- Lower your blood pressure: Research shows that people who laugh regularly have lower blood pressures than the average individual. This is due in part to the body’s initial spike in blood pressure as a result of extreme laughter, followed by an extreme calming period where the pressure decreases to levels below normal. Because of this, breathing becomes deeper, sending oxygen enriched blood throughout the body.
- Change your biomechanical state: Not only does laughter increase our attentiveness, heart rate, and pulse, but it also increases infection fighting antibodies while also reducing our stress hormone level.
- Protect your heart: According to a study done at the University of Maryland Medical Center, laughter and having a good sense of humor during stressful situations can alleviate the damaging physical effects of distressing hormones (depression, anger, anxiety, and stress) that are linked to heart disease.
- Improve brain function and relieve stress: As we laugh, both hemispheres of the brain are stimulated, enhancing our ability to learn. Laughter also keeps the brain alert—and in turn allows people to retain more information—as it eases muscle tension and psychological stress.
- Give your body a great workout: Simply pay attention to your abs after a good giggle session—they’ll speak for themselves! Laughter not only strengthens the abdominals, but it also tones intestinal functioning, benefiting our digestion and absorption capabilities. Additionally, it is believed that laughter can burn as many calories as spending several minutes on the exercise bike or rowing machine!
- Boost your immune system: Activating our natural will to live, laughter also increases our capacity to fight disease as it relaxes the body and reduces problems associated with chronic diseases.
- Enhance your ability to connect with others: So much energy is wasted focusing on coping with life’s problems—no one person or relationship is perfect. Laughter brings people together as it helps people put things into perspective while lightening life’s burdens.
- Help replace distressing emotions with desirable feelings: Have you ever noticed how impossible it is to feel anything but happy when you’re laughing? Experiencing humor makes it very difficult to experience anger, anxiousness, sadness, or resentfulness at the same time.
- Change your behavior: Laughing increases our energy and often provokes us to talk more & make more eye contact with others.
- Make you feel downright good!: Need there be an explanation?!
So what are the steps we can take to assure more humor in our lives? In addition to smiling, counting your blessings, and spending time with people who make you laugh, you can also gain access to this miracle medicine by simply lightening up (from www.helpguide.org):
- View
your life in context. Even world leaders realize they have limited ability
to affect others’ lives. While we might think taking the weight of the
world on our shoulders is admirable, in the long run it’s unrealistic,
unproductive, unhealthy and even egotistical.
- Be less
serious. Realize that while your ambitions may be noble,
being overly serious about them weighs you down and lessens your chances
for achieving them.
- Deal
with your stress. Stress is a major impediment to humor and laughter.
- Dress
less seriously.
- Keep a
toy on your desk or in your car.
- Laugh
at yourself. Share your embarrassing moments. The best way to take
ourselves less seriously is talk about times when we took ourselves too
seriously.
- Pay
attention to children and emulate them. They
are the experts on playing, taking life lightly, and laughing.
Source: http://www.helpguide.org/life/humor_laughter_health.htm
