Laughter Therapy: ‘ Lafta don gas’.
By Steve Ovirih.
Way back as an undergraduate at Obafemi Awolowo University, OAU Ile- Ife, studying English Language, you would pick elective courses in Theater and Dramatic Arts. Learning the ropes under erudite Drama teacher and actor per excellence , Prof. Ola Rotimi ( heaven rest his soul) and others like Professors Odunlami, Kola Oyewo et al, you are at home with learning and studying as fun. A certain project , stage drama per say, directed by Baba himself, Ola Rotimi, which had as its cast a horde of undergraduate students of the Department , yours sincerely inclusive , was titled ‘ Lafta don gas’. It was the ‘initiation project’ into the world of artistry in a Department that has produced a lot of great thespians. For actors and the audience alike, the staged drama was a model in how to find time to relax and laugh a great deal until your ribs are cracked even as you find it difficult to control the mesmerizing excitement.
As an undergraduate also, I had the benefit of enjoying as a member of the audience Ola Rotimi’s epochal stage drama ,” Our husband has gone mad again” as staged by OAU Theater Arts students and the staged version of ” Waiting for Godot,” a Bertol Brecht farce that glorified the endless wait for the ‘unseen substance ” Godot, who never came. Both stage performance are reflections of human existential realities exhibited in a ludicrous way that will make the audience laugh at their own inanities. That is the real essence of Laughter Therapy.
For those who have religiously followed the weekly Health Nugget of the former National President , Nigeria Medical Association, NMA, former Special Adviser on Health to Ondo State Governor and now Chairman, Governing Council, Federal College of Education, FCE Kontagora, Prof. Dayo Faduyile ,OON, one thing you cannot take away from the Pathologist’s Health Talk is that he always reiterates the fact that ‘ health is wealth’ even when from week to week , he delves into one medical concern or the other , reeling out symptoms of diseases, preventive and curative measures and the need for alertness on health challenges.
As the ‘Ember months’ open up, Prof. Faduyile has prioritized Laughter as a therapy and before you wonder if Laughter has anything to do with your well being and health status, Prof. Faduyile has answered in the affirmative. Hear him as he draws attention to this rare kind of therapy in the just released Health Tip : ” laughing heartily 100 times a day gives some physical workout as working for 20 minutes. Also, smiling or laughing frequently brings out the best in you.
“Laughter is a therapy that increases in any individual the power of attraction 10 folds and can be used to alleviate mental and physical pain.” Now , can you beat that? The Professor of Pathology and Forensic Medicine has simply maintained that when you laugh, you reduce both mental and physical pain, so why wear a frown when you can ease off your psychological challenge with a little creasing of your face into a smiley countenance?
Prof. Faduyile noted that happy people process anger thoughts more positively. ” Laughter makes you not easily irritable and it shows that you are in control of your inner sense with peace of mind.” When you are in a happy mood, you find it quite easy to shrug off irritants that are out to get you real mad and a happy mind sees things clearly , not under the influence of jaundiced view of anger.
The medical expert stressed that nobody can be happy and sad at the same time, thus it is medically advisable to acquire laughter as a therapy so one can get the best out of life.
Do you have a challenge that is making you go through the down path of life? Prof. Faduyile has given a sincere counsel: burst your seams with good laughter and watch your challenge fade away…
You can actually laugh at whatever issue confronting you and that , you will find out, reduces tension.
Comedy merchants , skit makers and folks making a living from being funny have bought into the Laughter Therapy counsel of Prof. Faduyile long time ago and little wonder they don’t just make people laugh, they laugh to their bank too.
When we laugh, no matter what, we find out we have won even before we win.
