"Laughter is the best medicine", as the saying goes. It may be because laughter therapy is so beneficial to our minds and bodies. Everyone feels good when they laugh. It is the opposite of feeling stressed and encourages our body to relax and release endorphins.

​The role of a laughter therapist is to make it easier for the client to laugh. This is often done in a one-on-one or group setting by teaching various techniques to get you laughing. The body cannot differentiate between a real or fake laugh, therefore the benefits are the same. 

​Reasons that laughter is beneficial to our bodies includes lowering levels of stress, improving the immune system, allowing muscles to relax, reducing pain, reducing blood pressure and increasing a happy, healthy outlook. Those who participate in laughter therapy have found a reduction in costs when it comes to health care. They also have healthier arteries and blood flow. 

Laughter therapy has started to become more popular after the success of laughter yoga, a type of yoga that originated in Mumbai. Today, there are over 5,000 clubs for laughter therapy across the globe. Laughter yoga incorporates breathing, stretching, clapping and laughing exercises. The laughter yoga workshop allows participants to experience endorphin release, which makes one feel great and relaxes the entire body. This has a great effect on reducing stress or muscle tensions. It is also a bit of a work out because laughing increases muscle tone and stimulates the respiratory system, all of which help improve the immune system. 

Anyone can be involved in laughter therapy and the settings for therapists are very varied. A session of laughter therapy leaves one feeling overjoyed and at the same time, a little upbeat. Laughter therapy is beneficial in the long run because it allows us to deal with stress or pain in a more positive manner.

​It also makes us understand that laughter does not need to be synonymous with happiness, but can encourage feelings of happiness instead. Patients learn to laugh at anxiety, stress and anger. Even if it is fake laughter, it lifts our spirits since our bodies cannot tell the difference anyway. 

​Laughter therapy can also be applied to our daily lives through various methods. It encourages us to let go of things and to keep life lightly by engaging in activities you enjoy and that reduce stress.

Finding ways of laughing everyday, whether it is a daily joke or sit-com can help improve your life and wellbeing. Spending time with children is another excellent way of encouraging laughter. 

Categories:
Emotional Wellbeing   and      Healing Activities 

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​Dance therapy, or movement therapy, is the use of one’s body movement to help with various issues of health, whether is it is a physical or mental issue. It is practiced in a number of settings such as centers and hospitals. It allows for us to focus solely on connecting the mind and body, which has numerous beneficial effects on our health and recovery. It is a form of expressive therapy that has been found to lower stress levels and raise self-esteem. 

Aside from its mental benefits, dance therapy also helps improve strength in the muscles, mobility, coordination and eases tension in the body. It allows the patients to move around, which is good for the body, and express themselves through dance, which is good for the mind. It is commonly used to treat patients that are dealing with issues of self-esteem or body image. 

Therapists are able to observe their client and help them improve their sense of self through dance. This leads to better skills of communication and opens the door for clients to become more confident in themselves. It is one of the types of therapy that can be performed in a group, which is why they are often available at nursing homes, centers of rehabilitation, educational and day care centers. 

It is no secret that being able to express oneself is a healing step towards overcoming distressing experiences.

Dance therapy is effective in healing because it encourages the combined use of the body, mind and expression in order to let go of underlying pain. It is especially beneficial for those who are not comfortable or confident in communicating vocally.

Various traumas that dance therapy can help us to overcome include posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, eating disorders, anxiety, identity loss and addictions. Many of these traumas leave either the body or mind feeling broken. These experiences tend to be kept in our memory through visuals or feelings, which can be quite difficult to put into words.

Therefore, dance therapy can allow us to express the pain or feelings in another way, allowing for healing to begin. Dance therapy aims to make the client comfortable in their own body and in social circumstances, to overcome memories related to a traumatic experience and to reset their attitude and relationships in life.  The idea is to be able to express yourself in a supported environment, which has a profound effect on body image and ability to trust and have healthy and meaningful relationships. 

​Categories:
 Comfortable Living , Emotional Wellbeing   and   Healing Activities 

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Music therapy is a type of treatment that is often incorporated with traditional medical care. It is the use of music in a specific environment that is used to treat a wide variety of illnesses, disorders, issues and disabilities. The reason music is used is that it has a profound therapeutic effect on the brain and body.

​Music has the unique capability of activating different areas of the brain at the same time and has the ability to affect all kinds of functions. 

​Music therapy can be used to treat all kinds of illnesses regardless of the age or other factors of the person. It is used to eliminate stress, increase memory functions, improve the ability to display and communicate feelings, relieve pain, encourage overall wellbeing and enhance skills of socialization and overall life quality. It uses a variety of methods that are customized to each patient. 

While anyone can benefit from music therapy, it is often used for anyone who is dealing with unhealthy levels of stress, various health, development and learning issues and conditions. Unlike medication, music therapy allows the participant to become actively involved in their healing process or treatment. It encourages focus on ones strengths, which has a positive effect on many aspects of life. It allows the participant to communicate better and therefore encourages self-healing. 

Since music therapy can help heal all kinds of ailments, it is necessary to find a good and reputable practitioner to get the most out of your sessions. Those who experience chronic pain can use music therapy to create positive reactions and feelings in the participant. A good example of music therapy in this case is to picture a woman going through labor pain. Once she uses music therapy, she is able to create positive thoughts that the music promotes. 

It has been found that those who use music therapy tend to need much less medication and have improved blood pressure, heart rate and healthier respiratory system functions. It is suggested that this is due to the rhythmic beats of music that encourage healthy breathing and related functions. Those who use music therapy to deal are better at managing pain and have less chance of experiencing nausea-related symptoms. 

Music therapy is becoming more and more popular so it shouldn’t be difficult to find a practitioner in your area. Music therapy can also be practiced on your own by using various techniques such as listening to music that calms you and encourages positive feelings. 

Categories:
 Comfortable Living ,   Emotional Wellbeing,    Healing Activities,   Healing Music,   and   Sounds And Mantras
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When I felt inspired to take on painting, it was about expressing the myriads of colors and textures!! Because of this, even though I appreciate any nice structured painting- like all the famous art in Louvre, it was (still is the case) not for me.
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I prefer abstract painting, because, similar to life- the interpretation that one finds in any abstract visual work- depends on one’s own inner being. 

When we see an abstract painting, it tends to bring up our deeper emotions to surface. Then, if one is to observe one’s own reaction to any painting (particularly abstract) then you will find that it helps one to identify one’s own shadow and repressed side.

Once such emotions come to light, then atleast we have taken the first step towards addressing our deeper challenges.

Does this help only the observer or also the artist? Actually- both people.

When the artist paints with abandon, then they are creating content from their inner depth by releasing any ‘stuck emotions’ from within - that is how art can and has been used successfully as a therapeutic medium, over the years.

You can check out more about Art Therapy, if you are not very familiar with that concept.
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And then, when one observes such a painting, it nudges and probes and prods the deeper essence within the observer.
Such is the real and true beauty of abstract art- it is truly in the eye of the beholder!!

This is one of my first artwork. It is made with acrylic paints using a sponge.

What do you see in this painting? What do the colors mean for you? What emotions do they conjure up within you? Observer how you feel and see if you can identify your deeper emotions and also your latent potential…

​#arttherapy #healingwithart   #healingart   #emotionalhealing   #catharsis #artjournaling   #artforhealing  #AbstractArt    #emotionalwellbeing   #paintyourwaytowellness   #emotionalhealing   #mentalhealth   #raisingyourenergy  #VisualArt #OriginalArtworkbyMaitreyiGautam  #OriginalArtwork #abstractpainting #MaitreyiGautam

​Art Therapy is a technique where a person’s spontaneous creation of art is used as a means of cathartic self-expression. Such expression and release of emotions improves the person’s sense of well-being.

Which “Art Creation” qualifies? Well, there are no hard and fast rules on this- it could be as simple as drawing or sketching ‘or’ as intricate and challenging as collage-making or sculpting.

​Art Therapy was first used in the 1940s in England. The first practitioners and pioneers of this technique were Adrian Hill and Irene Champernowne. Adrian was an artist and Irene was a psychotherapist. While Adrian was recuperating at the hospital for tuberculosis; he used to paint and thus use his drawing as a means of recreation and catharsis.

​Upon noting these benefits, he started suggesting to other fellow-residents (patients) to take up drawing as a means of improving their sense of well-being. Several of these patients had witnessed the trying circumstances and goriness of World War II and they found much relief by expressing their anxieties and other psychological imbalances.

Irene on the other hand had studied psychotherapy under Carl Jung and found much interest in following Jung’s technique in using art to help patients express their repressed and/or unconscious feelings.

Even though there are several Art Therapy related professional associations and it is also taught as a formal curriculum in certain programs, it needs to be mentioned that the basic cathartic benefits and the sense of well-being which consequently develops from expressing hidden emotions coupled with the joy of creation are experienced by anyone using mere basic principles of this technique.

​Remember Hill’s suggestion to his fellow hospital residents- even simple drawing and/or painting can have a very beneficial effect. The main key element here is the spontaneous creation of art.

#arttherapy #healingwithart   #healingart   #emotionalhealing   #catharsis  #artjournaling   #artforhealing   #emotionalwellbeing   #paintyourwaytowellness   #emotionalhealing   #mentalhealth   #raisingyourenergy