As everyone knows laughter is the natural medicines among all other commercial medicines now available in the market. A benefit of laughter is multifold. A small smile or laughter keeps all your diseases at bay and help your vital organs repair themselves and good laugh can be compared to a mild workout, as it exercises the muscles, gets the blood flowing, decreases blood pressure and stress hormones.
An old Yiddish proverb says,” what soap is to the body, laughter is to the soul”. A study by the John Hopkins University Medical School showed that humor and laughter can improve memory and mental performance.
The following are some ways to incorporate more laughter and joy in your life:
• Don’t take life too seriously: Obstacles in everybody’s life are quite imminent and bound to be there and we all make mistakes. There is no reason to beat you up over it. In fact, if you can laugh light-heartedly at your own foibles, you’ll find that you give yourself that extra happiness and confidence boost that can get you over any hurdle. This also extends to other people. Try not to be too hard on others — a smile and a chuckle go a lot further than criticism.
• Find the humor in a bad situation: Sure, there are some situations that are genuinely sad and certainly not laughing matters. However, most situations in life have an ironic or ludicrous side to them. The next time you feel the stress levels rising, take a minute to think about the irony of the situation and allow yourself to laugh over the things you cannot control. This will decrease the amount of cortisol that your body produces due to stress, lowering your blood pressure, blood sugar levels and heart rate.
• Remind yourself of funny moments from the past: Perhaps a friend told you a great joke the other day, your children or pets did something amusing, or maybe you watched a funny movie recently that had you in stitches. Call on these memories frequently, especially when you are feeling sad, angry or stressed. Sometimes just reliving a funny moment can cause the endorphins to kick in, which act as natural painkillers and mood boosters.
• Surround yourself with fun people who like to laugh a lot : As the saying goes, mirthful is contagious, so make a point to seek out positive people who aren’t afraid to laugh at themselves and who have a knack for finding humor in life’s situations. Young children are especially adept at finding laughter and joy in everyday moments.
• Get a pet: Animals are great for boosting happiness and encouraging laughter because they love to play and have fun, and they often do things that are amusing without even realizing it. In addition, studies show that people with pets have lower levels of depression and stress and are less likely to suffer from heart disease.
If you can find a reason to laugh every day, you’ll find that your mood will improve, your relationships with others will seem more meaningful and effortless, and life’s hurdles won’t seem so daunting. Moreover, your body, mind and soul will reap the health benefits of this natural and free medicine.
10 Benefits of Laughter:
Laughter is used as a signal for being a part of a group and signals acceptance and positive interactions with others. It is a part of human behaviors regulated by brain and helping humans clarify their intentions. Laughing is a good media to expel toxins from the body like crying. Since the mind and body are connected, people utilize an amusing amount of muscles when they laugh.
In fact laughter is the best medicine “ we’re always being told that but there’s actually more to a good giggle than just raising spirits for a couple of minutes and has been shown to have many beneficial effects on human body in different ways.
The listed below are the ten benefits of laughing.
1. Live longer:-
According to some recent research published in the archives of general Psychiatry, elderly optimistic people, those who expected good things to happen (rather than bad things), were less likely to die than pessimists. In fact, among the 65-85 year old study participants, those who were most optimistic were 55 per cent less likely to die from all causes than the most pessimistic people.
2.. Boost your immune system:
Researchers have found that laughter actually boosts the immune system, increasing the number of antibody-producing T Cells. This then makes us less likely to get coughs and colds. It also lowers the level of at least four hormones that are associated with stress, so after a good giggle you should be far less tense and anxious.
3. Relieves Pain:
A good chortle has been found to reduce pain. Not only does it distract you from aches but it releases feel good endorphin into your system that are more powerful than the same amount of morphine.
A British study shows how just 15 minutes of laughter can increase pain tolerance by around 10 percent as a result of endorphin being released in the brain. These endorphins cause something akin to a natural “high” leading to pleasant feelings of calm, as well as temporary pain-relief.
4. Reduces Depression:
Laughter has long been known to help people who are suffering from the either SAD o full-blown
Depression. Laughing reduces tension and stress and lowers anxiety and irritation, which is major, factors that Contribute to the blues. It was found in a study that laughter therapy reduced depression in elderly patients to Great extent by Inducing a feeling of well being and improving their social interactions
5. Boosts your Relationship
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If you’re looking to find a new partner, then laughter will help you find a new mate. Men love women who laugh in their presence and women actually laugh 125% more than men. If you’re already with someone, then a shared sense of humour is an integral factor in keeping your relationship running smoothly.
6. Social Benefits:
Laughter is contagious, so if you bring more laughter into your life, you can most likely help others around you laugh more. By elevating the mood of those around you, you can diminish their stress levels and possibly improve the quality of social interaction you experience with them, reducing your stress level even more! The more you laugh the more likely you are to be remembered for the positive energy and feelings you bring.Even intimate relationships mprove with laughter, leading to more happiness and joyful relations.
7. Internal Workout::
Have you had a good belly laugh lately?. A good belly laugh exercises the diaphragm contracts the abs and even Even works out the shoulders, leaving muscles more relaxed afterwards. It even provides a good workout for the heart. Laughing 100 times is the equivalent to 10 minutes on the rowing machine or 5 minutes on an exercise bike.
8. Improve your Breathing:
Laugh more and more,because laughter empties your lungs of more air than it takes in resulting in a cleansing effect-Similar to deep breathing. This is especially helpful for people who are suffering from respiratory ailments, such as asthma.
9. Helps you Lose Weight:
Laughter is a very good physical exercise too. Burning of calories by laughing might not sound as if it has much use, but a hearty chuckle raises the heart rate and speeds up the metabolism. If you’re dieting, think about adding laughter to your exercise regime.
10. Protect the Heart:
People who laugh a lot on a regular basis have lower blood pressure than the average person. When people have a Good laugh, the blood pressure increases at first, but then it decreases to levels below normal. Your heart is a muscle and like any muscle in your body,it gets stronger and functions better when exercised. Regular laughter is like getting a gym membership for your heart. Laughter has been found to benefit the way blood flows around the body, reducing the likely hood of heart disease. The research said that 15 minutes of laughter a days is as important for your heart as 30 minutes of exercise 3 times a Week.
Shekar Moily
