Happiness and laughter has the power to bring change in the world. On the 1st Sunday of May, World Laughter Day is celebrated to bring positive energy to the world and to throw light on the positive emotions that can have a positive impact on your life. It also helps to raise awareness about laughter and the health benefits of it.

Laughter is without any doubt one of the most beneficial functions that our mind performs. From protecting us from the damaging effects of stress to boosting up our immunity, it has many benefits and is considered as one of the best medicines for any sickness.

World Laughter Day is celebrated every year to remind us of the importance of laughter. It is celebrated in more than 100 countries.

Why is World Laughter Day Named So?

World Laughter Day is celebrated every year on the 1st Sunday of May to remind people to laugh and make everyone around them laugh too. The day has been named world laughter day to encourage the people to laugh and let go of stress for a day.

It has been observed scientifically that laughter tends to decrease the level of cortisol in the brain which has a positive effect on the body. It is important when it comes to lifting up the mood or shutting down the overthinking of the brain that is heading into a negative direction.

When is World Laughter Day 2022?

The world laughter day is celebrated each year on the first Sunday of May. This year the day is marked on 1st of May, 2022. People will be encouraged to let go of their worries and laugh with their families to celebrate the day and to relax.

What is the Theme of World Laughter Day 2022?

This year world laughter day will not have any specific theme. People may celebrate World Laughter Day from the comfort of their houses and do something fun for their loved ones. One can watch a comedy movie with their family or attend a stand up comedy show.

There are plenty of online comedy shows that can be booked using different websites and you can even go to meet your old friends or revisit your school or college to have a fun experience.

History of World Laughter Day

The world laughter day is considered as an annual event that is celebrated around the world to raise awareness about the laughter and its health benefits as well as to promote the practice comedy of different community groups around the world for better health and overall well-being.

World laughter day is commemorated in most of the cities around the globe. Thousands of individuals gather on this day to laugh out together. It has been celebrated since 2005 in the city of Los Angeles and has widely spread throughout the world for expressing people’s love for laughter and comedy.

The day was found in 1998 by Dr. Madan Kataria, the founder of the global laughter yoga movement. He was inspired to start the movement as a part of the facial feedback hypothesis that postulates that an individual’s facial expression can impact their emotions.

Now the day is celebrated to manifest positivity, world peace, and to build up the consciousness of friendship and family through laughing together. The day is one of the mostly celebrated events by gatherings of individuals in public places with just one purpose; laughing.

The popularity of the day started growing after 1998 and now there are more than 115 countries with thousands of laughter clubs participating in the laughter movement.

Laughter club members participate in peace marches while carrying banners and placards including “World Peace Through laughter” etc. The slogans of the march are usually “Ho Ho, Ha-Ha-Ha” and clapping and dancing.

What to Do on World Laughter Day? | World Laughter Day Activities

Celebrating world laughter day can be fun and if you are not sure about how to celebrate it then we have got some ideas of how you can celebrate it with your friends, family, and kids.

Laughter Breaks

Working too much can cause stress and it is more likely to increase with more work load. While the workload won’t decrease, stress on the other hand can decrease your overall work performance. So, take some breaks during work, socialize, and connect with your work buddies over a laughter session on a stressful workday. While in the start it may feel like nothing but as the time will progress you will be able to see how it makes you worry less and helps to nurture your relationship with your colleagues and make the environment more fun.

Gradient Laughter

It is really a technique. You can consider it as an unstructured exercise that begins with a silence and then results into a joyful laughter.

It starts to build a momentum which turns fake laughter into a natural and infectious one. This exercise provides more oxygen to the brain and helps you to work at optimal levels while relaxing your mind and body at the same time.

Act Silly

Here is a way to celebrate this day with your kids. You can play with them and both can take turns to make some silly faces or acts by trying to balance books without dropping or jumping like a monkey to pick up things from the room instead of walking. These small silly acts will make them laugh and their laugh will eventually make you giggle too.

Read funny books

There is nothing more fun than reading a funny book. You can enjoy this activity with your kids at home. Books will be a great source of making them giggle while helping them to build a habit of reading books for fun.

Jar for Jokes

You can celebrate World Laughter Day in a subtle and simple manner too. Get a jar and ask all your friends and family members to write a joke and put it inside the jar. You can tell them to do this every time they think of a joke that can make anyone or them laugh. Then during gatherings you can have everyone together and pick up jokes from the jar and make everyone laugh at it.

Learn to laugh at yourself

Use this day as an opportunity to learn how to laugh at yourself properly. Most of us think of ourselves too seriously and get offended easily. Learning to laugh at ourselves makes us more authentic and vulnerable and these are two of the greatest traits that one can have. You can have these traits once you master the art of laughing at yourself.

How to Celebrate World Laughter Day?

You can celebrate this day in various ways. If you want to have a good laugh then you can go to a laughter club. You can see what the new comedians have to offer and if you want to be one then you can learn by taking part in the best comedy acts or by taking improvisation classes.

It is easy to celebrate this day as all you need to do is have a laugh. If you are feeling sad, low, or depressed then watch a funny movie or you might want to try something else. Here are some other ways you can celebrate the day:

DIG OUT THE PHOTO ALBUMS

One of the easiest ways to laugh with everyone is to go down the memory lane. So, you can dig through your photo albums and you will see a lot of the moments from baby photos to crazy hairstyles and silly fashion choices that will bring a smile to your face. You can also take this day to add some new memories in the album for future laughter.

HEAD TO THE THEME PARK

A day out with your loved ones to a theme park will surely make everyone smile. You can go for teacup rides or roller-coasters, scary fun to enjoy the day. You can also click pictures there to save the memories of the day and enjoy it in the future.

SEND A SMILE

You can celebrate the day by sending cards or letters to your loved ones who live in another city or across the world. This way you can share a big smile with them and make memories. Fun cards with special messages will put a hysterical smile on the face of your loved ones and you will be able to share a smile miles away.

ENJOY A COMEDY MARATHON

Line up all your snacks, invite your friends over and stock up all your favorite fun shows and movies to have a comedy marathon with your buddies. It can be even better if you will ask everyone to bring some funny movies or show DVDs with them and you might be able to find your new favorite movie or show.

No matter how you decide to celebrate your day, don’t forget to take a picture and put it on the social media with hasten #WorldLaughterDay.

Health Benefits of Laughter

Laughter has more health benefits than you can ever imagine. Not only it helps us in connecting with others we are sharing the laughter with but also provides a number of health benefits that are linked with laughing. It includes:

Develops a sense of well-being

It is one of the main benefits of laughing. You will feel great and if you laugh a lot then you will become an optimistic person which will impact your life in many different ways.

Triggers the release of endorphins

We all know that endorphins are natural painkillers that your body produces and releases when you laugh. It will help in making you feel good and will ease any chronic pain at the same time.

Boosting T-cells

Laughter helps in boosting the T-cells in your body. These specialized cells in your body just need activation. T-cells are activated whenever you laugh and it helps to fight off any sickness that you have. So, you can prevent your cold by laughing it off.

Cardiac health improvement

Laughter acts like a workout for your cardiac health especially for the ones who aren’t able to perform any physical activity due to any injury or illness. It will make your heart pump more and make you burn an equal amount of calories that you will burn out with moderate pace walking.

Workout for abs

Your belly muscles expand and contract in the similar way it does while you workout, which results in toning your abs. At the same time your other muscles will get time to relax and you can have a better workout just by laughing.

Reduce the levels of stress hormones

Reduction of your stress hormones levels is another benefit of laughing. Laughing helps to eliminate stress and anxiety that impacts your body. Moreover, the decrease in stress levels can result in a relative increase in the immune system performance.

Normal blood pressure levels

While anger can increase your blood pressure and make your blood boil, laughter on the other hand can lower your blood pressure and help to keep it in a normal range. You can reduce the risks of a heart attack, stroke or brain hemorrhage by laughing.

FAQs

When is World Laughter Day 2022?

It is celebrated on the first Sunday of May. This year it falls on May 1st, 2022.

Why is world laughter day celebrated?

World Laughter day is celebrated to help people understand the positive impacts of laughter in their lives and to help them have a stress free day.

What is the theme of World Laughter Day 2022?

There is no theme of World Laughter Day 2022.

Who created World Laughter Day?

The world laughter day was created by Dr. Madan Kataria in the year 1998.

Conclusion

Laughter is one of the best medicines and therapies that can help to eliminate most of the negativity out of your life. World laughter day is celebrated every year around the globe to highlight the importance of a good laugh and the impacts of laughing on your health. Laughter can bring positivity in your life and helps to change your outlook of the world. The day is celebrated around the globe to get rid of stress and to promote positive living routines globally.

Want to read about other important days in the month of May? Then click here.
Or if you want to read about important days of other months of the year, then check out “Important Days of the Year” category.