EPPING —Sometimes the workplace makes you want to scream, but it's always better to laugh.

So says certified laughter leader Saundra Maisey, who brought her “Laugh Free and Live” message to a small group of Epping town employees.

They spent part of their Wednesday morning getting a physical and mental workout by learning how to laugh while performing exercises like the penguin laugh, Hawaiian greeting laugh and a thumbs-up laugh.

Laughter really is the best medicine, Maisey says, and people should be laughing for at least 15 minutes a day.

“You don't realize it, but that's a hard thing to do,” she said.

Laughter has many health benefits, she said.

A good giggle can lower blood sugar levels, increase antibodies in saliva to fight off respiratory infections, decrease serum cortisol to help reduce the effects of stress, protect against stomach ulcers, relax muscles, lower blood pressure and heart rate, increase oxygen to body tissue and increase endorphins, which act as natural pain killers.

Maisey, 64, became a certified laughter leader seven years ago after attending a class in Ohio with the founder of the World Laughter Tour, a group to which she now belongs.

“I was looking for a way to get my laughter back. It had been about a year since my husband had passed away. I had always been a laugher and I found this and went, 'Oh, this is what I wanted to do all my life,'” said Maisey, a Newfields resident who runs Granite State Giggles.

Laughter helped her in her corporate job at Liberty Mutual, and after retiring in 2010, Maisey is trying to spread the word about the benefits of laughter by speaking at retirement centers and nursing homes.

She's also trying to bring her message to more employers to help employees handle daily workplace stresses.

“If I feel like I need some laughter, I sometimes do laughter in the shower where I'm all by myself. You can do it. Sometimes it just takes practice,” she said.

Maisey pointed to research on positive thinking and laughter by Norman Cousins, who was editor-in-chief of Saturday Review from 1942 to 1972. As he battled illness, Cousins created a recovery program based largely on Vitamin C and laughter prompted by the TV show “Candid Camera” and Marx Brothers films.

“What he found was that 10 minutes of really intense laughing could give him two hours of pain-free sleep with no pain medication, so gradually he became better. He learned to live with what limitations he did have,” she said.

Joyce Blanchard, the selectmen's administrative assistant, invited Maisey to speak through an employee wellness group at the town hall.

Blanchard shared many laughs Wednesday, but said she's always been a laugher.

“I have three boys. I had to learn to laugh,” she said, laughing.

Maisey began her laughter lecture by asking employees to stand in a circle to perform breathing and stretching exercises. The group then warmed up by making some laughter sounds, beginning with a chant, “Ho, ho, ha, ha, ha.”

Clapping was later added because evidence shows it improves cognitive memory, Maisey said.

Maisey then demonstrated a variety of laughs that had people in stitches. Many said they felt better when they were done laughing.

“It was like exercising, but it was fun exercising,” said Phyllis McDonough, planning board secretary.

Joy True, 72, said she enjoyed the seminar and plans to wear the red foam clown nose that Maisey gave each participate when she's sitting in traffic.

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Jason Schreiber may be reached at jschreiber@newstote.com.