A good way to relieve the stress of the Holiday season, is to simply laugh! I’m not kidding, although I do have some jokes to hopefully put a smile on your face, I’m telling the truth! Here are some very interesting facts about laughing and the good it has on our health:
- Laughter boosts your immune system and decreases stress hormones
- Laughing 100 times roughly equals 15 minutes on an exercise bike? Vigorous laughter increases the heart rate deepens the breathing rate, and uses muscles in the face, stomach, and diaphragm.
- Aside from improving our moods, laughter can reduce stress, help fight infection, and reduce pain.
- The levels of two stress hormones, cortisol and epinephrine which suppress the body’s immune system, will actually drop after a dose of laughter.
- Higher levels of an antibody (salivary immunoglobulin A) that fights infectious organisms entering the respiratory tract were found in the saliva of people who watched humorous videos or experienced good moods.
- Laughter releases anger, fear, guilt, anxiety and tension
- Researchers found after watching an hour-long video of slapstick comedy that the “natural killer cells,” which seek out and destroy malignant cells, more actively attacked tumor cells in test tubes. And these effects lasted up to 12 hours.
- Planning enjoyable activities for the future will reduce the stressor hormones such as cortisol and epinephrine.
- Laughter reduces pain by releasing endorphins that are more potent than equivalent amounts of morphine
The most wasted day is that in which we have not laughed. Don’t wait until you are sick before you begin practicing laughter therapy. Start today by renting comedy classics from your video store, borrowing humorous books from the library, attending comedy clubs, watching comics on TV, and exchanging jokes with family members, friends, and coworkers. If you are visiting someone in the hospital, why not bring funny greeting cards and humorous books instead of flowers? Have a happy Holidays and just smile it will make you a little happier!
~Sara
