Is Laughter your Best Workout?
Are you so obsessed with the fact that you need to workout but you don't have enough time? Here's an easy compromise in days when your schedule get's really tight: You don't even need to put time for this practice, you can do it on the job while training: Laugh! What may surprise you is the fact that researchers estimate that laughing 100 times is equal to 10 minutes on the rowing machine or 15 minutes on an exercise bike. Laughing can be a total body workout! Blood pressure is lowered, and there is an increase in vascular blood flow and in oxygenation of the blood, which further assists healing. Laughter also gives your diaphragm, abdominal, respiratory, facial, leg and back muscles a workout. This why you often feel exhausted after a long bout of laughter -- you've just had an aerobic workout!
The psychological benefits of humor are quite amazing, according to doctors and nurses who are members of the American Association for Therapeutic Humor. People often store negative emotions, such as anger, sadness and fear, rather than express them. Laughter provides a way for these emotions to be harmlessly released. Laughter is cathartic. That's why some people who are upset or stressed out go to a funny movie or a comedy club, so they can laugh the negative emotions away (these negative emotions, when held inside, can cause biochemical changes that can affect our bodies).
Increasingly, mental health professionals are suggesting "laughter therapy," which teaches people how to laugh -- openly -- at things that aren't usually funny and to cope in difficult situations by using humor. Following the lead of real-life funny-doc Patch Adams (portrayed by Robin Williams in a movie by the same name), doctors and psychiatrists are becoming more aware of the therapeutic benefits of laughter and humor. This is due, in part, to the growing body of humor and laughter scholarship (500 academicians from different disciplines belong to the International Society for Humor Studies).
Here are some tips to help you put more laughter in your life:
Figure out what makes you laugh and do it (or read it or watch it) more often. Surround yourself with funny people -- be with them every chance you get. Develop your own sense of humor. Maybe even take a class to learn how to be a naturally funny trainer -- or at least a better joke-teller at that next gathering. Be funny every chance you get -- as long as it's not at someone else's expense!
The psychological benefits of humor are quite amazing, according to doctors and nurses who are members of the American Association for Therapeutic Humor. People often store negative emotions, such as anger, sadness and fear, rather than express them. Laughter provides a way for these emotions to be harmlessly released. Laughter is cathartic. That's why some people who are upset or stressed out go to a funny movie or a comedy club, so they can laugh the negative emotions away (these negative emotions, when held inside, can cause biochemical changes that can affect our bodies).
Increasingly, mental health professionals are suggesting "laughter therapy," which teaches people how to laugh -- openly -- at things that aren't usually funny and to cope in difficult situations by using humor. Following the lead of real-life funny-doc Patch Adams (portrayed by Robin Williams in a movie by the same name), doctors and psychiatrists are becoming more aware of the therapeutic benefits of laughter and humor. This is due, in part, to the growing body of humor and laughter scholarship (500 academicians from different disciplines belong to the International Society for Humor Studies).
Here are some tips to help you put more laughter in your life:
Figure out what makes you laugh and do it (or read it or watch it) more often. Surround yourself with funny people -- be with them every chance you get. Develop your own sense of humor. Maybe even take a class to learn how to be a naturally funny trainer -- or at least a better joke-teller at that next gathering. Be funny every chance you get -- as long as it's not at someone else's expense!
Source: howstuffworks.com, by Marshall Brain
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