Depending on who you talk to, this Monday is officially the most miserable day of the year. But don't sit there feeling down – Nottingham Laughter Club reckons it's easy to cheer yourself up with a few simple techniques. OONAGH ROBINSON finds out more...

IN case you didn't know, the coming Monday is Blue Monday – arguably the "worst day of 2009".

According to a boffin called Cliff Arnall, formerly of Cardiff University, a combination of different factors make the third Monday in January the most depressing 24 hours of the year.

He's even come up with a complicated looking equation to prove his theory.

Worked out it means, you'll probably be feeling a bit blue because the Christmas glow has faded away, New Year's resolutions have been broken, cold winter weather has set in and festive credit card bills are now landing on doormats. And for many of us, the January pay-cheque is still some time away.

Whether or not you accept the formula, there's no denying that this is, indeed, a thoroughly horrible time of year. And in 2009, there could even be an additional item to put somewhere into Cliff's equation – CC (Credit Crunch).

However, members of one Nottingham group laugh in the face of such difficulties – quite literally.

Nottingham Laughter Club was set up last year and meets several times a month encouraging folk to always look on the bright side of life. It is run by friends John Hipkiss and Jo Eadie, from Sherwood, both fully trained in the art of clowning around, who encourage their members to take part in a series of very silly exercises to help improve mental and physical well being.

Typical sessions see members jumping into imaginary puddles, pulling daft faces and telling each other outrageous lies.

"It's not stand-up comedy or anything like that," explains John, who works in IT. "During a typical session, we might do some name games, some improv' and then some laughter yoga, using different parts of the body. It's a chance to really let go – be like a child again and just laugh a lot, like kids do all the time.

"When we meet it's a great health boost and leaves you full of energy. There's not many people who don't enjoy a laugh, although us British can be a bit of a miserable lot. It makes a change from going to the gym or going out to get drunk with mates."

As well as regular meetings, Jo and John also arrange laughter workshops for larger organisations.

"It's mostly for spas, old people's home, universities and that sort of thing," John explained.

Meanwhile, stay-at-home dad Jo says his main message on a miserable day like today is that we shouldn't have to feel happy in order to laugh.

He added: "When we're feeling low, we can make the effort to seek out things that make us laugh – and then we may find that afterwards, our mood has turned around.

"There are lots of simple things that you can do to give your mood a boost. None of them are life-changing, but they ensure that a few times a day you can lift your mood up.

"And that's important, because at this time of year, if you stop making an effort, you could just sink down and down under the pressure of dark nights, too many colds, the disappointment of Christmas being over, and the isolation of it being too chilly for you to want to go out."

Between them, John and Jo have come up with the following tips for staying cheerful:

Try having a day watching non-stop comedy on TV.

Put on your favourite song and dance to it.

Start the day with a smile and you should feel better for a while.

Prepare a collection of mementos that make you laugh – newspaper clippings, cartoons and birthday cards from loved ones are good.

Phone a friend and ask them what was the last thing that made them laugh.

Pull a silly face at yourself in the mirror. If you're finding that hard, see if you can hold it for a minute without laughing.

Have something you can carry around with you that makes you smile – stripy socks, a silly tie, a novelty key ring, funny earrings, anything that makes you grin.

Contact a friend and exchange three things you like about each other.

Make contact with children – children laugh on average 300 times a day. So even if you have none of your own, go and see nieces, nephews, grandchildren or cousins. You could make an effort to invite them over and do something fun, like baking biscuits or reading stories. You'll always end up smiling.

We're always tempted to give ourselves sweet treats when we feel down, but all too often we're just setting ourselves up for a sugar-crash later. If you are in the mood for comfort food, go for a baked potato or soup.

The Nottingham Laughter Club meets at 7pm on the first Tuesday of every month at The Place Activity Centre, Sherwood (next meeting February 3); and at 7pm on the second and third Wednesday of every month at the Art Organisation, 21 Station Street (next meeting January 21). There will also be an all-day laughter workshop at the Sherwood venue on February 21.

Charges are £5 a session, £20 for five sessions and £4 for concessions. For details log onto www.nottinghamlaughter.org.uk or call 0115 912 6931.

oonagh.robinson@nottinghameveningpost.co.uk