Woo, I havent laughed that hard in a long time I needed that. The last time you said words like thatyou probably DID need a good laugh, and you should be sure to let it out more often!
You might be surprised to know that a healthy dose of laughter is often just what you need for a healthy mind and body. This can be especially true when you are feeling down in the dumps experiencing anxiety or stress or battling a serious health problem.
Frequent laughter can help lower levels of heart disease and stress, and even help boost your immune system, according to Michael F. Roizen, M.D., professor of anesthesiology and internal medicine at State University of New York (SUNY) Upstate Medical University in Syracuse.
Laughing can also help improve your pain tolerance, and even reduce food cravings. Roizen, who authored the books RealAge and RealAge Makeover, said laughter can even reduce your calendar age by as much as eight years!
When you laugh, your body reacts by producing a feeling of great happiness, well-being and euphoria. According to the UC Berkeley Wellness Letter, Laughter reduces tension, clears the mind and lifts the spirits. It also increases your hormone production and heart rate, and it contributes to better circulation and muscle tone.
The next time you need a boost, laugh it up with some of the following strategies:
- Seek humor through entertainmentfind a knee-slapping movie or sitcom on television; many cable stations show reruns of classic oldies but goodies!
- Visit a comedy clubshare your sense of humor with some friends; a good laugh can be contagious when more are sharing in the fun. Laughter is not primarily about humor, said Robert Provine, Ph.D., in Laughter: A Scientific Investigation, but about social relationships.
- Find humor in bad situationstry to frame the incident in a more positive light; after recuperating from an embarrassing situation, you may find something to make you laughor at least smile!
- Fake ittry smiling even when you dont feel the smile INSIDE; studies show youll experience positive effects from smiling whether the smile is fake or real!
So if you want to feel younger, healthier and happierlearn to laugh it up!