ELSEVIER Patient Education and Counseling 26 (1995) 367-371

The transforming force of laughter, with the focus on

the laughing meditation

Dhyan Sutorius
Centre in Favour of’ Laughter Seer., Jupiter 1007, NL-I 115 TX Duivendrecht. The Netherlands

Abstract

Laughter is a very specialphenomenon.Unfortunately, its (psycho)therapeuticvalue is underestimatedand its

transforming force is not usedto its full extent. Next to spontaneouslaughter, there is also a laughingmeditation,
a structured exerciseof 15min with 3 stages:stretching, laughing(and/or crying), silence.The laughing meditation
can be usedas‘adjuvans’in all kinds of therapy and, in other situationsit enhancesthe coping with all of life’s woes.
This can be done alone or in any group. It facilitates the viewing of problemsfrom another angle and it makeslife
lighter. Responsesfrom participants indicate a deep relaxation, a feeling of being ‘whole’, a feeling of being
‘unburdened’,I feel my tears or I feel sad, a feeling of acceptanceof the present.

Keywords: Laughing meditation; Laughter; Coping; Acceptance

1. Introduction The laughing meditation is not therapy. It is

Laughter is a very special phenomenon. Unfor-
tunately, its (psycho)therapeutic value is underesti-
mated and the incredible transforming force, hidden
in laughter, is not used to its full extent. Everybody
has experience with laughter, spontaneous laughter
after jokes and funny or other situations. Laughter
is a unique human phenomenon. Francois Rabelais
said ‘le rire est le propre de l’homme’ which
translates to ‘laughter is the characteristic of the
human being’. We wish to draw your attention
to the laughing meditation. This is a structured
exercise of 15 min with 3 stages: stretching all
the muscles, laughing (and/or crying), silence.
a meditation exercise which can be done by
almost everybody who likes to do this, but it can
be - as laughter is so healthy - very thera-
peutic. It is possible to use this as adjuvans in
all kinds of therapy and, in other situations it
can enhance the coping with all of life’s woes.
After an initial training in general medicine, the
skin, the largest human organ, took my inter-
est and I specialized in dermatology. Like the
eyes, the skin is the mirror of the soul. The french
poet Paul Valery has said: ‘Ce que l’homme
a de plus profond, c’est sa peau!’ which trans-
lates to ‘the deepest that the human being has,
is his skin!’

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368 D. Sutorius 1 Patient
Treating patients with all kinds of sometimes
chronic skin diseases, we focussed on the feelings
they had concerning their skin condition, next to
the dermatological therapy, and they were encour-
aged to accept whatever feelings they had at that
moment.
The moment someone totally accepts those feel-
ings, it helps to cope with all the problems of the
skin disease and enhances the total acceptance of
the skin condition. That does not mean that the
patches or pimples are gone, but the patient looks
differently at it. To help this process, I let them do
a 15-min relaxation exercise daily lying on bed
with their hands on the belly, with closed eyes, all
the time fully aware of their feelings in that very
moment.
In 1976, I learned - among other things -
the laughing meditation from Osho [l]. Since
1978, I conduct this at all kinds of medical or
other congresses and meetings in different coun-
tries, sometimes with more than 800 laughers. The
Centre in Favour of Laughter was founded in
1985 and ‘laugh-shops’ that focus on the laughing
meditation are currently conducted.
Laughter brings you in no time to this moment,
in the here and now. When you meet someone,
when you have to talk to someone then it is
important that you are at your base, in your
centre, in your belly. Then you are able to make
good contact with each other, and whatever you
have to do or to deal with, with that person, will
be easier to do. Laughter helps you to arrive at
and to stay in your centre.
The ‘laughing muscles’ are in general rather
rigid, but will get more and more trained if you
laugh more often, even in the structured way of
this laughing meditation. After a few days, you
feel that every time you do this, it will be easier
and easier to do. And also during the day you
laugh more and difficulties which you encounter
that day will be not so difficult to deal with as
usual.
Meditation can be described as ‘awareness
without thinking’ or to be in a ‘no-mind’. That is
possible in many situations when you do things
totally. It can happen when you are running or
dancing. It can also occur in other situations, for
example washing the dishes, or working in the
garden.
Educ. Counsel. 26 (1995) 367-371
The laughing meditation is a morning medita-
tion, but it is also possible to do it later, for
instance, before lunch or dinner. It can be done
alone or with the ‘other’ in the mirror or with any
group of participants.
2. Instructions for the laughing meditation
(1) Allow yourself to laugh without a reason.
(2) You may use any reason or situation, which
lets you laugh. (3) If this does not help, then it is
also possible to make a ‘top 10’ of your favourite
problems, in such a way that the heaviest problem
you have right now in your life is your favourite
problem number 1, and so on and so forth. This
can be a first class trigger!
If you can laugh ‘with’ your favourite problem
number 1, totally accepting that it is as it is,
suddenly you look at it from a different angle, in
perspective with all other things in life and you
feel that it is actually not that heavy! Laughter
transforms it, laughter makes things lighter in life.
Sometimes I feel it myself as if I dive from the
‘hell’ in my head, into the ‘paradise’ in my belly!
It is better to laugh with someone or something
than to laugh at or about someone or something,
placing yourself on a pedestal. To ‘laugh at’ or to
‘laugh about’ is cold and unpleasant, to ‘laugh
with’ is hearty, warm and accepting. That is why
it is so pleasant to laugh with friends, with chil-
dren, with colleagues or with grandma. It is all
heart energy!
As laughter and crying are very close, it is
possible that in the second stage your laughter
suddenly turns into crying. If that happens, enjoy
the crying, cry with all your energy from your
belly, till the crying finishes by itself, and then you
start actively laughing again. So you may also
laugh with your tears or cry with your laughter.
We all learn very, very young to swallow in tears
and later - even before you felt that you wanted
to cry - you already swallowed in those tears.
‘If you can cry and allow your total being to go
into it and dissolve into it, you will have a totally
different quality of laughter arising in you. Allow
it....it is beautiful!’ (Osho [l]). Be total in every
second of this short meditation, without forcing
it. Stay all the time in the moment. You are your
own witness if you use all your energy or not.
 D. Sutorius I Patient
3. Stages of the laughing meditation
3.1. First Stage: stretching, total stretching
For 5 min, use all your energy to stretch your
muscles and if possible start yawning. While
stretching it is good to breathe out. In the last
minute of this first stage, you stretch your fingers
and your face muscles by making funny and
strange faces, but do not laugh yet, because this
stage is just for stretching!
3.2. Second Stage: laughing and/or crying
With a relaxed throat you smile and slowly,
slowly you start laughing, without any forcing, till
you have a really heartfelt belly laugh (5 min).
Focus all the time your awareness on what there
is in the moment, and whatever you feel in that
very moment laugh with that. It is more a matter
of allowing and of letting go. Letting-go is the
secret of meditation. Especially in the first minute
let it build up slowly, and just let it happen. No
forcing at all, ‘allegro ma non-troppo’, no scream-
ing, no yelling, no doing, only laughing and/or
crying, not from the throat, but from the belly.
Just let your belly bubble, let it be a belly ballet!
If you have any other feeling, for instance
anger, then use the total energy of that other
feeling to laugh or to cry with it. In the last
minute of this stage, close your eyes and continue
laughing.
3.3. Third Stage: silence
Suddenly stop laughing and keep your eyes
closed (5 min). Let your whole body be still
without any movements. The slightest unneces-
sary movement will change your state of con-
sciousness. Breathe without any sound and
without controlling the rhythm of your breathing.
Just let it happen. Listen to sounds inside yourself
and stay always in the moment. Every time when
you find yourself thinking, say a ‘good bye!’ to
those thoughts. Focus all the time, with closed
eyes, your awareness on (1) your body, (2) the
contact with Mother Earth through your feet, and
(3) also on the feelings you have in that very
moment. Whatever you feel, whatever it is, feel a
‘Yes’ to that.
Educ. Counsel. 26 (1995) 367-371 369
4. Remarks on the laughing meditation
It is important to realize that you have to
overcome a kind of a shyness, to go really totally
into your laughter. Usually to burst out in loud
laughter is not done, and you hold sometimes
even your hand in front of your mouth: Ho Ho
Ho! During the laughing meditation, it is just
expected to burst out in laughter. In a laughshop
I let the participants also sing out loud, as a
preparation, this can help to reduce this shyness,
to go really in their energy.
Some remarks about laughter which does not
stop: in German ‘slapplachen’, in French ‘le fou
rire’, in English ‘hysterical laughter’, in Dutch
‘slappe la&‘. Sometimes people keep on laughing,
but it means they do not want to stop laughing. If
you really want to stop for 100% then you can.
This third stage of the laughing meditation: the
sudden silence is the big difference with all the
other laughter and your whole awareness is
needed to be present in the moment.
If you cannot laugh, then accept totally that
you cannot laugh. If you accept that totally, you
start laughing or crying. The key of this medita-
tion is always to focus your awareness on that,
what is there for you in that very moment and
whatever there is, laugh (or cry) with it! The
laughing meditation has nothing to do with hu-
mour, still it is rather funny to do it. In the
beginning some people who in normal life have no
trouble with laughter, have difficulties to start the
laugher in this way. The main thing is to accept
those difficulties and to laugh with that. After a
few days it will be easier and easier. Laughter has
everything to do with acceptance - the moment
you totally accept yourself, the other or the situa-
tion you are in, you can laugh.
If someone gets some insights about how he or
she behaved in a certain, sometimes difficult, situ-
ation, then quite often a roaring laughter emerges
from the belly. It is also possible to do this the
other way around: starting with laughter,.... and
the insights will follow as shadows!
Laughter is deep cleansing, each cell of your
body vibrates. Laughter creates a profound relax-
ation. ‘When you have a really heart-felt belly
laugh, all parts of your being - the physiologi-
370 D. Sutorius / Patient Educ. Counsel. 26 (1995) 367-371
cal, the psychological, the spiritual - they all
vibrate in one single tune, they all vibrate in
harmony!’ (Osho [l]).
5. Some responses of participants
Several participants described some responses:
(1) a deep relaxation, (2) a feeling of being
‘whole’, (3) a feeling of being unburdened, (4) a
feeling of peace, (5) the pain is gone or the pain is
less, (6) I feel my tears or I feel sad, (7) I feel as
if I took a shower inside myself, (8) a feeling of
acceptance: a huge ‘Yes!’ for what is now, for
what I have now, for what I am now!
Henriette Adama van Scheltema, a Dutch lady,
who is trained by Elisabeth Kiibler-Ross, M.D.,
wrote a book ‘Dead is no more dead, my experi-
ences with dying’ [2]. In this book, she also de-
scribes briefly her experiences with the laughing
meditation, which I once conducted in a church,
at the 10th anniversary of a medical centre in
Zeist in the Netherlands: ‘After 5 min being silent
(the third stage of the laughing meditation), with
closed eyes, we all find one word that expresses
our feelings. I feel ‘surprised’. I do not have
special thoughts and feel pleasant sitting next to
my friend. The pain that I got in the joints of my
fingers, by trimming a rosebush, is suddenly gone.
I feel energy streaming through me. My friend
feels heavy and tired and she got a headache.
(Note: this friend oppressed her tears all the time,
instead of enjoying the tears coming out! Sutorius
[3]). With such a totally different experience, we
leave the church. I decide to laugh more. That
helps me surely on my way. It is almost dancing!
Then I think of the 44-year-old man, dying, with
whom I sometimes can laugh uncontrollably. In
that moment there is no past, no future, dying is
gone for a moment. As if he feels guilty, he then
whispers: ‘you know, in my whole life I have
never laughed so intensely and enjoyed being
together as now!”
One of the goals of the Centre in Favour of
Laughter is that this laughing meditation will be
done everywhere where there are people at offices,
schools, universities, in hospitals, factories, in
families, with friends and so on. We hope that in
the future it often will be heard: ‘Do you go for
lunch?’ ‘Not yet, I go first to the laughing medita-
tion’. Just imagine that after coming back from
this congress, in your office, department or clinic,
there will be every day - only for those who
want to - a laughing meditation in the first 15
min of the lunch break. Just organise it, fix a time
and place, let everybody know that this is happen-
ing, close the door exactly at the chosen time and
15 min later it is finished. Laughter is very conta-
gious, and also the more participants who really
want to do this, the easier it will be. After a whole
morning listening, speaking and discussing, you
will find that it is a first class energizer and any
fatigue will be gone. You can not stay to look at
it, nothing can be seen, it is an inner process.
6. Patients with chronic pain
In 1985, together with Wouter van der Schaar,
a medical psychologist from the University of
Amsterdam, we researched the effects of this
laughing meditation carried out by chronic pain
patients [3]. Those who could do this meditation
every day, felt generally better after 2 or 3 weeks,
they laughed more during the day (their laughing
muscles were more trained), the pain was not
always less - sometimes it was, sometimes not
- but they could always handle their pain better.
So in the process of accepting they were more
advanced. Also, people with high-pitched voices
get a voice coming from a more natural level.
Speaking, singing, crying and laughing come from
the same centre in your belly.
When a child falls on the floor, anyone can
hear if the crying comes straight from the centre
in the belly or a little bit higher, a little bit harder
to let the parents know when to give a helping
hand. Also with laughter, you can hear if the
laughter is forced, if the laughter is harder than
the person feels it. The sound or the timbre of the
laughter or the crying reveals clearly if it is forced
or not.
7. Laughing meditation diary
Before and after the laughing meditation, it is
good to find one or two words, which are the
closest to the feelings you have in that moment. If
 D. Sutorius / Patient
no words come to mind, then perhaps you see an
image or a picture that most appropriately reflects
your feelings at that moment. After the laughing
meditation, you can write down those words or
images or pictures and also - as a personal
sharing or feedback - how the laughing medita-
tion was that time. Do it the next day again as if
you have never done it before, write down the
words or the images before and after and how it
went that day, and so on. After 3 (or 6) weeks you
will have a very interesting laughing meditation
diary. We suggest you postpone your opinion
about the effects of the laughing meditation on
yourself until you have done this every day for at
least 3 weeks (or even better 6 weeks). Do it every
day as if it is for the very first time, be open to
something new. And make your own laughing
meditation diary. Even after many laughing medi-
tations, it is different and new every time. We are
very fascinated with this phenomenon of laughter
Educ. Counsel. 26 (1995) 367--371 371
and we like to collect as many different experi-
ences as possible. If you want to share your
experiences with laughter in general, and with the
laughing meditation in particular, we invite you to
write this down and to send it to the Centre in
Favour of Laughter.
[l] Osho: Osho Commune International, Koregaon Park 17,
Poona 411001, India- Book distribution centres in
Europe: Osho Verlag GMBH, Venloer Strasse 5-7, 50672
Cologne, Germany; Osho Publications, Vianenstraat
481106 DD Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Book example:
‘Life, love, laughter’, ISBN 3-89338-014-O.
[2] Hennette Adama van Scheltema. ‘Dead is no more dead,
my experiences with dying’. Vrij Geestesleven, Eds. Zeist,
Netherlands, 1988. ISBN 90-6038-259-5.
[3] Dhyan Sutorius, Wouter van der Schaar. Research paper
published in ‘Dokter and Gezin’, June/July 1985. Journal
now discontinued. For further information, please contact
the Centre in Favour of Laughter.