Laugh to Humor Your Health and Your Creativity
Have you laughed you daily dose of laughter today? One big LOL can turn a stressful and lousy day into perfect merry day. If you haven’t laughed by 9:00 a.m. on any given day, then your day is off to a poor start. Everyone is familiar with the old cliché “Laughter is the best medicine.” Real life experiences tell us that this cliché is absolutely correct. According to medical experts we only need 15 chuckles a day keeps the doctor away.
Laughter comes in many forms; it could be subtle smile to a bursting belly laugh. You don’t have guffaw and fall out of chair, or laugh until you cry to be laughing sufficiently. A simple smile is a step in the right direction. Humor can be a powerful ally in sustaining wellness and preventing lapses. Several researches proved that laugher releases chemical in the brains namely the beta-endorphins and enkephalins, which are natural pain killers. These natural pain killers are believed to be 100 times much stronger than any morphine- or opium-based drugs usually taken as painkillers.
Psychologist Alice M. Isen and colleagues conducted a study to a group of college students to determine how laughter affects creativity. Given a box of matches, a box of tacks, and a candle, the college students were asked how they would affix the candle to a corkboard so that when the candle is lighted the wax would not drip onto the corkboard. Before attempting to solve the problem, some group of students watched a comedy film of television bloopers that would put into laughter. The other group of students watched Area Under a Curve, a math film. The researchers found that 75% of the students put into a cheerful condition solved the problem correctly, whereas only 20% of students who watched the math film got it correct. Watching comedy shows such as Hannah Montana or J.O.N.A.S! can induce a good amount of chuckle to complete your daily dose of laughter.
Furthermore, laughter benefits the whole cardiovascular system through dilation of blood vessels and increase of blood flow throughout your body. When you laugh you gulp in large amount of air, which creates a rich, highly oxygenated flow of blood. When you laugh your blood pressure and heart rate increase as much as you exercise, but after the laughter subsides, both your blood pressure and heart rate return to levels lower than you started. As a result, you feel refreshed all over after a good dose of laughter. It is interesting that even the Bible agree with the power of laughter. On Proverbs 17:22 it states that “A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.”
Love your self and have a good laugh today!