--- title: Laughter Therapy Is The New Meditation description: Laughter may have some of the same benefits as meditation canonical: https://time.com/84987/laughter-may-be-the-new-meditation/ author: Alexandra Sifferlin article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-05-02T14:00:39.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T07:36:57.437Z article:section: Health og:title: Laughter Therapy Is The New Meditation og:description: Laughter may have some of the same benefits as meditation og:url: https://time.com/84987/laughter-may-be-the-new-meditation/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc45b661ea27485f1/69868d6fe53aba41964d2617/464690497-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5760 og:image:height: 3240 og:image:alt: 464690497 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Laughter Therapy Is The New Meditation twitter:description: Laughter may have some of the same benefits as meditation twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc45b661ea27485f1/69868d6fe53aba41964d2617/464690497-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Laughter Therapy Is The New Meditation > Sponsored content. 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Health Matters is TIME's daily health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free daily newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. by [Stephanie Eckelkamp, Prevention](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Stephanie Eckelkamp, Prevention May 2, 2014 2:00 PM UTC  Woman using cell phone Woman using cell phone Adrian Samson—Getty Images by [Stephanie Eckelkamp, Prevention](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Stephanie Eckelkamp, Prevention May 2, 2014 2:00 PM UTC No time to just sit and breathe? Then at least pull up a quick YouTube video of “goats yelling like humans”—a good laugh now and then may give you a mental boost similar to meditation, suggests new research presented today at the Experimental Biology 2014 conference in San Diego. “Joyful laughter immediately produces the same brain wave frequencies experienced by people in a true meditative state,” says Lee Berk, lead researcher of the study and associate professor of pathology and human anatomy at Loma Linda University. **More From** **_Prevention_** **:** [Your Brain on Laughter](http://www.prevention.com/health/brain-games/your-brain-laughter?cm%5Fmmc=Time-%5F-Is%20Laughter%20The%20New%20Meditation-%5F-Article-%5F-Your%20Brain%20on%20Laughter) To make this discovery, researchers measured the brain wave activity of 31 college students with an electroencephalograph (EEG) while they watched funny, distressful, or spiritual videos. During the funny videos, gamma waves were produced—the same ones achieved during a meditation session. The spiritual videos produced more alpha waves, which are associated with rest; and the distressful videos produced flat waves, similar to those experienced by people who feel detached. “Gamma is the only frequency that affects every part of the brain,” says Berk. “So when you’re laughing, you’re essentially engaging your entire brain at once. This state of your entire brain being ‘in synch’ is associated with contentment, being able to think more clearly, and improved focus. You know, that feeling of being ‘in the zone’.” **More From** **_Prevention_** **:** [10 Simple Ways To Relieve Stress and Improve Your Mood](http://www.prevention.com/mind-body/emotional-health/10-simple-ways-relieve-stress-and-improve-your-mood?cm%5Fmmc=Time-%5F-Is%20Laughter%20The%20New%20Meditation-%5F-Article-%5F-10%20Simple%20Ways%20To%20Relieve%20Stress%20and%20Improve%20Your%20Mood) And the more you laugh, the more you should notice these perks. “It’s similar to the way regular exercise reconditions and reprograms your body over time,” says Berk. “With regular laughter, you’re optimizing your brain’s response to this experience.” Previous research shows that laughter also acts as an antidepressant, reduces risk of heart disease, and helps reduce the body’s inflammatory response. “There’s no reason it shouldn’t be prescribed by doctors as part of a gamut of healthy lifestyle changes,” says Berk. “Unlike food and exercise, you can’t O.D. on laughter—at least I haven’t seen it!” **More From** **_Prevention_** **:** [4 Moves To Feel Happier](http://www.prevention.com/mind-body/emotional-health/easy-ways-boost-your-mood?cm%5Fmmc=Time-%5F-Is%20Laughter%20The%20New%20Meditation-%5F-Article-%5F-4%20Moves%20To%20Feel%20Happier) [This article was written by Stephanie Eckelkamp and originally appeared on Prevention.com](http://www.prevention.com/health/healthy-living/laughter-new-meditation?cm%5Fmmc=Time-%5F-Is%20Laughter%20The%20New%20Meditation-%5F-Article-%5F-Is%20Laughter%20The%20New%20Meditation) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/84987/laughter-may-be-the-new-meditation/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/84987/laughter-may-be-the-new-meditation/"},"headline":"Laughter Therapy Is The New Meditation","datePublished":"2014-05-02T14:00:39.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T07:36:57.437Z","description":"Laughter may have some of the same benefits as meditation","url":"https://time.com/84987/laughter-may-be-the-new-meditation/","keywords":["Meditation"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc45b661ea27485f1/69868d6fe53aba41964d2617/464690497-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Stephanie Eckelkamp, Prevention"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc45b661ea27485f1/69868d6fe53aba41964d2617/464690497-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"464690497","caption":"464690497","creditText":"Adrian Samson—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/84987/laughter-may-be-the-new-meditation/","name":"Laughter Therapy Is The New Meditation"}}]}] ```