With the rising cost of prescription medicines, there is a better alternative to make you healthier and it’s free. Laughter continues to be the best medicine and it’s about time that people took laughing our way to health more seriously. Many benefits attributed to laughter affect our body, our disposition, and the way we relate to other people.
Benefits of Laughter
Physical Health Benefits
A family practitioner Dr. Marvin E. Herring said in an interview that after a hearty laugh, some of our body organs like the heart, diaphragm, stomach, lungs, and even the liver are given a massage. Since it relieves tension in our body and make one relax, the possibility of decreasing blood pressure may be achieved through laughter.
A study has been conducted on the relationship of laughter with the production of killer cells that help protect our body from virally infected cells. The study reveals that the more you laugh; there becomes an increase in activity of the killer cells, which also constitutes to improving the body’s ability to fight or eliminate cancer cells.
Mental Health Benefits
Laughter is the safest antidepressant. When people laugh, the brain releases endorphins that are powerful chemicals that help alleviate sadness and prevail over negative thoughts. They help improve our moods and help you to look at the brighter side of things even in difficult situations.
Social Benefits
Injecting humor in a tension filled situation helps diffuse conflict among people. Because of this, it helps you broach sensitive topics and confront disagreements with very little argument. Having a sense of humor builds resilience, making you bounce back in case of setbacks or failure. Because of your positive disposition, it may help strengthen relationships and create solid friendships.
Having a Daily dose of Humor
Now that you know of the benefits one can get just by sharing a hearty laugh or having an all smiles temperament, you can go on injecting a healthy bit of humor everyday to prevent a stress filled and unhealthy way of life. This is not actually very difficult. Here are some tips for you to lighten up and laugh to your heart’s content:
- Don’t take life too seriously. Take time off to be with your friends to unwind and relieve stress. Watch a comedy movie to humor yourself.
- Be more spontaneous. Do not manage your life in such a way that you always stick to the same routine and live inside your comfort zone. Go on vacation. Let all calls go directly to your voicemail inbox. Relax. It pays to do something new for a change.
- Surround yourself with children. If you have kids of your own, spend more time with them as hanging out with children bring out the kid in you. Being with kids helps you to realize how uncomplicated life is and just their smiles and laughter can make you happy and forget everything — even momentarily.
- Count your blessings. Make a list of all the good things that have happened to you through the years. When you are in a state of sadness, bring out your list and you will realize how much blessed you are that you have accomplished a lot. This is sure to inspire you to look at life positively.
Once you accept that humor and laughter is an essential part of your life, you develop a more positive outlook in life. Being able to experience new things with your loved ones could be made to happen every day. Humor takes you to a more relaxed and balanced state of mind that makes you sees the world in a whole new positive perspective.