Laughter Wellness Benefits

Laughter wellness benefits were already recognized in historical times and are being reconfirmed in more recent times.

Laughter wellness benefits were recorded in sacred scripture The bible's Proverb 17:22 states: "A joyful hear is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones."

Laughter wellness benefits were addressed by the Greek philosopher Plato. His quote that "Even the Gods love jokes" must have some validity.

By the fourteenth century, the healing power of laughter was recognized by the medical community, but extensive research on 'Laughing Therapy' did not start until the New England Journal of Medicine published an article by Norman Cousins in 1976.

In 1964, Cousins was diagnosed with anklyosing spondylitis and he was given a one in five hundred chance of recovery, and told he only had a few months to live. He left the hospital and checked into a hotel where he took mega doses of vitamin C and watched movies and shows, such as Candid Camera, the Marx Brothers, Laurel and Hardy etc.

He found that 10 minutes of hearty laughter resulted in a minimum of 2 hours pain-free sleep. He continued this routine until he was fully recovered. He proved that laughter is the best medicine and pointed the way to mind-body medicine.

William Fry, MD, professor of psychiatry at Sanford Medical School, a renowned health and laughter expert reports the average child in kindergarten laughs on the average 400 times a day. As adults we are lucky to average 4 - 6 times a day.

Our 5 senses are not enough in our daily lives. We need to use our sixth sense - our 'sense of humor.' Humor isn't just telling jokes, it's the way we view the world . We can take our jobs, our responsibilities seriously, but take ourselves lightly.

Humans were designed to laugh

Laughter is nature's stress buster. It lifts our spirits with a 'happy high,' that makes us feel good and improves our behavior toward others.

Just a few generation gaps ago, happy healthy humans spent 20 minutes a day or more in laughter. Now adults' daily laugh time is down to 5 minutes or less in many countries. This is one of the worst aspects of modern society.

Laugh yourself healthy

We all know that laughter makes us feel good.A regular 20 minute laughter session can have profound impact on our health and well-being.Laughter is a gentle exercise. It fills the lungs and body with oxygen, deep-clears your breathing passages and exercises your lungs. This is really important for people who don't get regular aerobic exercise.

When we laugh, our bodies release a cocktail of hormones and chemicals that have startling and positive effects on our system. Stress is reduced, blood pressure drops, depression is lifted, your immune system is boosted and more.Western science is just starting to discover the great effects of laughter.

Examples of Laughter wellness benefits

•  When you make fun of yourself, you disarm those who would make fun of you and defuse possible confrontations.
•  Laughter relieves tension, stress, anger, irritation, grief, and depression. Similar to crying, laughter lowers emotional barriers, allowing the release of pent-up emotions. After a hearty session of laughter, you experience a sense of true well-being.
•  Medical researchers have found that laughter boosts the immune system.
•  Laughter reduces pain by releasing endorphins that are more powerful than equivalent amounts of morphine.
• It reduces blood sugar levels, increasing glucose tolerance in diabetics, as well as non-diabetics
• There is new evidence that laughter helps your blood vessels to function better. It acts on the inner lining of blood vessels, causing vessels to relax, expand and increase blood flow.
• Laughing reduces allergic responses, including hay fever symptoms.
• Laughing is thought to help you in fighting off diseases by by boosting the immune system.
• Laughing lifts your mood, even if you fake your laugh.
• Laughing reduces the effect of stress by lowering stress hormone levels.
• Laughter establishes , or restores, as the case may be , a positive emotional climate and a sense of connection between 2 people.
•  Humor helps merge the 2 hemispheres of the brain. The left hemisphere is used to interpret the verbal content of a joke. The right hemisphere interprets whether it is funny or not.
•  Laughter adds spice to life. Laughter is to life what rain is to the earth.
•  When you develop your sense of humor, you become more productive, communicate better, and tend to be a better team player.
•  Laughter provides the balance we need to get through the many hurdles of life.
•  Laughter is another form of exercise. it massages all the organs of the body according to Dr. James Walsh.
•  Laughter/humor helps you to rise to any challenge and handle the unexpected with ease.

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