When was the last time that you laughed? I don’t mean just a slight chuckle that lasts a second or two but a deep, long-lasting laugh where your eyes may be teary and you’re holding your belly because it’s starting to hurt from laughing so much?  For many of us, it’s hard to remember.  Laughing feels good, but did you know it’s also a powerful way to improve your health and well-being?

 Laughter has a two-step action on the body. It stimulates and relaxes. When you are laughing, your body is stimulated and exercised. Afterwards, your body relaxes and calms itself. This is why laughter creates physical and mental relaxation.  Medical research has found that laughter lowers muscle tension, relaxes your sympathetic nervous system (this system when stimulated produces a stress response), improves circulation and promotes a deep respiratory pattern (see our blog on breathing to learn why this is so important). It also provides an outlet for releasing built up nervous energy, which is critical to keeping you body healthy. It has been found that one minute of full belly laughter is the equivalent of 45 minutes of deep relaxation and has been referred to as a form of internal massage.

In the late 1970’s Norman Cousins used laughter to help cure himself of a painful condition called ankylosing spondylitis by watching Candid Camera episodes and Marx Brother movies. In his book, Anatomy of an Illness, Norman Cousins “made the joyous discovery that ten minutes of genuine belly laughter had an anesthetic effect that would give me at least two-hours of pain-free sleep.” After further study, he found that laughter and a positive attitude can cause a release of endorphins, our body’s natural pain-killers, into the body.

Laughter is also a powerful tool to improve mental and emotional health. Humor induces happiness and changes the way we look at the world. As we’ve said before, it’s not necessarily the stress in your life that breaks down your body and makes you sick, but it’s how you perceive and react to that stressful situation that can negatively affect your body. Do you think negative thoughts and beat yourself up? Does smoking or eating something sweet make you feel better? Here’s an experiment: The next time you find yourself in a stressful situation, try laughing for one minute straight. If your like me, you’ll probably feel ridiculous because you’re “fake” laughing, which will crack you up and probably make you laugh more. Give it a try, and let us know what happens. 

Dorothy Lizak

Nutrition & Wellness Specialist

References:

http://www.happiness.co.uk/Content/InspirationRoom/Articles/DisplayArticle.asp?ArticleID=6

Tags: anxiety, improve breathing, improve circulation, pain, Stress

This entry was posted on Sunday, August 23rd, 2009 at 5:04 pm and is filed under Emotional health. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.