World Laughter Day 2022: Laughter is declared as the universal language of love and bonding. It has significance in everybody’s lives because it can turn a negative situation into a positive one. Given the pandemic situation that the world is facing due to COVID-19, International Laughing Day has become necessary to bring together health, happiness and peace in one package. It is also popularly cited that happiness creates positive change around us, that positivity can change many lives and create a sense of universal well being.
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When is World Laughter Day 2022?
Every first Sunday of May is celebrated as World Laughter Day. This year 1st May is the date of celebrating laughter day. The day aims to raise universal awareness about laughter and the many healing benefits that we get out of it. Laughter is commonly associated with beautiful terms such as positivity, humour, life, happiness and emotional well being.
The mental connection between our mental well being and emotional responses are recorded as a state of joy. There are various techniques associated with laughter that generate a sense of well being and promote overall health and wellness.
Why is World Laughter Day celebrated?
The very first celebration can be traced back to the year 1998. On May 10th, 1998 when Dr. Mohan Kataria celebrated the first ever World Laughter Day in Mumbai, India. He was the founding member of the novel worldwide laughter yoga movement.
He was an eminent and popular family doctor in the suburbs of Mumbai and was practicing professional facial feedback hypothesis as part of his work routine. He researched for many years and postulated that the variations in facial expressions directly impacted human emotions, and that’s how laughter and well being can be regulated.
What is the theme for World Laughter Day 2022?
The theme for World Laughter Day 2022 is yet to be decided. If we have to go by Charlie Chaplin’s famous words, “A day without laughter is a day wasted”. When laughter day was celebrated outside the Indian subcontinent, it was themed the “HAPPY-DEMIC”. This called for widespread celebrations in Germany where a massive crowd of more than ten thousand people flocked together at the Town Hall Square in Copenhagen.
Today more than 70 countries participate in the celebrations all over the world. Some of the famous past year themes are given below for your reference:
- The year 2019 kept the celebrations eventful with its perfect theme – “Let’s laugh!”
- 2018 called out for a lively theme titled “World peace through laughter”.
How do we celebrate World Laughter Day 2022?
There are plenty of wonderful ways in which we can take part and celebrate World Laughter Day. Some of the activities are listed below:
- We can join local laughter clubs campaign in our localities and encourage our friends and well-wishers to enroll in them too!
- We can exchange light notes and laughter titbits with people whom we meet on our way. Making one person laugh and shedding their heavy thoughts would heal them to a very long extent.
- Join laughter discussions and clubs online and take part in celebrations over zoom calls or Skype meetings.
- Laughter Yoga is an important form of activity practised on this day. It eases mental stress and tension and makes one feel better and lively. Inner peace is not necessarily achieved by strenuous yogic exercises but with regular practice of laughter and spreading joy.
- Invite stand up comedians to your neighbourhood and organize a comedy night where residents can come and enjoy light moments.
- Showcase your humour skills by posting good jokes, messages, memes on social media handles, including trending hashtags.
- Arrange essay & speech writing contests in schools and colleges. Ideas for competitions like “the child with the loudest laugh”, “the student with the best sense of humour” etc. could be used.
- Make it a point to share at least one joke with your family every day.
- Stress relief activities could be taught to working professionals to better cope with everyday activities.
World Laughter Day 2022 Quotes
Some of the liveliest World Laughter Day quotes are listed below:
- “Laughter releases endorphins and heals the soul without a grin.”
- “Our spiritual doors open only when we absorb the qualities of happiness and joy from within”
- “A chuckle is infectious, it spreads instant joy and ripples happiness waves everywhere around”.
- “The greatest possession of humanity is not wealth; it is indeed happiness and health”.
- “Laughter cuts down the doctor’s bill and is the perfect prescription for sound health and well being”.
World Laughter Day 2022 Significance
World Laughter Day spreads the message of happiness and joy. It makes people more aware of the health benefits of laughing and leading a positive life. Various organisations conduct laughter yoga sessions on that day to exercise facial muscles. It also boosts our immune system by releasing happy hormones in plenty.
The message that we receive one day can have a long lasting impact on our well being if we practice them every day. Laughter day creates the need to build a world on values like love, compassion, forgiveness and kindness. Laughter burns calories and hence helps fat people n reducing their weight. There are many people battling depression and mental illnesses across the world.
Some of them seek treatment; others are inhibited from speaking their problems openly. Laughter day can act as a doorway for such ailing population to open up their minds and express their curbed emotions. They get a channel to voice their feelings.
Benefits of Laughing
Laughter is the best medicine in the world. It reduces the expression of immunosuppressant hormones and enables happy hormones to thrive. It releases endorphins and promotes immunity within our bodies. It is one of the most natural forms of exercise we can practise daily, and we can reduce up to 40 calories when we laugh continuously for an hour.
Laughter reduces the chances of developing brain tumours and other forms of cancer to a great extent. It keeps blood pressure in control and increases memory power. A person improves his longevity by spreading laughter around the world. It increases our social existence, and we can have a good state of overall mental well being.