How Laughter Protects the Mind and Body
Laughter is a powerful antidote to stress, pain, and conflict. Nothing works faster or more dependably to bring your mind and body back into balance than a good laugh. Humor lightens your burdens, inspires hopes, connects you to others, and keeps you grounded, focused and alert.
With so much power to heal and renew, the ability to laugh easily and frequently is a tremendous resource for surmounting problems, enhancing your relationships, and supporting both physical and emotional health.
Why laughter is good for your health
Laughter relaxes the whole body. A good, hearty laugh relieves physical tension and stress, leaving your muscles relaxed for up to 45 minutes.
Laughter boosts the immune system. Laughter decreases stress hormones and increases immune cells and infection-fighting antibodies, thus improving your resistance to disease.
Laughter triggers the release of endorphins, the body’s natural feel-good chemicals. Endorphins promote an overall sense of well-being and can even temporarily relieve pain.
Laughter protects the heart. Laughter improves the function of blood vessels and increases blood flow, which can help protect you against a heart attack and other cardiovascular problems.
Physical Health Benefits: Boosts immunity, lowers stress hormones, decreases pain, relaxes your muscles, prevents heart disease,
Mental Health Benefits: Adds joy and zest to life, eases anxiety and fear, relieves stress, Improves mood, enhances resilience
Social Benefits: Strengthens relationships, attracts others to us, enhances teamwork, helps defuse conflict, promotes group bonding
How it works: Laughter is one of the cheapest and most effective ways to relieve stress. It is a natural response and can instantly make us feel positive and relieve some common symptoms of stress. It is often regarded as the ‘best medicine’ and there are studies that support this ancient claim.
What it could prevent: Pain, migraine, insomnia, nausea, anxiety, depression, lethargy, panic attacks, anger, high blood pressure, low self-confidence, fatigue, nervousness, irritability.
Evidence base: Laughter therapy was first introduced as a therapy in the 1990s after an Indian researcher tested its effects on well being with a group of students. There have been no clinical reviews of the effects of laughter on stress, but many of them are indirect. Laughing naturally moves muscles in our face and body and reduces the levels of hormones related to stress, such as cortisol and adrenaline. Laughter has also been shown to increase the level of different immune system cells that would usually decline during stress and cause physical symptoms. Research has also suggested that the positive effects on the body during times of genuine laughter are also apparent when laughter is imitated by repeated hahaha's or hohoho's. The body, apparently, cannot tell the difference between real laughter and simulated, so both can have a positive effect. Simulating it can lead to genuine laughter, prolonging the positive effects.
What to expect: Laughter therapy at home is possible by watching certain TV programs or practicing techniques learned in classes.
Precautions: It can be quite physical and tiring, particularly at first. Always ensure you are able to take part in the activities and do not over-exert yourself.
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