Health Benefits of Laughter
We all know how wonderful it feels to have a good ole belly laugh! It seems to take away any stress or problems bothering us. A good joke never hurt anyone & a laugh shared is a smile shared & a heart eased from whatever is bothering you at the moment!When I was doing my post for Friday, my lovely blog host provider decided to lock up as I was saving part of the post. Now, before I get into the nitty gritty, let me say that I am SLOWER THAN MOLASSES on the computer!!! Not only am I NOT computer savvy, but I am slow at typing too! So, after spending 45 minutes typing away, the "lock-up" happened & I lost some, thank god not all, of my post. Well, with woman perimenopause hormones running crazy, I started to boo hoo because it takes me so long to do this stuff & think it thru as well. I am not witty like some of our good friends over at Cranky Fitness & Great Fitness Experiment. Although, I am sure it takes them plenty of time too, their posts come out so funny & full of craziness... love it!
Anyway, as I got out of this lock-up, I checked my email & saw this... 8 Health Benefits of Laughter. I thought this would be a good time to read this article!!!!
So here it is & hope everyone finds a smile and/or laugh after reading this!8 Health Benefits of Laughter:
Is there anything better than a contagious giggle that you absolutely can’t control? (Ok, maybe not so good in school or church.) Laughter works so wonderfully well in the moment, but it has some surprising long-term health benefits as well. In the book A Better Brain at Any Age: The Holistic Way to Improve Your Memory, Reduce Stress, and Sharpen Your Wits (Conari Press, 2009), author Sondra Kornblatt explores how laughter can truly make you feel better.
She writes that the new field of gelotology is exploring the benefits of laughter. It was brought to the public’s awareness in Norman Cousins’ memoir Anatomy of an Illness. Cousins found that comedies, like those of the Marx Brothers, helped him feel better and get some pain-free sleep. That’s because laughter helps the pituitary gland release its own pain-suppressing opiates.
What can laughter do?:
- Lower blood pressure
- Increase vascular blood flow and oxygenation of the blood
- Give a workout to the diaphragm and abdominal, respiratory, facial, leg, and back muscles
- Reduce certain stress hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline
- Increase the response of tumor- and disease-killing cells such as Gamma-interferon and T-cells
- Defend against respiratory infections–even reducing the frequency of colds–by immunoglobulon in saliva.
- Increase memory and learning; in a study at Johns Hopkins University Medical School, humor during instruction led to increased test scores
- Improve alertness, creativity, and memory
Humor and creativity work in similar ways, says humor guru William Fry, M.D., of Stanford University–by creating relationships between two disconnected items, you engage the whole brain.
Humor works quickly. Less than a half-second after exposure to something funny, and electrical wave moves through the higher brain functions of the cerebral cortex. The left hemisphere analyzes the words and structures of the joke; the right hemisphere “gets” the joke; the visual sensory area of the occipital lobe creates images; the limbic (emotional) system makes you happier; and the motor sections make you smile or laugh.
So let’s laugh. What makes you laugh? Tell us your favorite funny movie, or how about a good joke?
FROM JODY: I saw this in the comments section & it so makes sense..... like my post from Thursday, Exercise for Mind & Body. From the mouths & eyes of babes. "American adults laugh an average of just 6-8 times per day. Pre- and grade-school children laugh an average of 400 times per day! We need to remember what it's like to laugh like children..."
Have a great day & LAUGH OUT LOUD!
It's amazing what we can learn from kids isn't it?! I love the pic, too cute!
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I was watching the finals of the WCWS this week, and even though my team, Florida lost, I found myself laughing at the end when our team, crying away, congratulated the winners (Washington) in a wonderful display of good "sportswomanship." I remember noticing how good it felt to laugh!
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I hit up stand up comedy clubs every few weeks. AWESOME ab workout. It also lets me know that I have tear ducts.
I think I'm going to start posting some weekly jokes on my blog! What do ya think of that?
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Shauna, yup, we sure can learn a lot from the little ones!
Dr. J, sometimes we forget about that laughter in the craziness of life.. got to find it again!
FJ, you have tear ducts??
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I love to laugh! One thing always guaranteed to make me laugh (even after all these years) is the old Carol Burnett skit in which she played "Startlett O'Hara" and came down the stairs with the curtains made into a dress. Here's the link on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4aRMZ4ePmMM
Several of the show's skits are there, and they still make me laugh!
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