Laugh your way to health

Laughter is good for your overall health. It helps increase your endorphins, which provide natural pain relief, lowers blood pressure, it has positive benefits on mental functions, it helps the body fight infection, it relaxes muscles throughout the body.

You can make yourself laugh by simply laughing. When laughter is shared, it binds people together and increases happiness and intimacy.

Laughter also triggers healthy physical changes in the body. Humour and laughter strengthen your immune system, boost your energy, diminish pain, and protect you from the damaging effects of stress. Best of all, this priceless medicine is fun, free, and easy to use.

Laughter is a strong medicine for the mind and body. It is a powerful antidote to stress, pain, and conflict. Nothing works faster or more dependably to bring your mind and body back into balance than a good laugh.

 Humor lightens your burdens, inspires hopes, connects you to others, and keeps you grounded, focused, and alert.

With so much power to heal and renew, the ability to laugh easily and frequently is a tremendous resource for surmounting problems, enhancing your relationships, and supporting both physical and emotional health. Your sense of humor is one of the most powerful tools you have to make certain that your daily mood and emotional state support good health.

Benefits of laughter

* Laughter relaxes the whole body. A good, hearty laugh relieves physical tension and stress, leaving your muscles relaxed for up to 45 minutes after.

Laughter boosts the immune system. Laughter decreases stress hormones and increases immune cells and infection-fighting antibodies, thus improving your resistance to disease.
* Laughter triggers the release of endorphins, the body’s natural feel-good chemicals.
Endorphins promote an overall sense of well-being and can even temporarily relieve pain. Laughter protects the heart. Laughter improves the function of blood vessels and increases blood flow, which can help protect you against a heart attack and other cardiovascular problems.

*Physical benefits: It boosts immunity, lowers stress hormones, decreases pain, relaxes your muscles and prevents heart disease.
 
*Mental health benefits: It adds joy and zest to life, eases anxiety and fear, relieves stress, improves mood and enhances resilience   

*Social Benefits: It strengthens relationships, attracts others to us, enhances teamwork, helps defuse conflict and promotes group bonding Emotional health.
Laughter makes you feel good. And the good feeling that you get when you laugh remains with you even after the laughter subsides. More than just a respite from sadness and pain, laughter gives you the courage and strength to find new sources of meaning and hope.

Even in the most difficult of times, a laugh–or even simply a smile–can go a long way toward making you feel better. And laughter really is contagious—just hearing laughter primes your brain and readies you to smile and join in on the fun.
Laughter dissolves distressing emotions. You can’t feel anxious, angry, or sad when you’re laughing. It helps you relax and recharge.

It reduces stress and increases energy, enabling you to stay focused and accomplish more.

Humour shifts perspective, allowing you to see situations in a more realistic, less threatening light. A humorous perspective creates psychological distance, which can help you avoid feeling overwhelmed.

(The writer is a cardiac surgeon)