Laughter therapy and women: 5 reasons why this technique empowers women

Laughter therapy is a technique from which women can especially benefit.

Laughter therapy is a type of psychotherapeutic technique that allows to improve the physical, psychological and emotional state of people through laughter thanks to its multiple benefits.

Laughter is an innate biological response that we can experience as babies, spontaneously or through imitation. As a person becomes an adult, his or her capacity to laugh decreases considerably, due to multiple reasons such as daily demands, worries, stress, etc. We allow ourselves less and less space for play or fun "for lack of time" or because "we are not old enough for it".

At the moment in which a person is immersed in this system of functioning, different pathological symptoms such as chronic pain, insomnia, anxiety, irritability, low self-esteem, among many other factors, usually begin to manifest themselves and it is here when laughter therapy can be used as a tool to eradicate/decrease all these symptoms.

Nowadays many people come to therapy with the need to manage these situations, but in this article we are going to talk specifically about the female gender and why laughter therapy can benefit especially women..

Laughter therapy applied to women

Women are more vulnerable to suffer from emotional disorders due to biological or social issues; they undergo numerous hormonal changes, live through experiences such as motherhood, family-work reconciliation, menopause, and on a general level they are usually more prone to worries, stress, etc.

In consultation we meet many women who feel that they "must" be effective in every possible wayBeing a good mother and work-life balance, growing professionally, looking good, pleasing others, and having numerous worries under control as a result of social pressures, insecurities, the education one has received, the beliefs one has about oneself or about life, etc.

Many women demand more of themselves than they can handle, without allowing themselves to make mistakes.They are constantly comparing themselves, clinging to the past or the future, without any time for themselves, and therefore neglect something extremely important, to enjoy the present, to live life.

What does a laughter therapy workshop consist of?

The main objective is to to connect with our inner child through games, body expression dynamics and techniques that evoke laughter, in order to let go of our inner child and let go of our inner self.The main objective is to leave aside our demanding part, the one that worries, the one that does not have fun and represses itself.

A laughter therapy session is carried out at group level and usually lasts between one and two hours.During this time, relaxation and stretching techniques are applied at the same time, since we exercise numerous muscles throughout the body.

Some benefits of laughter

Here you will find several examples of how laughter is good for our wellbeing.

• Helps to reduce stress levels by reducing the amount of cortisol in the blood.
• It induces a positive mood thanks to the secretion of endorphins (known as the hormones of happiness).
• Improves Blood and arterial circulation, enhancing the proper functioning of the heart.
• Improves the immune system, prevents disease and aids recovery.
• Generates positive thoughts, due to the incompatibility of laughing and thinking negatively at the same time.
• Improves interpersonal relationships, encouraging the generation of bonds and friendships.
• It helps to manage hormonal changes, alleviating the associated symptomatology.
• Physical exercise is practiced, since laughing 100 times is equivalent to 10 minutes of aerobic exercise.

Reasons why laughter therapy empowers women

These are some of the ways in which laughter therapy brings autonomy and empowerment to women.

On the one hand, it allows her to get in touch with her most genuine part of herself, her inner child.your inner child, to allow you to laugh, play, sing, dance... In this way, tensions and worries are released.

In addition, it helps to heal self-esteem by overcoming fears such as the fear of meeting new people, of making a fool of oneself, or of being oneself, thus allowing her to improve her self-concept (the image she has of herself). In the process, it improves social and communication skills.

Laughter also helps induce positive moodsIn this way, it makes it possible to improve the course of depressive and anxious emotional disorders. By decreasing the side effects of stress, the creative capacity improves, and this allows finding more effective solutions to daily conflicts.

On the other hand, through laughter therapy good humor and optimism is trainedand learns to relativize and take another perspective on life.

Finally, through the therapeutic group, affective bonds are generated, feeling that you are not alone and that many women are in similar situations.The women feel that they are not alone and that many women find themselves in similar situations.

Conclusion

Choosing laughter therapy as a therapeutic tool is to give an opportunity to change, to open the doors to optimism, positivity and fun.to open the doors to optimism, positivity and fun. It is the path to happiness and longevity, without neglecting that happiness is not the absence of problems; we do not have the control to change what happens to us but the perspective and attitude with which we face them.

Author: Alba Cabello Rodríguez, psychologist, responsible for the area of Coaching, NLP and emotional intelligence at Psicotools..