Simply put, Laughter therapy is the art of laughing, voluntarily and out loud.

The act of laughing causes muscles to contract, which is why sometimes you laugh so much it hurts, (that’s muscle fatigue) and the body pumps out feel good chemicals called endorphins to ease the pain, which in turn helps ease pain in other areas, improve healing and releasing stress. So if you’re feeling down, laughter really could be the best medicine.

Obviously, laughing can be done alone, by remembering, reading about or watching funny situations, but the laughter therapy is generally done with your therapist as a partner or as a group so that once you start laughing, it is contagious and the other group members laugh until you form a continuous loop.