"If you laugh wholeheartedly, your facial muscles will gain benefits and there will be a feeling of well-being, especially when you do such exercises in a group. Your body releases chemicals that help to relieve stress," Ravindra Gupta, consultant in internal medicine at Gurgaon's Columbia Asia Hospital, told IANS.
However, he clarified that laughter can de-stress, but it can't cure ailments.
"It can't treat ailments. It can reduce blood pressure to some extent, but medication is required," said Gupta.
Echoing this, Madan Kataria, founder of Laughter Yoga International, says laughter-based exercises help the immune system.
"When you laugh, the stress level goes down and you don't easily fall sick," said Kataria, who started his institution with his wife Madhuri in 1995 in Mumbai.
