Yes, the title of this post is no joke, laughing really can improve may aspects of your life, from your well being, health and even your productivity all of which can have a determining factor of your success! Firstly lets look at the health benefits of laughter, did you know when we have a real good laugh we use almost 90% of the muscles in our body. This helps stimulate blood flow getting oxygen to all of our organs. Not only that but for every 60 seconds of laughter we engage in on average this burns off around 10 calories. I deal for anyone wanting to loose weight! Laughing helps exercise your diaphragm which can help toward strengthening this area which is beneficial for anyone with asthma! And yet another benefit through laughing is that it can help lower the blood pressure over the long term which is very helpful for anyone with high blood pressure or diabetes. Just to break this down for anyone who is now saying "doesn't laughing increase your blood pressure?". Well yes this is true but it is the effects after laughing when your muscles relax and your blood flow returns to normal, over the long term this has been scientifically proven to reduce blood pressure.
After having a good laugh your muscles relax which is good for your body, this also helps lower stress levels as when your body relaxes you mind begins to follow too and scientists have proven that people on a whole are more productive when they are not stressed! Also when we laugh, chemicals called endorphins are released into our body which helps combat stress hormones. Stress hormones can constrict blood vessels and lower the immune system making you more susceptible to bugs or virus's. Endorphins do exactly the opposite they can help reduce the feeling of pain and help with the balance of your emotions, effectively keeping out bodies in balance.
Laughing makes you feel good afterwards, this is because as mentioned above when you laugh you use up to 90% of the muscles in your body. Not only this but you also intake more oxygen and because your muscles are already dilated the oxygen runs through your muscles and body much quicker than normal making you feel good afterwards.
A random fact taken from a scientific study is that we used to laugh 20 minutes out of every day in the 1950’s. Now we laugh for 6 minutes out of every day. I cant say for certain what has changed but as the pace of life moves quicker maybe we have less time to laugh than we used too?!
Laughing Without reason
There are may pages regarding laughing without reason on the Internet, just do a quick Google search and you'll see what i mean. Laughing without reason sounds strange and i guess it is when you relate it to what is culturally acceptable. If you just begin to laugh in the street, workplace or anywhere in public people will look at you strangely, most likely keep their distance from you and possibly call the men in white coats to take you away! Laughing without reason is ultimately a chemical reaction which over the years we have trained our bodies to do, "if you laugh you will find more things funny". Once again that last phrase probably sounds quite strange as surely don't we laugh after we have found something funny?!? Here is how it works, generally we laugh because we find something fun, this in turn causes a physical reaction to take place which makes us use certain groups of muscles and expel air from our lungs and generally move our shoulders up and down. Now if we turn this on its head and make ourselves laugh, the act of using the same muscles causes our brain to release a little of the appropriate chemicals and in turn cause us to laugh a little more. This causes a cycle which eventually turns int REAL laughter. This is very much like when you see someone laugh but you don't know why they are laughing, the visual and audible cue triggers you to laugh which in turn usually makes the other person laugh more.
TRY IT!
There are no hard and fast rules, just remember the benefits of laughing, innevitably it will improve you productivity and make working on whatever you do more fun. Having fun and being more productive at the same time cant be bad at all! Make time to laugh, have more fun with your colleagues and friends and feel the benefits throughout! Just remember next time your feeling stressed and are about to shout out of your car window at someone who has just cut you up, have a little laugh and feel your stress levels quickly go down again!
And one last thing
Randomly laughing in public will most likely make you look a bit mad! Do it only where appropriate! As we all know, laughter is the best medicine. It is incredibly good for you! It improves physical, emotional and spiritual health. In fact, it does much more than most people realize. Did you know that laughter can do all of the following things (and perhaps much more that scientists have yet to discover)?
• Improves overall sense of well-being
• Burns calories
• Boosts happiness
• Strengthens and balances the immune system
• Releases endorphins to naturally relieve pain
• Decreases the level of stress hormone
• Lowers blood pressure
• Nurtures creativity
• Reduces risk of heart disease
• Floods the body with a natural "happy hormone"
• Helps manage and overcome depression
• Deepens inner peace
• Breaks social isolation and fosters new friendships
• Develops self-confidence
• Alleviates the discomfort of specific physical challenges
• Aids the body in keeping blood sugar at a healthy level
• Cultivates your childlike playfulness for a happier you
Yes, laughter can do all that! Dr. Lee Berk, a famous laughter scientist (known as a gelatologist), says –
“If you bottled up all the healthy effects of laughter into a pill, you'd need FDA approval! It is that powerful, has no side effects and it is free”