The benefits of laughter are well known and documented. Researchers and the University of Maryland sat a bunch of volunteers down to watch “There’s Something About Mary” and observed that after laughing for an hour or so their arteries expanded. After watching harrowing battle scenes from “Saving Private Ryan” their arteries constricted. Let us pause a moment to consider how many little battle scenes we endure in the course of our daily routine and therefore what condition our artieries may be in.
And now, for the Chinese angle. I want to do a series of blogs about the concept of the various internal organs in the Chinese medical framework because in that framework these internal organs have a whole different sphere of activities from western medicine. For the moment, I want to talk about Liver qi. The Liver (with a capitol “L” to distinguish it from the western anatomical liver) is in charge of moving qi throughout the body. Qi, the stuff that makes us alive, wants to move. Like water, it stagnates when it doesn’t move. When the Qi of the Liver stagnates, here’s what can happen:
*We get angry
*We get depressed
*We get acid reflux and/or nausea
*Those of us with the relevant organs get PMS
Yes, pretty grim. And what, you are probably asking, causes said Liver qi to stagnate? Frustration. Not being able to follow through with a given intention. As you can see most of us - for example anyone who ever has to get on the beltway, or anyone in any kind of relationship - are in trouble here. I have met perhaps three people in my life who have no stress, and I think two of them were lying.
What can we do about this? Obviously you can guess I’m going to say to get acupuncture. The truth is, acupuncture moves Liver qi splendidly. There is a reason most people leave treatments feeling mellow. But there is another way to move Liver qi: yes, go to the blog heading . . . Laugh!! One of the main places Liver qi stagnation starts is in the rib cage, the home of the western liver. Tell a joke, think of something funny. Sure, there’s a time for cartharsis. Some people occasionally seem to need the peculiar adrenaline rush that a horror movie provides, and King Lear and Othello still walk through their harrowing tragedies on stages around the world. But keep in mind how beneficial it is to balance such diversions with an occasional comedy show.
When I was a kid my older brother would put on a “funny” show, just acting crazy and keeping us younger kids basically on the floor laughing. Wouldn’t it be great to have someone like this in every household? I suspect doctors and surgeons would have a few less patients.
