The Power of Laughter: Humor is Infectious!

Categories: Human Nature Humor Laughter Rowing

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Humor is infection. The sound of roaring laughter is far more contagious than any cough, sniffle, or sneeze. When laughter is shared, it binds people together and increases happiness and intimacy. Laughter also triggers healthy physical changes in the body. Humor 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.

see more:laughter is the best medicine paragraph

So today I would like to share a part of what I have read and learned by explaining what is laughter, the benefit of laughter and how to make more laughter.

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First of all, laughter is not the same as humor. Laughter is the physiological response to humor. Laughter consists of two parts -- a set of gestures and the production of a sound. When we laugh, the brain pressures us to conduct both those activities simultaneously. When we laugh heartily, changes occur in many parts of the body, even the arm, leg and trunk muscles.

Laughter is a great thing – that is why we have all heard the saying “laughter is the best medicine”. I am sure you are wondering how laughter can affect us. We've long known that the ability to laugh is helpful to those coping with major illness and the stress of life's problems. But researchers are now saying laughter can do a lot more -- it can basically bring balance to all components of the immune system which help us fight off disease.

As, I mentioned earlier, laughter can reduces level of certain stress hormones.

In doing this, laughter provides a safety valve that shuts off the flow of stress hormones and the fight or flight compound that swing into action in our bodies when we experience stress or anger. These stress hormone supress the immune system, increase the number of platelet and raise blood pressure. Laughter can be a body workout. What may surprise you even more is the fact that researchers estimate that laughing 100 times is equal to 10 minutes on the rowing machine or 15 minutes on an exercise bike.

Laughing can be a total body workout! When we laugh, blood pressure is lowered, and there is an increase in vascular blood flow and in oxygenation of the blood, which further assists healing. Laughter also gives your diaphragm and abdominal respiratory, facial, leg and back muscles a workout. That’s why you often feel exhausted after a long bout of laughter. The psychological benefits of humor are quite amazing, according to doctors and nurses who are members of the American Association for Therapeutic Humor.

People often store negative emotions, such as anger, sadness and fear, rather than expressing them. Laughter provides a way for these emotions to be harmlessly released. Laughter is cathartic. That's why some people who are upset or stressed out go to a funny movie or a comedy club, so they can laugh the negative emotions away (these negative emotions, when held inside, can cause biochemical changes that can affect our bodies). Some of us do not know how to laughter. So there are some tips to produce more laughter.

There are a few tips for how to bring more laughter in your life. First, you can watch comedies. We all have different tastes, so we all need to identify the sort of comedies that are most likely to make us laugh. Second, spend time with friends that can make you laugh. We all know people that when we are around them we just feel happy and playful. Spend more time with them. Thirdly, take life less seriously. It is so easy to get caught in the habit of thinking we have to take things seriously.

But generally speaking, the more serious we are about our problems, the more serious they become. People will often say, one day we will look back on this and laugh. Why not just laugh now! As we have seen, laughter can affect us in many ways. I learned a lot about myself and in process, learned a lot about the value of laughter. After experiencing these laughter-inducing moments first hand, I know there are great benefits to them. Laughter offer us a chance of escape, even for a few moments from the past and the future.