It is said that if you laugh for ten minutes you will be in a better position to put up with pain for two hours. According to US researchers, laughter is a good antidote to stress; it tones up the system. While laughing, facial muscles instruct the brain to `feel good’ regardless of how you feel.

According to a French doctor, laughter deepens upon breathing, improves blood circulation, speeds up the process of tissue healing and stabilises many body functions. In short, it acts as a power drug with no side effects. Researchers state that laughter stimulates production of natural pain killers in the body and improves digestion. Those who laugh are less prone to digestive disorders and ulcers.

Some people in France have made it a career. You can hire a ‘jovialist’ who cracks jokes and promises to make you dissolve your worries in helpless laughter.

A word of caution: Although laughing is a good exercise for toning up the facial muscles, laughing at others’ expense, particularly at their disabilities, is in bad taste and is to be avoided. Secondly, laughing with food in the mouth is dangerous as the food stuff can get into the wind pipe and may choke the digestive system.

Laughter comes best when it is free of encumbrances, whether it is constricting food or the need to humour the boss.