Laughter is a physical expression of humor and joy that has numerous protective qualities. Laughter is good medicine. Laughter generates an increase in positive emotion. There are a lot of health benefits associated with positive emotions. There is nothing that works faster in order to bring back the mind and body into balance than a good laugh.
PAST
The field of medicine has long recognized the importance of humor. In the 1300s, Henri de Mondeville, a professor of surgery, propagated post-operative therapy with humor. Norman Cousins, a journalist, and a professor, also initiated this trend when he developed his own “treatment,” based on mood elevation through laughter. According to Cousins, ten minutes of laughter resulted in two hours of pain-free sleep.
BENEFITS AND REASONS
Short-term benefits
Laughter is a potent endorphin releaser. Laughter releases the endorphins in our brains that induces euphoria. They are the body’s natural feel-good chemicals. Endorphins promote an overall sense of well-being and can even temporarily relieve pain.
Laughter has an effect similar to antidepressants. Laughter activates the release of serotonin, which is found in the most common types of antidepressants. Serotonin is sometimes known as the happy chemical because it plays a role in regulating our moods. People with depression often have low levels of serotonin. Bursts of laughing, for at least a short period of time, can boost our mood with a similar effect.
Activate and relieve your stress response. A rollicking laugh can increase and then decrease your heart rate and blood pressure. When you laugh there’s a contraction of muscles, which increases blood flow and oxygenation. This stimulates the heart, lungs, and brain.
Laughing burns calories.If one can laugh for a good 10-15 minutes, up to 40 calories can be burned. Keep in mind that it would have to be a solid hour laugh session to make any meaningful impact, but it sounds like the perfect response for a short-term effect.
Long-term effects
Improve your immune system. Negative thoughts manifest into chemical reactions that can affect your body by bringing more stress into your system and decreasing your immunity. By contrast, positive thoughts can actually release neuropeptides that help fight stress and potentially more-serious illnesses. Laughter also assists in the recovery and prevention of cancer by increasing natural killer cell activity, the response of gamma interferon and T cells, and improves the defense against respiratory infections.
Laughter Increases Resilience: Resilience is the ability to see failure as a natural progression to success rather than as a negative outcome. People who are resilient are happier and more successful. The ability to acknowledge mistakes without becoming angry or frustrated plays an important role in developing resilience. Laughing at mistakes allows us to recognize that making errors is a part of being human.
Laughing may be important to maintain a healthy endothelium which prevents atherosclerotic plaque formation and reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. Thus it protects the heart.
Laughter boosts levels of nitric oxide in artery walls to cause vasodilation and increased blood supply to organs like a heart can help protect you against a heart attack and other cardiovascular problems. "Perhaps mental stress leads to a breakdown in nitric oxide or inhibits a stimulus to produce nitric oxide that results in vasoconstriction."
It combats insomnia. Studies have shown that our cerebral cortex releases electrical impulses that block the passage of negative thoughts one second after we start laughing.
It reduces blood sugar levels, increasing glucose tolerance in diabetics and nondiabetics alike.
Laughter yoga
It is a contemporary technique developed in India that encourages participants to mimic the act of laughing with the goal of achieving positive psychological outcomes. It bases itself on the fact that laughing for a period of time can help to regulate breathing and bring oxygen to the lungs.
The results have shown significant improvements in positive emotions and reductions in the severity of symptoms of stress and anxiety as well as reduced anxiety and improved quality of sleep in patients suffering from Parkinson disease
When used appropriately, humor can have a place in therapy for generalized anxiety disorder, depression, and social anxiety. It can be a part of interpersonal therapy and CBT.
Being able to laugh at traumatic events in our lives( The COVID times) doesn’t cause us to ignore them, but prepares us to endure them through playfulness and a changed prism of perception of life’s challenges.
Don’t go a day without laughing. Think of it like exercise or breakfast and make a conscious effort to find something each day that makes you laugh. Set aside 10 to 15 minutes and do something that amuses you.
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