Laughing Your Way to a Better Life

Have you had a good belly laugh lately? If not, you will start laughing more after reading this article.

Did you know that laughter can:
Improve your relationships.
Reduce stress.
Protect your heart.
Lower your blood pressure.
Boost your immune system.
Improve your brain functioning and more?

Yes!!!! Laughter is a fun, easy, inexpensive, exhilarating and contagious way of improving many aspects of your life. Yes!!! It is contagious. "Laugh and the world laughs with you" is a true statement.

According to Michael Miller, MD. Director of the Center for Preventive Cardiology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. "This saying- laughter is the best medicine, definitely appears to be true when it comes to the heart. We don't know why laughing protects the heart, but we know that mental stress is associated with the impairment of the endothelium, the protective barrier lining our blood vessels. This can cause a series of inflammatory reactions that lead to fat and cholesterol build-up in the coronary arteries and ultimately to a heart attack."

Steve Sultanoff, Ph.D., president of the Association for Applied and Therapeutic Humor states, "with deep heart-felt laughter, it appears that serum cortical is decreased, which is a hormone that is secreted when you are under stress. So when you are having a stress reaction if you laugh, apparently the cortical that has been released during the stress reaction is reduced."

Read on to find out why you should be laughing more.

When we laugh-physiologically we change the appearance of our face. A smile or laughter stretches the muscles of the face and body, bringing a natural glow and beauty to your appearance. Don't you always crack a smile when you are being photographed? You want to look your best. Some laughter advocates say "laughter is like a work of art."

Laughter is exhilarating, it can put a spring in your step, it's like exercise, it increases your pulse rate, your blood pressure, your breathing rate, and lung capacity. Allowing you to assimilate more oxygen throughout your body which lifts your spirits. William Fry, the pioneer of laughter research, says, "one hundred laughs is similar to ten minutes on a rowing machine."

Laughter also massages your internal organs like, the stomach, the liver, kidneys and spleen. I cannot forget on an occasion when my friends visited me in the hospital after I had, had abdominal surgery. They were being funny trying to cheer me up and I had a "little" belly laugh. It was so painful when my abdominal muscles and my internal organs giggled. Ouch!!

Laughter can lift your attitude and make you more giving. A good demonstration of this was, a Girl Guide experience (same as Girl Scout in America) I had in Jamaica. Once per year a small group of us would collect donations in the movie theater lobby. It was interesting to note that after a comedy show the patrons would be in a happy mood and would give generous donations. Patrons moods were not as uplifting and the donations were much smaller after they saw a more serious show.

When we laugh, the body releases endorphins which is a natural pain killer and also aids in relaxing you. Laughter improves your strength and energy level. It enhances your relationships, team building, communication skills and self esteem. It does so by breaking done the walls and barriers between you and others. Friends, families or couples who laugh together are happier and enjoy a closer bond with each other. Robert Cooper, of Health and Fitness Excellence, states, "big smiles resets the neurochemistry of the brain towards more positive emotions."

More Benefits of Laughter
Serotonin is a natural antidepressant that is produce when you laugh.
Laughter relaxes you therefore it improves your sleep.
It's a great facial exercise.
It's a natural high.

So with all these benefits what are you waiting for? Go ahead!! Enjoy a dose of good laughter. You need no prescription, there are no side effects, and it's free. It's contagious but harmless. So share it with others and bask in the sensation of elation.
Visit www.ourlaughs.com/fun_links.php and Laugh!!!!!!