"'Tis the season to be jolly," so the song says. Yet merriment is not taking center stage these days. There are lots of downers dancing on people's minds: an unpopular war with no exit strategy, a falling economy, a beaten-up dollar heading for historic lows, oil prices rising to historic highs, the subprime mortgage crisis, with millions facing the loss of their homes, and the evaporation of the American dream, fear of terrorism invading our shores, unprecedented environmental destruction threatening the very survival of the planet. "Enough already!" you might be saying — "We get the point." And you're right — we are on overload and need some relief.

Although none of the dismal facts that I mentioned are a laughing matter, laughter can be an antidote for lifting us out of the blues so that we can deal with life's problems and stresses with a fresh, positive outlook. People of all walks of life have recognized that throughout the ages.

Here are a few of the citations about the value of laughter from the many that appear on the website The Quote Garden:

With the fearful strain that is on me night and day, if I did not laugh I should die. ~Abraham Lincoln

Mirth is God's medicine. Everybody ought to bathe in it. ~Henry Ward Beecher

Laughter is an instant vacation. ~Milton Berle

So many tangles in life are ultimately hopeless that we have no appropriate sword other than laughter. ~Gordon W. Allport

Laughter is a tranquilizer with no side effects. ~Arnold Glasow

Laughter is the shortest distance between two people. ~Victor Borge

At the height of laughter, the universe is flung into a kaleidoscope of new possibilities. ~Jean Houston

Perhaps I know best why it is man alone who laughs; he alone suffers so deeply that he had to invent laughter. ~Friedrich Nietzsche

There's also evidence that laughter not only makes you and others feel good, it's also good for your health. Studies show that laughter can increase blood circulation, exercise your abdominal muscles, improve air exchange in your lungs, lower blood pressure, and lift you out of depression. Laughter has also been shown to reduce stress hormones and strengthen the immune system by increasing the activity of T cells. One expert has suggested that laughter can even be good for business — it frequently jump-starts creativity and problem solving. In other words, the punch line can increase the bottom line.

But experts note that laughter declines after childhood. Children laugh on average 300 times a day, whereas laughter for adults varies from 100 chuckles a day for some to a low of 15 for others. So raising your laugh level could be better than an apple a day.

Recognizing the health and emotional benefits of laughter, Indian physician Madan Kataria invented laughter yoga. In a little over a decade, laughter yoga is sweeping the world. Laughter yoga clubs have opened in 50 countries. In the U.S. there are already over 100 clubs, with many more coming soon. Laughter Yoga combines laughter exercises and yoga breathing to give you the health benefits of hearty laughter. Dr. Kataria discovered that you don't need a reason to laugh — faking it is making it — as the exercises soon turn into real laughter, especially in a group setting. It's a hoot and really works. I tried it at a laughter club in NYC run by one of my former students, Francine Shore.

Laughter yoga works with people of all ages in almost any setting. You can see laughter yoga in action at a senior center in New York City in this video clip that I hosted and produced along with Ruth Glanz and cinematographer Gloria Messer for Active Aging Television Productions.

Best of all, the brain doesn't make a distinction between laughing in real-life situations and laughing with the exercises of laughter yoga — both produce the same benefits of laughing your way to healthier and happier living. In this state of renewal you will be better able to mobilize your resources when you return to the trenches of planet earth.

(My recently published book "Escape Your Own Prison: Why We Need Spirituality and Psychology to be Truly Free" is now available at Amazon.com,Barnes & Noble.com and other major book outlets.)

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Bernard Starr, Ph.D., formerly professor of developmental and educational psychology at the City University of New York, now teaches "Spirituality in Film" and leads "The Spiritual Forum" at Marymount Manhattan College. In addition to his work in radio, he is a longtime contributor of commentary and opinion articles to numerous major publications. He is also the main United Nations representative for the Institute of Global Education that founded the Mucherla Global School in Mucherla, India. His book "Escape Your Own Prison: Why We Need Spirituality and Psychology to be Truly Free" has been published by Rowman & Littlefield. He can be reached at {email OmniCns@aol.com}OmniCns@aol.com{/email}. © Copyright 2007 by Bernard Starr.