Beneficial Health Effects of LAUGHTER! Ho! Ho! Ho!
“Every survival kit should include a sense of humor” (unknown)
Laughter and humor help us feel good! Consider what Voltaire wrote years ago: "The art of medicine consists of keeping the patient amused while nature heals the disease." Well known researcher on humor and laughter, Lee Berk at Loma Linda, wrote that laughter may not be the best medicine, but it is great and may even compare to a proper diet and exercise when keeping us healthy and disease free. Take a moment and find something around you to make you laugh! How does your body feel?
Laughter is associated with positive benefits to our physical health. It lowers stress hormones and blood pressure. It decreases pain and relaxes our muscles. It is known to prevents heart disease and make changes to our biochemical state. It decreases stress hormones and increases infection fighting antibodies. It improves brain functions by increasing our attentiveness. It is estimated that hearty laughter can burn calories equivalent to several minutes on the rowing machine or exercise bike.
Laughter is associated with helping us stay mentally healthy. It adds joy and zest to life. It eases anxiety and tension and reduces/relieves stress while elevating mood. It strengthens resilience and provides feelings of relaxation. Both sides of the brain are stimulated, thereby by enhancing learning. Laughter helps us recharge our “batteries” and shift our perspective to see situations in more realistic and less threatening lights.
Laughter provides social benefits to our lives by strengthening relationships and enhancing teamwork and diffusing conflict. Laughter promotes group bonding and connection to others. Laughter makes us feel good! This positive feeling remains even after laughter subsides! Laughter is contagious—just hearing laughter primes the brain. Humor helps us keep a positive, optimistic outlook through difficult situations.
Some simple suggestions for bringing laughter into your life! Smile. Smiling is the beginning of laughter, and like laughter, it’s contagious. When you hear laughter, move toward it. Seek it out and ask, “What’s funny?” Spend time with fun, playful people. Some people laugh easily (at life’s ridiculous events or at themselves). Seek them out. Bring humor into conversations. Ask people, “What’s the funniest thing that
happened to you today or this week? At our next WWURA events, ask someone what was funny to them today or this past week or tell them what was funny to you! If, in your collection of DVD’s or CD’s at home, you have a humorous video/movie, play it! As a personal example, those who like classical or operatic music, find an example of Andy Griffith’s rendition of Bizet’s Carmen or Anna Russell’s how to write your own Gilbert and Sullivan. If not in your collections, these are on You Tube. A funny movie that some might know is “Shirley Valentine.” Another film is “Tootsie” with Dustin Hoffman.
"I realize that humor isn't for everyone. It's only for people who want to have fun, enjoy life, and feel alive." - Anne Wilson Schaef
A few sources: http://www.dr-lee-berk.com/ https://www.helpguide.org/articles/mental-health/laughter-is-the-best-medicine.htm
2007 September and October, Health Notes by Evelyn Ames focused on Humor and Health