A Merry Heart
I love teaching in my healing workshops. So many wonderful things happen to those that attend. In my workshop, I teach about the benefits of laughter which for many is surprising.
Today I was gathering more information about laughter so I pulled information from the VA, Mayo Clinic, WebMD, Psychological Services, American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine and Hospice. WOW, there is lots of great information on the benefits of laughter.
I am going to take these articles and list some of the benefits of laughter. May this list be beneficial to you in the days ahead and may laughter become part of your daily life.
Hospice listed these benefits in their article:
Reduces stress, boosts your immune system, good for your heart and improves your mood and strengthens relationships.
VA Office of Patient Centered Care and Cultural Transformation list these benefits:
Increases heart and respiratory rates as well as oxygen consumption over a short period, affects heart function, muscle tone relaxes, lowers levels of the stress hormone, cortisol, activates the mesolimbic dopaminergic reward system in the brain, increases serum immunoglobulins A and E, seems to increase natural killer cell activity, raises levels of beta-endorphins and increases human growth hormone production.
Mayo Clinic under Healthy Lifestyle Stress Management, these benefits are listed:
A good laugh has short-term effects. When you start to laugh, it doesn't just lighten your load mentally, it actually induces physical changes in your body.
Laughter can: Stimulate many organs, activate and relieve your stress response, soothe tension, improve your immune system, relieve pain, increase personal satisfaction, improve your mood.
WebMD — Laughter Might Actually Be the Best Medicine
Here is what WebMD listed:
Induces a wide variety of benefits such as stress reduction, improved breathing, extra boost to the body’s immune system, increasing pain tolerance, postive effects on mental health and the ability to cope with the multitude of life’s curveballs.
Delaware Psychological Services states:
Whether it’s infectious, goofy, or annoying, this is to remind yourself that laughter is, in fact, the best medicine.
Mental health benefits — Ten minutes of laughter results in two hours of pain-free sleep! Laughter releases endorphins, releases serotonin, a natural antidepressant, eases distressing emotions, defuses anger, conflict and self-blame, using humor to make scary situation less intimidating, encourages you to relax, recharge and have fun, improves your mood, strengthens your resilience.
Physical health benefits of laughter — “A good laugh has great short-term effects,” explains the Mayo Clinic Staff, “When you start to laugh, it doesn’t just lighten your load mentally, it actually induces physical changes in your body.
Laughter can: Stimulate your heart, lungs and muscles, cools down the stress response and decreases your heart rate and blood pressure, can stimulate circulation, aid muscle relaxation, boosting your immune system, through the release of neuropeptides that help fight stress and potentially more-serious illnesses, a natural pain reliever, burns calories.
Protecting your heart. “Laughter lessons the body’s stress responses and has an effect similar to an anti-inflammatory protection of blood vessels, heart muscles, and cardiovascular disease,” says Beth Morris LMSW, MPA
American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine (The Laughter Prescription — PMC)
‘Current research indicates that laughter has quantifiable positive physiologic benefits.’
Here are some of the psychological benefits: improving affect on depression, anxiety, and stress. A positive mood is closely tied to spontaneous laughter.
With no downsides, side-effects, or risks, perhaps it is time to consider laughter seriously.
I have just pulled some of the information from these reports, which I am listing below so you can go and read them for yourself.
I agree that it is time for us to consider laughter very seriously because it has amazing benefits.
Just as the bible tells “A merry heart does good, like medicine, But a broken spirit dries the bones.” Proverbs 17:22
https://www.delawarepsychologicalservices.com/post/why-laughter-is-the-best-medicine
