Laughter, Why It's so Good for You
For hundreds of years, we?ve known that ?Laughter is the best medicine?.
Laughter makes you feel good for a reason. The physiological effects on your body are amazing. For example:
- Laughter reduces levels of certain stress hormones. It provides a safety valve that shuts off the flow of stress hormones and the fight-or-flight compounds that come into action in times of trouble, or hostility or rage.
- Laughter boosts the immune system because when you?re in a state of mirth, natural killer cells that destroy tumors and viruses increase. It basically brings balance to all the components of the immune system.
- Laughter can be a total body workout! Do you often feel exhausted after a bout of contagious giggling? This is because you have just had an aerobic workout.
- Blood pressure is lowered and there is an increase in vascular blood flow, and an increase in oxygenation of the blood. Oxygenation of the blood enables the body to carry on healing activities for itself.
- There also has been some belief that laughter prevents some life-threatening diseases such as heart disease. That?s because anger and fear (two emotions that often lead to heart attack) are completely eliminated while you are laughing.
Laughing invokes happiness and joy.
Instead of being gloomy and frustrated because there is no perceived solution, laughing lifts you up out of your pool of problems and places you on solid ground where you can gain some new insights. Under conditions of happiness it is much easier to think creatively around a problem than when your mind is filled with thoughts of helplessness or worthlessness.
Shared laughter promotes bonding and unity within a group. This is particularly evident when there are a few people involved in a project. People feel more welcome and free to offer suggestions and think out loud. They?re not afraid of being put down, so will risk sharing their opinion. Laughter also opens the door to more real and risky communication. Sometimes people are feeling scared or overwhelmed by conditions, but don?t know how to express it. If a humorous comment is made that expresses the concerns in an exaggerated way, people will laugh. This then enables them to talk about the uncomfortable issues or concerns. By laughing, an entry is made for talk about the subject. This applies just as well in a family setting.
Humor is hazardous to your illness and so are some other things!
There are several things you can do to boost your enjoyment of life and to open the way for a day of laughter...and then more days of laughter. I think in terms of Enjoying Health, and to me, this means total health: body, soul, and spirit. I?d like to share from my own personal experience what my husband and I do to build our physical and emotional health and so enjoy life more fully.
We?ve changed our diet away from the traditional American diet that includes white flour breads and sugary drinks and desserts; grocery store meats that are basically polluted; and packaged foods. We try to eat natural, vibrant foods; drink more water than any other liquid; use supplements on a daily basis; and use (
http://www.essentialimmunehealth.com/newsletters/July2004.html) the Q2 Energy Spa every other day, practically religiously. We work hard out of doors, getting plenty of fresh air and sunshine; and we pray to God with thankfulness, asking for His guidance and blessings too. We?re Baby Boomers that were going downhill in bodily health, but somehow we?ve made a turnaround and our aging process has not only been slowed down, but it has been reversed! We?re getting rid of disease symptoms right and left. Tell every Baby Boomer you know that they can make a difference in their health. Refer them to my website:
http://www.essentialimmunehealth.com!
Most of us lack energy or have multiple diseases
or are (
http://essentialimmunehealth.com/journals/NaturalAntidepressants.html) depressed. Sickness and disease and depression are on the rampage in our culture because of the way we have treated ourselves. I want you to know you can regain your health and I want you to begin today TO STOP DOING WHAT?S HURTING YOU AND START DOING SOME THINGS THAT ARE GOOD FOR YOU. This article is excerpted from my October 2004 newsletter from my website called ENJOYING HEALTH. To read more specifically what my recommendations are, please refer to my October newsletter (
http://www.essentialimmunehealth.com/newsletters/October2004.html). You can grow old gracefully, happily, finding reasons to laugh every day...
My skin is being rejuvenated and so is that of my husband Dave (i.e. moles and liver spots and bumps and skin tags are going away)... And when the healing process that begins from within begins to show on the outside of your body, you KNOW you?ve been successful in regenerating good health. That?s something to laugh about. ENJOYING HEALTH makes each day more pleasurable.
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