What Happens When We Laugh?

Humor is a very great coping mechanism and that if we are anxious or angry we can often break out of it by laughing at ourselves. It is believed that the people who can laugh at themselves cope with obstacles and problems far more effectively and rebound more quickly than those who simply cannot smile at a misfortune.

As a default setting of the human mind is like, we focus more on the problem than a solution. Nature provides solution and problem in combo. We care and fears so much about physical body’s disorder and disease, that we almost neglect the natural way of Healing provided along with. One of the effective therapy is good laughter

Laughing has been called stationary jogging because when we laugh every organ in our body is affected. Some of these physiological changes occur when we laugh-

• Breathing quickens as we inhale deeply and exhale through vocal cords.
• Laughing exercises the face, neck shoulder, stomach and diaphragm
• Blood pressure is reduced while blood vessels expand close to the skin surface and improve the circulation, which is why often people seem to blush or go red while laughing.
• Laughter increases the amount of oxygen in the blood, which helps the body to heal itself and resist further infection.
• Laughter lowers the heart rate, stimulates the appetite and burns up calories.
• A good laugh will also stimulate Beta- endorphins(natural pain-killing tranquilizer) leading some researchers to suggest that laughing can prevent ulcers and digestive disorders

So many researches and clinical trials for curing disease by laughter are being conducted on. One of the documented cases is of Norman Cousins. In his book, “Anatomy of an Illness”, Norman Cousins describes his rigorous recovery from ankylosing spondylitis{ a painful collagen illness that rendered him immobile, nearly incapable of moving his jaw}.He has mentioned- “Hearty laughter is a good way to jog internally without having to go outdoors.”

Statutory warning:-

“Laughing at your own mistakes can lengthen your life. Laughing at someone else’s can shorten it.”