Have you Laughed Today? Well, Take Your Medicine!

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Laughter is good for the soul. As it turns out, it’s also good for your health! So have you had your dose of laughter today?

This is the time of year when we have a lot less sunlight and people tend to get a little moody and down. Well, there is a cure for that. It’s called laughter. You know those belly laughs that make you smile and seem to make the day a lot brighter?

Laughter is Good Medicine

According to an article on the Mayo Clinic website, laughter can improve your overall health and not just a little bit. Did you know laughter stimulates your organs — in a good way! Or that laughing relieves stress, soothes tension and improve our immune system?

Why take a pain pill when you can laugh away the pain? Yes, laughter is a pain reliever! It can also help us cope with stress while improving our moods.

An article on Psychology Today’s website says laughter is good for your heart and also decreases your sugar levels, regardless if you are diabetic or not.

“The University of Maryland reported that in a study of 20 healthy people, provoking laughter did as much good for their arteries as aerobic activity. He doesn’t recommend that you laugh and not exercise. But he does advise that you try to laugh on a regular basis. The endothelium, he explains, regulates blood flow and adjusts the propensity of blood to coagulate and clot. In addition, it secretes assorted chemicals in response to wounds, infection or irritation. It also plays an important role in the development of cardiovascular disease.”

Laughter Yoga

Did you know that Laughter Yoga groups are now catching on? Yep, people sitting around finding ways to laugh at each other and with each other. The long-term effects are better health both physically and mentally.

There’s lots of ways to get more laughing done. This week I spent a morning with my daughter who teaches preschool. Those kids laughing and playing are contagious! They don’t have to hear a joke or watch a comedy show, they laugh all the time!

But for those who don’t have the opportunity to be with kids, there are websites that have nothing but jokes. Reader’s Digest is one. Here’s an example: A woman in labor suddenly shouted out loud, “Shouldn’t, wouldn’t, couldn’t, didn’t, can’t.” Her doctor told her husband, “Don’t worry. She’s just having contractions.”


Photo Caption: Karen’s grandkids always find their laughs

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