Mirth mends.

A pair of Bangkok-based psychotherapists re focusing on the glee factor by orgaising weekly, laughter-therapy sessions to counter some of the ill effects of contemporary urban life.

Chuckling, giggling, guffawing, chortling, sniggerling, tittering. All therapeutic sounds that come straight from the soul. Or that, at lest is what Dr Jitra Dudsdeemaytha believes.

"Well, they do say that laughter is the best medicine," said Dr Jitra, a psychotherapist who is currently head of the Counselling and Human Enrichment Centre at Srinakharinwirot University. Laughing not only helps us relax, she went on, but also boosts the body's immune system as well as its operating mechanisms.

In keeping with this notion, Dr Jitra and fellow psychotherapist Dr Wallop Piyamanotham have been running weekly "laughter therapy" sessions at the college since last October.

So, how does it work? Rather simply, in fact. Every Thursday afternoon, an average of 20 people gather there for a group of "laugh-in" Some of the participants may be ill or feeling under the weather. Some are in fine health but down in the dumps and come along hoping a session might cheer them up. Others are looking for a temporary escape from the stress of their daily lives.

Laughter works the same way as crying does, Dr Jitra explained: A person who has been hurt will often sob or wail or scream out in anguish. The noise he or she makes seems to alleviate the pain, however temporary.

As man of us are already aware, the act of laughing triggers the release of endorphins, chemical in the brain that functions as a natural painkiller. In large amounts, endorphins can create a general sense of well-being. And that's not the only benefit.

When we laugh, we need to breath more deeply. The extra oxygen we take in purifies our lungs and saturates the bloodstream, eventually re-energising our whole body. So, frequent laughing can strengthen the body's respiratory and pulmonary systems which, in turn, enhances our blood circulation and cardio-vascular system. And a good laughter-therapy session can also reinvigorate the body's digestive and gastro-intestinal systems, Dr Jitra believes.

"Often when one feels stressed, one also suffers from constipation," she said. "When a person in this condition laughs, the intestinal muscles, which may have become stiff, move more vigorously. As a result, the digestive system works better."

Other benefits include better functioning of the dermatological (skin), reproductive and endocrine (hormone) systems, she added.

Aside from the physical benefits, laughter is also a great psychological tool to fight the blues. Laugher therapy is thought to strengthen the mind of participants. For, since it is ultimately an exercise in positive thinking, it can encourage them to find something amusing in the situation in which they find themselves, no matter how gloomy it might seem at first.

"It trains people to laugh from the inside," Dr Jitra said. "The mind and body will be in unison. When you feel good inside, you look good on the outside too."

A session doesn't involve watching or reading anything hilarious. After a brief explanation of what is to happen, and the underlying aims of this therapy, everybody starts with a physical warm up-rotating hips, moving arms, shoulders and necks-and some breathing exercises. The then fun begins. Participants are instructed to inhale deeply, taking air in through the nose and mouth, down through the pharynx to the chest, where they are asked to hold it while making the sound "Oh' five or six times as they jog in place. The same steps are then repeated with the other sounds We commonly make when highly amused-"aa" is iterated as participants wave their hands above their heads; "ae" while they rotate their shoulders and "ou" while doing the same with their hips.

As all this goes on, interaction among the participants is encouraged since this is vital for a successful laugh-in A whole session lasts around three hours.

Most beginners feel awkward about the exercises and are initially resistant to doing them," Dr Jitra said. "some feel shy and start out by sitting and watching others practice. But happiness and hood health don't come if you just wait for them, so it's better to do things yourself."

Laughter can be passive or active, she pointed out. If we burst out laughing after reading or seeing something funny, we are playing a passive role because we are reacting to an exterior stimulus.

"Passive laughing is very much equivalent to having a sense of humour; when the stimulation ceases, we stop laughing. Active laughter, on the other hand, means to laugh mindfully, to do it from inside ourselves-and not just because we are receiving a stimulus from outside."

A key factor in this therapy is listening to one's body throughout the process, Dr Jitra emphasized. At the end of each session, participants are told to close their eyes, stand completely still and then try to detect which parts of their bodies are weak, and which strong. If a particular area feels cold it means that an organ in the vicinity is weak; warmth in a body part indicates innate strength.

Participants are then asked to imagine themselves transporting the heat from strong organs in their bodies to cold, weak areas. This visualization is supposed to help the body get back into balance. Dr Jitra explained.

Another objective of this form of therapy is to teach people how to be positive even when they are enmeshed in serious problems. If someone is asked to share with the others in the group in worst experience he or she has had that day, and if that person is then able to laugh about what happened, it means that he/she is learning how to be optimistic.

"A human being is like a car," Dr Jitra continued. "After being used for a while, the car runs out of fuel and the tank needs to be refilled. A human being is just like that. After going through some bad moments during the day, we, too, need to be refreshed."

After just a single session, most participants report feeling better, she said.

"some say that hadn't laughed that much for 20 years. So when they learn to laugh like that again, they really do feel that something has changed."

Laughter therapy can be practiced at home, too. But Dr Jitra recommends that it be conducted as a group activity-invite other members of the family to join in-so as to generate the positive, reinforcing interaction that makes it so effective.

"This will also help tighten the bonds between family members. It's a way for husband, wife, and children to spend time together and learn to smile and laugh together."

Laughter therapy has been proven to alleviate the symptoms of some physical ailments, she said.

"I am not saying that laughing can cure cancer. Certainly it can't. But at least this sort of therapy can improve cancer patient's mental health,; it teacher them how to listen to their bodies and maintain a positive outlook on life."

Too many people these days have to live with a daily dose of anxiety and work-related tension. Some find things so distressing, so difficult to handle, that they lose hope, assuming that there's no way out of their situation, and end up committing suicide or doing other terrible damage to their lives.

"We should learn to think in a more positive way." Dr Jitra counseled. "An optimist always sees things with clearer, happier eyes.

"In a way I think laughter therapy is a form of spiritual healing. For many people, it's a light at the end of the tunnel."