I banish stress and let the real YOU flourish

We are born with a two mechanisms: a safety mechanism to optimise survival, triggered by stress; and a de-stressing mechanism to recover from and heal the damage caused by stressed, triggered by the fight or flight response to stress. Nifty!

Stress triggers fight or flight and the best chance of survival is if we are stronger and faster than during normal life. This is produced by chemical reactions within our body facilitated by cortisol and adrenalin. The physical activity of fighting or fleeing following by the panting of success triggers the de-stress mechanism.

So, whether our daily stress requires fighting or fleeing our body must rid itself of the chemicals or stress through de-stressing. Any wonder gyms have become all the rage and running and cycling are favoured pastimes? The effects of active de-stressing last for many hours and active people will attest to experiencing less of the negative effects of stress because the de-stress chemicals surge though their bodies all day.

For everyone else it is wonderful to know that we have an inbuilt activator of de-stressing that operates from 10 to 12 weeks after birth.

At that age babies begin to laugh. Not for any reason; they just laugh.

Laughter is physical activity - ask Dr William Fry, a leading researcher into the psychology of laughter at Stanford University - and it activates the diaphragm in the way that panting does.

As we grow up we are taught by our parents, teachers and society that laughter must be restricted to an acceptable set of conditions and so we unlearn unconditional laughter. But laughter is a life-saving, health-saving necessity in modern life.

I teach laughter as a life skill - a tool that you can use on a daily basis, just as you would gym or go for a run, you can have a hearty laughter workout.

Laughter as exercise: part of 10 000 people laughing together in Copenhagen Town Square.