It’s true: laughter is strong medicine. It draws people together in ways that trigger healthy physical and emotional changes in the body.

Laughter strengthens your immune system, boosts mood, diminishes pain, and protects you from the damaging effects of stress.Nothing works faster or more dependably to bring your mind and body back into balance than a good laugh.

Humor lightens your burdens, inspires hope, connects you to others, and keeps you grounded, focused, and alert.

It also helps you release anger and forgive sooner.

Laughter as Medicine –

With so much power to heal and renew, the ability to laugh easily and frequently is a tremendous resource for surmounting problems, enhancing your relationships, and supporting both physical and emotional health. Best of all, this priceless medicine is fun, free, and easy to use.

We have all been around people whose magnetic laughter sets off our own and all those around us and before you know it, everyone in the room is laughing. Laughter is, without a doubt, addicting. It is the “feel-good” emotion that we all love to share with others.

That “feel-good” feeling is a clue that something special is happening. We feel good because laughter is stimulating the release of certain hormones that lift our spirit while decreasing stress hormones that zap/steal our energy and drop our spirit.

Laughter is mentally and physically healing. It is nature’s medication that every individual has access to without limits.

The power of laughter – Heals and strengthens brain power and reduces stress.

Laughter is a natural stress reducer because it triggers brain signals stimulating the production of neurochemicals called endorphins. Endorphins are nature’s mood boosting hormones, empowered to promote positive feelings while reducing negativity and emotional stress.

Laughter stimulates blood circulation and helps our muscles relax which in turn, helps reduce any physical symptoms of stress. It also helps us cope with challenging situations and people.

Extends life/longevity – Laughter is not just limited to reducing stress levels, improving mental health, and exercising our facial muscles. Laughter, according to Dr. Sears of the Wellness Institute “has many positive physiological effects as well such as boosting and strengthening the body’s immunity which in turn, promotes longevity.

Strengthens the heart – Like an aerobic workout does, laughter works the heart out by increasing heart rate and circulation. And, best of all? The body continues to enjoy improved/increased circulation and a state of relaxation even after the laughter subsides.

Anger is a Negative Emotion –

Anger, the opposite of laughter, is a negative emotion that raises blood pressure and likely the reason why intense arguments are referred to as “heated arguments.” They unnecessarily raise blood pressure and spend a lot of precious life energy.

The reality is overly serious people do not contribute to their health but place extra stress and strain on themselves causing them to experience higher rates of heart disease.

Builds immunity – Studies done in a relatively new field of research called psychoneuroimmunology, discovered that depression suppresses the body’s immune system.

Further research performed at Loma Linda University School of Medicine on medical students discovered that those that enjoyed comedy videos experienced lowered levels of the stress hormone cortisol while experiencing significantly higher T-cells circulating through the body. These T-cells are germ eradicators!

Moral of the story. Laughter boosts and stimulates our immunity and the production of natural killer cells while stressful experiences do the opposite – suppress’ their production.

Research continually proves that humour, happiness, and laughter all play major roles towards keeping our bodies strong, healthy, and alive! Laughter and happiness go hand in hand. Happy people are healthier people.

They treat themselves with the same loving-touch they offer others. They eat healthier foods and exercise regularly because they know it is key to keeping their lungs, hearts, muscles, and bones strong. They also sleep better helping their memory/brains cognitive functions. In other words, their needs are first on their priority list.

Bottom line is this – Laughter is a feel-good tonic we all have access to – when we feel good, we function better. It is a major element towards relieving tension, lowering stress, strengthening our hearts, lungs, muscles, and bones, boosting immunity, and ultimately lengthening our lives.

“Laugh and the world laughs with you.”

A healthy sense of humor is not a cure all but it sure is a healthy step in the right direction.

Stress levels diminish when we are able to laugh at ourselves and the situations, we find ourselves in.

Feeling down or depressed? Suffering from grief or in need of a lift in spirit? Feeling mentally or physically challenged and energetically drained?

Laughter is the best medicine. No joke. It is the healing balm that works for everyone.

The proof is in the pudding. Next time you’re engulfed in laughter, take note of how muscles release tension, the mind relaxes (almost as though a tornado came through and cleared the debris), and your body feels buoyant, all at the same time, all the result of laughter. It’s the sublime but amazing nature of laughter at our service!

Remember…when it comes to your health and fitness, laughter is powerful.

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