Laugh away your troubles and become Healthy
Why is laughter considered the best medicine?
Why is laughter considered the best medicine?
“Your sense of humor is one of the most powerful tools you
have to make certain that your daily mood and emotional state support good health.”
~ Paul E. McGhee, Ph.D.
Laughter is a powerful antidote to stress, pain, and conflict. Nothing works faster or more dependably to bring your mind and body back into balance than a good laugh. Humor lightens your burdens, inspires hopes, connects you to others, and keeps you grounded, focused, and alert.
With so much power to heal and renew, the ability to laugh easily and frequently is a tremendous resource for surmounting problems, enhancing your relationships, and supporting both physical and emotional health.
Laughter is good for your health
- Laughter relaxes the whole body. A good, hearty laugh relieves physical tension and stress, leaving your muscles relaxed for up to 45 minutes after.
- Laughter boosts the immune system. Laughter decreases stress hormones and increases immune cells and infection-fighting antibodies, thus improving your resistance to disease.
- Laughter triggers the release of endorphins, the body’s natural feel-good chemicals. Endorphins promote an overall sense of well-being and can even temporarily relieve pain.
- Laughter protects the heart. Laughter improves the function of blood vessels and increases blood flow, which can help protect you against a heart attack and other cardiovascular problems.
Laughter and humor help you stay emotionally healthy
Laughter makes you feel good. And the good feeling that you get when you laugh remains with you even after the laughter subsides. Humor helps you keep a positive, optimistic outlook through difficult situations, disappointments, and loss.
More than just a respite from sadness and pain, laughter gives you the courage and strength to find new sources of meaning and hope. Even in the most difficult of times, a laugh–or even simply a smile–can go a long way toward making you feel better. And laughter really is contagious—just hearing laughter primes your brain and readies you to smile and join in the fun.
The link between laughter and mental health
- Laughter dissolves distressing emotions. You can’t feel anxious, angry, or sad when you’re laughing.
- Laughter helps you relax and recharge. It reduces stress and increases energy, enabling you to stay focused and accomplish more.
- Humor shifts perspective, allowing you to see situations in a more realistic, less threatening light. A humorous perspective creates psychological distance, which can help you avoid feeling overwhelmed.
The social benefits of humor and laughter
Humor and playful communication strengthen our relationships by triggering positive feelings and fostering emotional connection. When we laugh with one another, a positive bond is created. This bond acts as a strong buffer against stress, disagreements, and disappointment.
Laughing with others is more powerful than laughing alone
Shared laughter is one of the most effective tools for keeping relationships fresh and exciting. All emotional sharing builds strong and lasting relationship bonds, but sharing laughter and play also adds joy, vitality, and resilience. And humor is a powerful and effective way to heal resentments, disagreements, and hurts. Laughter unites people during difficult times.
Incorporating more humor and play into your daily interactions can improve the quality of your love relationships—as well as your connections with co-workers, family members, and friends. Using humor and laughter in relationships allows you to:
- Be more spontaneous. Humor gets you out of your head and away from your troubles.
- Let go of defensiveness. Laughter helps you forget judgments, criticisms, and doubts.
- Release inhibitions. Your fear of holding back and holding on are set aside.
- Express your true feelings. Deeply felt emotions are allowed to rise to the surface.
Bringing more humor and laughter into your life
Having a pet animal free, left to itself is an amazing relaxant. Just observing its antics can trigger a major stress busting hormone. The other benefit, I have first-hand experience, is that we become humane beings.
http://www.helpguide.org/articles/emotional-health/laughter-is-the-best-medicine.htm
Want more laughter in your life? Get a pet…
Most of us have experienced the joy of playing with a furry friend, and pets are a rewarding way to bring more laughter and joy into your life. But did you know that having a pet is good for your mental and physical health? Studies show that pets can protect you depression, stress, and even heart ailments!
Once had the laughter of my life. Laughed so much that my sides ached and left me breathless.
Been to a GTG(get together). A gentleman narrated some incidents which acted as a dose of laughing gas.
There was walkathon of 90 odd kilometres. The Leader had strictly instructed on rigorous exercise routine, frequent monitoring of health,diet control...in short all necessary care was taken to make it a smooth expedition.
Our gentleman unfortunately, had a bad time. He had followed the regimen, strictly to a T. He was certain, that none could match him. All was fine for the first few hours. The dress code was dhoti/lungi. This gentleman had exercised wearing track suit. For the walkathon, he probably wore briefs then. As a result, after a few hours of walking, he felt piercing pain in his thighs. The walk was causing the friction, rubbing action between his thighs causing painful blisters. He continued walking till he couldnt take it any more. He continued walking, increasing the distance between his thighs.After a while, his knees, ankles and feet too were painfully protesting. Since they were passing through the woods, stopping was not allowed.He was sure his walked very funnily. Slightly ahead of him he spotted a group of ladies walking as funnily as he. He concluded, they too were in a similar situation. Ah...safety in numbers, he thought. He walked funnily and faster, to catch up with them. They could share their pain-filled stories. It was only when he was a short distance away, it occurred to him, he was a male and they, females. How could he ask them whether they too had developed blisters!?! Finally, he sought the help of a medical volunteer.
Once had the laughter of my life. Laughed so much that my sides ached and left me breathless.
Been to a GTG(get together). A gentleman narrated some incidents which acted as a dose of laughing gas.
There was walkathon of 90 odd kilometres. The Leader had strictly instructed on rigorous exercise routine, frequent monitoring of health,diet control...in short all necessary care was taken to make it a smooth expedition.
Our gentleman unfortunately, had a bad time. He had followed the regimen, strictly to a T. He was certain, that none could match him. All was fine for the first few hours. The dress code was dhoti/lungi. This gentleman had exercised wearing track suit. For the walkathon, he probably wore briefs then. As a result, after a few hours of walking, he felt piercing pain in his thighs. The walk was causing the friction, rubbing action between his thighs causing painful blisters. He continued walking till he couldnt take it any more. He continued walking, increasing the distance between his thighs.After a while, his knees, ankles and feet too were painfully protesting. Since they were passing through the woods, stopping was not allowed.He was sure his walked very funnily. Slightly ahead of him he spotted a group of ladies walking as funnily as he. He concluded, they too were in a similar situation. Ah...safety in numbers, he thought. He walked funnily and faster, to catch up with them. They could share their pain-filled stories. It was only when he was a short distance away, it occurred to him, he was a male and they, females. How could he ask them whether they too had developed blisters!?! Finally, he sought the help of a medical volunteer.
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