College student to make Asheville just a little happier
As Asheville, North Carolina enjoys its recent ranking as the happiest city in America, a college student at Warren Wilson College is planning on making his city a little happier. He is launching the Spread Laughter Project which will bring together his school?€?s student body to spend ten minutes doing nothing but laughing non-stop.

On Monday, May 5th at 12:20 p.m., students will be led in a laugh-a-thon in the Cowpie Cafe which is a Warren Wilson College student-initiated, student-run food establishment.

Event organizer, 22-year-old, Justin Levy, explains that, "Laughter has been proven to be a great stress reliever and with final exams coming up, this event will help us all to get our endorphins pumping and our focus centered while helping teens." Levy's making the laugh fest a fundraiser for Hey U.G.L.Y., the national nonprofit ganization that helps teens counter challenges such as bullying, eating disorders, violence, drug abuse and suicide. U.G.L.Y. is an acronym meaning unique gifted lovable you. "It's not that long ago that all of us at Warren Wilson experienced the trials and tribulations of being a teen," explained Levy.

At the event students will be laughing along with Hey U.G.L.Y.'s fundraising product, the Laughtercising CD. This CD, which was featured in USA Today Week-end, contains 60-minutes of contagious laughter. "After the event we will be selling copies of the CD so people can carry on the stress-relieving benefits in their homes and dorm rooms. 100% of the profits from the CD sales will go directly to programs that benefit teens," said Levy who believes teaching his classmates how to laugh nonstop will engender a more stress -free existence."

According to Dr. Andrew Weil, "Laughter is one of the most effective ways to reduce stress, and preliminary research suggests laughter may also boost immunity, relieve pain, lower blood sugar in people with type-2 diabetes, and help protect against heart disease."

Up to 80 muscles are used during a hearty laugh, the blood pressure rises, the heart beats faster and blood oxygen levels increase. In fact, a study released last year by German gelotologist Professor Gunther Sickl revealed that a one-minute guffaw has the same health benefits as a 45-minute gym workout. When the laughter stops, the blood pressure returns to normal and stress hormones are reduced -actually strengthening the immune system.

TV fitness guru, Denis Austin says, "Laughing is great exercise. It tightens your abs, gets your endorphins going, and filters out all those anxieties that weigh you down." According to a study by Maciej S. Buchowski, PhD, and his colleagues, using a whole-room indirect calorimeter at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, a daily laughter workout of 15 minutes can burn 40 calories and melt away 4 pounds over the course of a year.

So, while laughing may seem like an excuse to pull together the student body for a fun experience, it actually has a serious motive. No joke!