healing gift laughter can bestow!

Go to Amazon

laughter book

Laughter Is Your Lifeline

“The timing of publication is perfect in this troubled, uncertain world and I am utterly delighted that Jo-Dee has offered such a constructive tool to help get us through.”
Dr Lynda Shaw
Neuroscientist and Author of ‘Your Brain Is Boss’

Go to Amazon

laughter lifeline book

Laughter Is the Best Medicine!

A Collection of the 1000 Funniest Quotes to Make You Laugh, Relax, and Refresh! (Quotes of Fun and Inspiration)

Want to come in a good mood instantly? Need some funny and uplifting quotes with many of the truisms from our everyday lives? Looking for a gift that everyone likes? Then, Laughter Is the Best Medicine is your perfect choice!

Go to Amazon

laughter best medicine book

Laughter Yoga

Daily Laughter Practices for Health and Happiness

‘Laughter yoga is a perfect way to laugh and get exercise at the same time…I’ve tried it, and it works.’ – Oprah Winfrey

Go to Amazon

laughter yoga book

Health Areas in Domains

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Domains

We break down the overall concept of health or wellness into ‘bite-sized chunks’ that we can actually do something about.  The first level we call health domains. 

We like the Life of Wellness site and we have chosen the following domains.

1. Emotional Wellness: Awareness and acceptance of feelings
2. Spiritual Wellness: A search for meaning and purpose
3. Intellectual Wellness: Recognition of your creativity, knowledge and skills
4. Physical Wellness: Need for physical activity and balanced nutrition
5. Environmental Wellness: Positive awareness and impact on your environment
6. Financial Wellness: Debt reduction, cash flow balance or financial future planning
7. Occupational Wellness: Personal achievement and enrichment from your career
8. Social Wellness: Contribution to your community

Health Areas

Within each domain, we have included a number of health areas. These are specific issues that you can tackle.  Within each health area, e.g. Depression, we have built additional information and exercises which you can do to help in the area. You can create your own Action Plan to address this area, and see

Emotional: Anxiety, Compassion Fatigue, Depression, Gambling, Laughter, Narcissistic, Personality Disorder, Sleep, Stress

Environmental: Environmental Issues, Greenness

Financial: Debt, Family Finance, Financial Planning, Financial Wellness

Intellectual: IQ, Personality, Procrastination

Occupational: Jobs for Different Personality Types, Retirement Income, Work Life Balance

Physical: Alcohol, Disabilities, Dizziness, Drugs, Fitness, Food Preferences, General Health, Healthy Ageing, Illness, Nutrition, Sleep Apnea, Smoking

Social: Communication Skills, Communication Styles, Domestic Abuse, Emotional Abuse, Love Partnerships, Mental Abuse, Parenting Styles, Sexual Addiction

Spiritual: Are You Sensitive, Mystical Guidance, Spirituality

Each health area has supporting information and its own questionnaire.

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Understand Health

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Physical, financial and mental health

One definition of health is:

Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. 

The NHS define health as: ‘We use a broad definition of health that encompasses both physical and mental health, as well as wellbeing. This means we are not only interested in whether or not people are ill or have a health condition, but also in how healthy and well they are.’

We believe we also have to consider financial health, as this can easily impact physical and mental health. Click the button to see an example of how these are connected.

 It gets more complicated…

What is Health? How about Wellness, Wellbeing or Happiness?

The Active Wellbeing Society (TAWS) define Health as a state of the overall mental and physical state of a person; the absence of disease. They define Wellbeing or wellness as a way of life that aims to enhance well-being and refers to a more holistic whole-of-life experience which also includes emotional and spiritual aspects of life.  We expand on this definition of health to include financial health and mental health, to make it synonymous with wellbeing or wellness.  

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Health domains

You need to scroll down to see all the info in this popup – sorry for going on so much!

We break down the overall concept of health or wellness into ‘bite-sized chunks’ that we can actually do something about.  The first level we call health domains.

We like the Life of Wellness site and we have chosen the following domains.

1. Emotional Wellness: Awareness and acceptance of feelings
2. Spiritual Wellness: A search for meaning and purpose
3. Intellectual Wellness: Recognition of your creativity, knowledge and skills
4. Physical Wellness: Need for physical activity and balanced nutrition
5. Environmental Wellness: Positive awareness and impact on your environment
6. Financial Wellness: Debt reduction, cash flow balance or financial future planning
7. Occupational Wellness: Personal achievement and enrichment from your career
8. Social Wellness: Contribution to your community

wellness wheel

Health Areas

Within each domain, we have included a number of health areas. These are specific issues that you can tackle.  Within each health area, e.g. Depression, once you have subscribed we have built additional information and exercises which you can do to help in the area.

To close this box and go back click the X at the top or just click outside the box

See which domains you should address

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Having established that we use 8 domains, you need to understand which you should concentrate on.

The 8 are:

  • Emotional
  • Environmental
  • Financial
  • Intellectual
  • Occupational
  • Physical
  • Social
  • Spiritual

 

You can take a questionnaire, which scores you in each domain.  You can decide which domains you are strong in, and which you need to improve.

Another analysis shows which domains you should look at, but also which domains you want to look at.

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Locus of Control

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  • We want to help people in all aspects of their health  – physical, financial and mental. We also provide detailed explanations of how overall health (or well-being) is measured.
  • We believe these things are often linked, so we try and address health holistically. We are building templates, questionnaires and exercises to help you identify what’s important to you.
  • We think people should try and take responsibility for  of their own health as much as they can.  See below for what that means.

People look at things differently.  Some people believe things happen to them, while others believe they can influence what happens to them. Technically this is called the ‘locus of control’.  People can have an Internal or external Locus of Control

So how do you see things?

Psychology Today have a 15 minute test which gives you a summary of your position you can buy the detailed results if you want to.

My Personality Test have a 10 minute test which gives you a summary.

People tend to take more responsibility (locus gets more internal) as they get older.  However, external isn’t always bad – for example if you are physically unable to do some things you can accept it and focus on the things you can do.  This American video explains the concept and gives examples of how this can affect relationships.

locus of control

Internal

  • More likely to take responsibility for actions
  • Tend to be less influenced by others

External

  • Blame outside forces for what happens
  • Don’t believe they can change their situation themselves

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Add your attitude to change - see how you view changes in your life

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Do you need to change?

No matter how healthy you are at the moment, the chances are that there are some areas you could improve. It may be that you have a real problem in one or more areas, and you would like to make some improvements.

At YouDrive we accept that there are many different degrees of ‘not wellness’ in a large number of different health areas, ranging from physical illness such as covid-19 through mental illness such as anxiety through to financial problems like debt.  We try and help where the problem ranges from ‘slight’ to quite bad’ – after this expert help and intervention may be needed.

However, especially in these times, we have to try and make these changes ourselves, possibly with some help from others, whether remotely or face to face.

The thing is, to make an improvement we have to change some things.

This involves changing our behaviour in some respects, and that’s not always easy.

Henry Ford, the creator of the assembly line, is quoted as saying “if you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got”.  

henry ford

Another way of looking at this: “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.” – attributed to Albert Einstein.

Consequently we need to make some changes.  The problem is that we have already developed a lot of habits, some of which we need to break and replace by better ones.  Some of our bad habits have become entrenched, and the bad results they create in turn engender further bad habits to develop – in effect the bad habits can feed on themselves.

We need to understand how we can make changes and stick to them, and that’s what this part of your health profile is about.

It will involve some learning, through reading, some videos and some additional information and also seeing how you react to change currently.

It will also ask you to consider whether you feel you are in charge of your future, or whether you feel it’s all fate.

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Assess your overall health using a health questionnaire

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At YouDrive we try and help people improve their health. We use ‘health’ but we understand there are other terms such as wellbeing or even happiness that reflect how we are doing in our lives – if you’re interested in the different definitions and ideas see our page on the subject.

We want to help whether you have a particular problem – physical, financial or mental – or if you just want to improve some specific part of your life or just make some improvements overall.

You’d be surprised, but there has been a serious amount of scientific work done in this area over the last twenty years.

So first we allow you to assess your current health (or wellbeing, or happiness).  We do this by questionnaire.  Which one is determined by the type of person you are:

  1. You understand yourself well and want a quick overview of your health and wellness, and will drill down in any areas needing work
  2. You want to do a more detailed assessment and then focus on areas you’re already aware of
  3. You want to look at the whole situation in more detail across all the health domains.

By the way, we take your privacy seriously – we collect information that you choose to provide but we de-identify it as much as possible and will never share it with anyone without your explicit consent.

You can then drill down into some specific areas and there are more questionnaires to see your situation in these particular areas.  We provide you with specific information and refer you to other potential aspects of help. Our next step is to build a personalised action plan – for now we will make a suggestion for you to develop your own plan and then after a time you can see whether this has had a positive impact by retaking the test.

In future we will be engaging with medical and behavioural specialists to devise action plans for individual people with specific situations.

We have an overall questionnaire which you can complete which will assess your current state.

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Values, Attitudes and Beliefs

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We all have our beliefs, attitudes and values – these have developed throughout our life based on who we are and what we have done. Let’s look at what these are.

The University of Reading explain: “People’s values, beliefs and attitudes are formed and bonded over time through the influences of family, friends, society and life experiences. So, by the time you’re an adult, you can hold very definite views on just about everything with a sense of “no one is going to change my mind”.

The combination of your personal values, beliefs and attitudes are your moral principles that guide you in life and affect your behaviour. However, your views can wildly differ to others and in an institution such as a school, these beliefs may be counter to the values of the school, child development or indeed the law.” 

Let’s look more closely at the differences between beliefs, attitudes and values.

Beliefs

These come from real experiences – we think our beliefs are based on reality, but in fact our beliefs colour our experiences; also, an original experience e.g. when we were a child is not the same as what’s happening now. Beliefs can be moral, religious or cultural and reflect who we are. They can be rational (‘it gets colder in winter’) or irrational (‘I am never going to make something of myself’).

Attitudes

This is an immediate belief or disposition about something specific. It is a recurring group of beliefs and behaviours aimed at specific groups, people, ideas or objects. They will normally be positive or negative and we will always behave that way to the target group. Examples of attitudes include confidence (I can or can’t do something), grateful (I an entitled to / grateful for XXX) and cheerful (I am generally happy / miserable).

Values

These are things (principles or qualities) that we hold in high regard or consider to be worthwhile or right / wrong. They are formed by a belief related to the worth of something – an idea or behaviour. Some values are common (e.g. family comes first, the value of friendship) or cultural (which the whole community have – see video at Study.com here)

The theory

Links to Wikipedia

Expectancy Value Theory suggests you balance your beliefs about something with the value you attach to it. The Theory of Reasoned Action suggests that beliefs and evaluation about behavioural outcomes determine attitudes, and intentions lead directly to behaviour.

Beliefs

Expressions of confidence – can change over time

Attitudes

Learned predispositions to something – are subject to change

Values

Ideals that guide our behaviour – Generally long lasting and often need life changing experience to change

Iceberg demonstrating implicit and explicit bias – from Owlcation

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A Butterfly Life: 4 Keys to More Happiness, Better Health and Letting Your True Self Shine

Times of change can be a challenge, no doubt! Whether it’s a relationship breakup, job loss, or being diagnosed with a serious health issue. Or you may WANT things to be different, but it feels a little scary or overwhelming. The butterfly reminds us change can be beautiful, even necessary, in order to realize our full potential and live our best life.