What Happens when we Laugh?
Have you ever thought about exactly what is happening to your body when you laugh? Let’s take a look at it for a minute. According to science when a person laughs their rate of breathing quickens, which will increase the amount of oxygen that is in the blood. This will not only help healing, but will improve your circulation. The increased oxygen will also cause the blood vessels closest to the skin to expand. This is the reason people usually turn red when going into a laughing fit. Laughter may also lower your heart rate and can even burn calories. Now here’s an interesting fact along those lines. Reports show that by laughing 100 times, you can receive a workout equivalent to a 10 minute session on a rowing machine!
Having a good chuckle may also stimulate the production of certain chemicals in the brain. These chemicals are known as endorphins, the body’s natural pain killers. These endorphins are also responsible for giving us that pleasant feeling, which I like to call Happy. 🙂 Endorphins also help in creating a stronger immune system, this is probably why miserable folks are more often sick than those that are happy. I for one am a pretty happy person for the most part, and I can’t rightfully say I’ve been really sick for several years. So I’m thinking there could be something to this.
A Laughing Matter of Fact
There was a man by the name of Norman Cousins that was diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis in 1964. This is a form of arthritis that effects the spine. Doctors told him nothing could be done to treat his condition and he was sure to die an agonizing death. He was a firm believer in the Medicine of Laughter so he went on a quest to rent every funny movie he could find. He began watching the films over and over again and laughed as hard as he possibly could.
After six months had gone by, the doctors were astounded to find his illness was cured! He no longer had any signs of the disease at all. Because of Cousins’ experiments with laughter, some American hospitals began creating “Laughter Rooms” in the 1980’s. These rooms had all the tools of the cure such as joke books, comedic films and even had periodic shows with stand up comedians. Each patient was given a 30 to 60 minute session each day for their laughter treatment. Amazingly the hospitals began to see drastic improvements in the patients’ condition. They were actually able to decrease the use of pain medications and the patients attitudes increased dramatically.
Some of you may not believe in this as a form of medicine, but give it a try. After all, there’s nothing to be gained from being miserable all the time. Just remember, humans are very receptive creatures and when you radiate a poor attitude or a miserable feeling into the air, it is absorbed by all those around you. Let’s start now in making the world a more pleasant place to be, try integrating the Medicine of Laughter into your daily lives whether you are sick or not.
Great article about how laughing is actually good for your health. I’ve heard the saying before, but you point out exactly why it is true.
Thanks Marshall, it’s pretty interesting how much of a difference it can make in your health just by being happy.
Thank you for sharing a nice topics laugh every day is not only good for health, it would help us maintain good physical health as well.
I appreciate you adding that to the discussion Xavier, it’s very true. Laughter is an excellent abdominal workout, and burns quite a few calories.
I heard people saying that laughing is good for health.. But now i really know it scientifically.. It is like knowing more about science is beautiful…. It is the topic which made me read such a simple and clear blog..thanks
Thank you for the kind words…I find science fascinating and will continue to poor out my finding for my readers, so much out there to learn, it’s hard to keep up!
Great post Robert as usual before. Always everyone clarifying advantages of Laughing but can you please also clarify all advantages and disadvantages of crying.
NCrypted, that’s a brilliant idea, I’ll go to work straight away in my research on crying. I will post soon on my findings.
This is amazing, I always heard about laughing being good for your health, but I didn’t think it was backed by scientific facts like that! That’s really cool!
I definitely think everyone should laugh more, the world is so cold and serious, laughing it out is never a bad thing, and is truly heart-warming! Thanks for this great post, tonight am watching my favorite comedies! 😛
That’s great Miss Tissu! I love to laugh and have a good time, it’s so much easier to feel good and happy then it is to worry. They say it takes a lot less muscles to smile than it does to frown 🙂
I’m definitely with this post 100%. People say that I laugh to much and that it’s a little contagious. Life is to short, why not live happy and smile right?
Absolutely..I would think laughter and being happy would be a must in your profession. But it’s good for everyone, why waste one second of our precious lives on being unhappy.
Nice article! Laughter is not just a best medicine to cure all our problems, but laughing also can prevent us to get old haha:) We must not let our everyday in our lives without laughing 🙂 I love this post! Thanks for sharing.
Excellent point of view! We indeed are only as old as we feel mentally. I intend to stay young at heart as long as I possibly can. Thanks for the great comments, I’m glad you’re enjoying the blog!
A very nice and unique article about how laughing can reduce our daily lives pressure and it’s so important to stay happy all the time, thanx for sharing.
Absolutely Shahalam, laughing is such a great way to raise people’s spirits and makes for a much better day to have a little fun. It’s a proven fact that laughing is excellent medicine not only for the body, but the soul as well. 🙂
Nice article! Laughter is not just a best medicine to cure all our problems, but laughing also can prevent us to get old haha:) We must not let our everyday in our lives without laughing 🙂 I love this post! Thanks for sharing.
Thanks so much for the feedback, I’m glad you enjoyed the post and you’re right…Laughter does keep us young as well.