For me, laughter is a necessity for fully living. Laughter brings me inordinate pleasure, is a welcome respite from the everyday routine and occasionally serves in a healing capacity. In my family of origin, loud and boisterous laughter was a natural occurrence; as a result, my two sisters and I continue to carry forth that tradition. My youngest sister, so enamored with laughing, married a man with the last name “Laffey” and became Leah Laffey. Can’t get much funnier than that.
When I think back to how I was first introduced to laughter outside of my family, my first summer camp experience comes to mind. As a seven year old girl, away from home for the first time, I found this activity incredibly magical and couldn’t wait to share it with my family and friends. The counselors led about 30 of us – a bunch of straggly young girls- to an open field. Then one by one they asked us to lie down, positioning each of our heads on the tummy of the person in front of us. Once we were all in place, they insisted the first person shout “Ha” and asked us to follow in sync, one by one. Once that round was completed, we were asked to add another “ha” to the mix and as each round concluded, we would add another “ha.” For anyone who has engaged in this activity, it is next to impossible to keep from laughing. Once you begin feeling the jiggling of the person’s tummy on the back of your head, you are toast; laughing uncontrollably. If you have not yet experienced this activity, I recommend you to try it out before this summer’s end. 
Throughout my life’s journey, I have been most attracted to individuals who enjoy laughing loudly. In college, my best friend and I were asked to leave the student lounge because our laughter was so loud, we were disturbing students in a class behind closed doors. Rather than this incident being a onetime occurrence, I have found myself in similar situations when my laugh has been frowned upon; then again, I have also found the opposite – because my laugh is so pervasive, others nearby have found themselves giggling and laughing for no apparent reason.
Over the past 20 years, laughter’s value has increased exponentially. Norman Cousins, who penned Anatomy of an Illness, describes in detail how he made use of laughter therapy to cope with crippling pain and illness by watching “Candid Camera,” Marx Brothers movies and listening to his nurse read humorous books.
“I was greatly elated by the discovery that there is a physiologic basis for the ancient theory that laughter is good medicine. It has always seemed to me that hearty laughter is a good way to jog internally without having to go outdoors,” declared Cousins. He found that 10 minutes of genuine belly laughter had an anesthetic effect and would give him at least two hours of pain-free sleep.
Patch Adams, the physician Robin Williams portrayed in a movie several years ago, promotes laughter as healing around the world to children and adults of all ages, appearing with his big red clown nose and gigantic underpants. Laughter yoga has plenty of buzz around the globe and the emphasis on the integration of comedy into our daily lives continues to blossom. 
How’s your laugh this summer? We anticipate receiving a slew of photos of your wide-mouthed grins over the next few days.