Health Benefits of Humor and Laughter
Laughter activates the chemistry
of the will to live and increases our capacity to fight disease. Laughing
relaxes the body and reduces problems associated with high blood pressure,
strokes, arthritis, and ulcers. Some research suggests that laughter may
also reduce the risk of heart disease. Historically, research has shown
that distressing emotions (depression, anger, anxiety, and stress) are
all related to heart disease. A study done at the University of Maryland
Medical Center suggests that a good sense of humor and the ability to laugh
at stressful situations helps mitigate the damaging physical effects of
distressing emotions.
A good hearty laugh can help:
* reduce stress
* lower blood
pressure
* elevate mood
* boost immune
system
* improve brain
functioning
* protect the
heart
* connect you
to others
* foster instant
relaxation
* make you feel
good.
Laughter's Effects on the Body
Laughter lowers blood pressure
People who laugh heartily on a regular
basis have lower standing blood pressure than the average person. When
people have a good laugh, initially the blood pressure increases, but then
it decreases to levels below normal. Breathing then becomes deeper which
sends oxygen enriched blood and nutrients throughout the body.
Humor changes our biochemical state
Laughter decreases stress hormones
and increases infection fighting antibodies. It increases our attentiveness,
heart rate, and pulse.
Laughter protects the heart
Laughter, along with an active sense
of humor, may help protect you against a heart attack, according to the
study at the University of Maryland Medical Center (cited above). The study,
which is the first to indicate that laughter may help prevent heart disease,
found that people with heart disease were 40 percent less likely to laugh
in a variety of situations compared to people of the same age without heart
disease.
Laughter gives our bodies a good
workout
Laughter can be a great workout for
your diaphragm, abdominal, respiratory, facial, leg, and back muscles.
It massages abdominal organs, tones intestinal functioning, and strengthens
the muscles that hold the abdominal organs in place. Not only does laughter
give your midsection a workout, it can benefit digestion and absorption
functioning as well. It is estimated that hearty laughter can burn calories
equivalent to several minutes on the rowing machine or the exercise bike.
Humor improves brain function and
relieves stress
Laughter stimulates both sides of the
brain to enhance learning. It eases muscle tension and psychological stress,
which keeps the brain alert and allows people to retain more information
Humor improves mental and emotional
health
Humor is a powerful emotional medicine
that can lower stress, dissolve anger and unite families in troubled times.
Mood is elevated by striving to find humor in difficult and frustrating
situations. Laughing at ourselves and the situation helps reveal that small
things are not the earth-shaking events they sometimes seem to be. Looking
at a problem from a different perspective can make it seem less formidable
and provide opportunities for greater objectivity and insight. Humor also
helps us avoid loneliness by connecting with others who are attracted to
genuine cheerfulness. And the good feeling that we get when we laugh can
remain with us as an internal experience even after the laughter subsides.
Mental health professionals point
out that humor can also teach perspective by helping patients to see reality
rather than the distortion that supports their distress. Humor shifts the
ways in which we think, and distress is greatly associated with the way
we think. It is not situations that generate our stress, it is the meaning
we place on the situations. Humor adjusts the meaning of an event so that
it is not so overwhelming.
Here are some additional things
we can do to improve our mood, enjoyment of life and mental health.
* Attempt to
laugh at situations rather than bemoan them – this helps improve our disposition
and the disposition of those around us.
* Use cathartic
laughter to release pent-up feelings of anger and frustration in socially
acceptable ways.
* Laugh as a
means of reducing tension because laughter is often followed by a state
of relaxation.
* Lower anxiety
by visualizing a humorous situation to replace the view of an anxiety-producing
situation
* Smile. Smiling
is the beginning of laughter. Like laughter, it’s contagious. Pioneers
in “laugh therapy,” find it’s possible to laugh without even experiencing
a funny event. The same holds for smiling. When you look at someone or
see something even mildly pleasing, practice smiling.
* Count your
blessings. Literally make a list. The simple act of considering the good
things in your life will distance you from negative thoughts that are a
barrier to humor and laughter. When in a state of sadness, we have further
to travel to get to humor and laughter.
* When you hear
laughter, move toward it. Sometimes humor and laughter are private, a shared
joke among a small group, but usually not. More often, people are very
happy to share something funny because it gives them an opportunity to
laugh again and feed off the humor you find in it. When you hear laughter,
seek it out and ask, “What’s funny?”
* Spend time
with people who have successfully incorporated humor into their lives.
These are people who naturally take life lightly, who routinely find ordinary
events hysterical. Their points of view and their laughter are contagious.
M. Isis
Israel - Authorized Senior Dealer
Nor.
California
Foodture - Cooking for a Healthy Future
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