THE GOLDEN TEARS

              HEALTH AND PSYCHOLOGY

       

                      LAUGH IT OUT LOUD

 

       When a young child is tickled, the child burst out into laughter. When in a gathering and someone does something funny and interesting, every one starts laughing. When alone and the memory of some interesting events flash through the mind, one starts laughing, at the unfolding of a positive event, laughter is produced. Even when things we less expect should happen or we sad, we give a smile. Therefore we can In other words say laughter is a natural phenomenon in every human being. But most people do not know the side effects of laughter. They do not know how beneficial it is to their health, social environment, psychological well being and their mental state.

According to the oxford advanced learners dictionary, to laugh means to make sound and movements of your face to show that you are happy or think that something is funny.

Whether we smile or we laugh, we are out to achieve almost the same thing.

Laughter is a part of humanity that we cannot do without. Although it is sad to know that there are some people who find it difficult to get involved in laughter.

For people in the mentioned category above who don’t easily find reasons to laugh, here are few reasons why you should engage in this healthy exercise called laughter.

·                            SOCIAL EFFECTS OF LAUGHTER

To start with, we will be talking about the social effects of laughter

In every society in the world, laughter and smile are signals of acceptance in a community of people. Do you notice that people who laugh regularly have people always flocking around them because they are regarded as happy against those who are always frowning their faces.

In schools, students who laugh more tend to have more friends than others. At work places, people always want to be team mates with those who are always happy as laughter is associated with happiness. And since everyone wants to be happy in one way or the other, they want to associate with the happy ones.

Laughter also has a connecting ability as it connects us with others. This is why when in a working environment with people who are always happy, the tedious part of it will not be felt.

·                            MEDICAL EFFECTS OF LAUGHTER

Do you know that laughter reduces the level of stress hormones like cortisol, epinephrine (adrenaline), dopamine and growth hormone?

Laughter increases the level of health enhancing hormones like endorphins and neurotransmitters.

It increases the number of antibody producing cells and enhances the effectiveness of T-cells. Thus enhancing a stronger immune system.

Furthermore, laughter exercises the diaphragm; it contrasts the abs and even works out the shoulder leaving the muscles more relaxed afterwards. Laughter provides a good workout for the heart.

Also Maciej Buchowski a researcher from Vanderbilt university said it appears that laughter burns calories. Infact, it is said that 10 to 15 minutes laughter burns up to 50 calories.

·                            PSYCHOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF LAUGHTER

Laughter takes our focus away from anger, guilt, stress and negativity in a very beneficial way.

When we laugh we tend to experience a sense of joy and more relaxation.

We can see very clearly that laughter is not harmful, rather it is more beneficial to our lives. So let’s start and keep laughing in order to live healthier, happier and longer as we meet in the next edition where we will bring you a more interesting tips for healthy living.