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Laughter and Your Health
Did you know that according to research, children laugh about 400 times
a day while adults only laugh about 15 times a day? Some how we lost the
ability to laugh, as we got older. Could it be that putting more humor
and laughter into our day will improve our health and well-being?
In an article written by Drs. Gael Crystal and Patrick Flanagan they
stated that; "Scientists have found that laughter is a form of internal
jogging that exercises the body and stimulates the release of beneficial
brain neurotransmitters and hormones. Positive outlook and laughter is
actually good for our health! More than ever, scientific evidence
suggests that laughter really is one of the best medicines." According
to a study done by Dr. Tan from California's Loma Linda University
Medical Centre, laughter can have a huge impact on our immune system.
The university conduced a study of average adults. One group of adults
was subject to an hour of laughter through watching videos of comedians
and another group sat quietly out of earshot of the first group.
What did they find? Through regular blood tests carried out during the
comedy shows they found that the laughter group had an increase in good
hormones and a decrease in the body's stress hormone. Dr. Tan concluded
that; "Laughter brings a balance to all the components of the immune
system." Some clinics are now using this information with their
patients. They are using laughter therapy to replace anti-depressants
and to reduce the use of painkillers. According to researchers faking
laughter will also produce the same health and well-being results as real
laughter.
Do you need to improve your ability to laugh more? Well here are some
tips from Family Scientist, Herbert G. Lingren to help all of you, who
are humor impaired, to add laughter and humor to your everyday life.
1. Hang around funny friends, or better yet, marry a funny partner. 2.
Start looking for the absurd, silly, incongruous activities that go on
around you each day. 3. Take a 5-10 minute humor break each day. Read
jokes, add to a humor notebook, and listen to a funny tape. 4. Rent a
comedy video, go to a funny movie, and watch humorous programs on
television. 5. If you hear a joke you really like, write it down, or
tell it to someone else to help you remember it.
My final tip would be to spend more time having fun with children maybe
you will catch a few hundred laughs off them! Better still join a
laughter club or start your own.
About the Author:
Abel Craig writes articles on different topics. To know more about http://www.squidoo.com/exposedskincare