“How was your daughter’s birthday party,” I inquired, as my physical therapist kneaded the searing ache in my right hip. Her touch was gentle and loving. Ahhh, I could feel my pain melting away, which made conversation easy.

“Beautiful,” she said in her zesty, lilting British accent. “Of course, it was the only day that we had rain the entire week, yet the children all played together so well indoors. There were no punch ups, so that was good.”

Punch ups? I wasn’t familiar with that term. It sounded like an elegant, graceful way of saying the kids weren’t hitting and fighting each other. To me, not being a mom and never having chaperoned a bunch of exuberant four year olds at a birthday party, it seemed that no “punch ups” was a highly favorable success measurement.

The sound of laughter has a similar graceful potency in the heat of an argument. Have you ever noticed that tension seems to dissipate as soon as true, mirthful laughter shows up? Somehow, mirthful laughter triggers a neurological response in our brain which we interpret as an invitation for us to join in. While we’re laughing together, the corrosive effects of anger, resentment, and hostility disappear. There are no punch ups—and that’s a good thing whether we’re in the board room, operating room, or chaperoning a four-year-old’s birthday party.

Certified Laughter Leader Marilyn Sprague-Smith (middle) leads High Point Regional Health System Employees in Birthday Greeting Laughter Exercise.

Leading edge health organizations are turning to laughter to reduce conflict and increase employee morale, too. Recently, Employee Wellness at High Point Regional Health System (HPRHS), asked me to help employees put laughter back in their lives. “Marilyn is showing us how to use laughter to lighten up our mental workload and bring a sense of joy, happiness and harmony into our daily activities,” says Sue Cumpston, Employee Wellness Coordinator for the health system. Together, dozens of employees laughed their stress away during two one-hour programs.

Are you looking for ways to let laughter increase harmony and ease the isolation and separation caused by conflict? Then, May is the perfect month to let the vibration of laughter ring forth for peace and harmony.

High Point Regional Health System Employees Experiencing Eye On the Target Laughter Exercise

Each year, World Laughter Day is celebrated the first Sunday in May. The goal of this international celebration, with the help of the World Laughter Tour, is to start an epidemic of happiness by heightening awareness of the positive effects of healing laughter programs, building a sense of community, and focusing on world peace through laughter. “Our unbalanced world doesn’t laugh much anymore because much of the world continues to exist amid misunderstanding, strife and turmoil, threats and competitions for power, unmet needs, and selfish self-interest. Yet, there are others who are working in the service of peace, love, and harmony. On this day we remember that laughter, too, can be part of the solution,” says Steve Wilson, Founder and President of the World Laughter Tour.

Certified Laughter Leaders around the world will be leading local celebrations on Sunday, May 7th. To locate a celebration near you, visit www.worldlaughtertour.com and check out the posted roster of World Laughter Day celebrations.

To celebrate the third annual Triad-area World Laughter Day, a community-wide event will be hosted by Unity in Greensboro, 1935 Opal Drive. Light refreshments will be served at 12:15 PM. An intergenerational 45-minute laughter program begins at 12:45 PM in Unity’s parking lot (weather permitting). The program is a community outreach service of Unity in Greensboro’s Uplifting Spirit Laughter Club. The event is FREE and open to the public.

This month, choose to send the positive vibrations of laughter into our world with an intent for peace and harmony. C’mon, Let’s Laugh! together, especially on World Laughter Day, a day of celebrations with no punch ups.