Laughter & Its Benefits on Older People, Physical Health, Mind

“Laughter is the tonic, the relief, the surcease for pain.” These words from the legend Charlie Chaplin clearly explain laughing can actually heal pain and it perhaps it is the cheapest medicine which can treat many conditions in human. Have you taken your laughter dose today? If not then try it out and share it with others. Look, you will simply bind together carrying a lot of happiness and friendship. Well! It is very true, laughing is actually essential for a better health and better life. It not only relieves pain or stress, but also helps you strengthening the immune system, provides you energy and as a whole, laughter greatly affects your body and mind in a positive manner. To know more about the health benefits of laughter, all you need is take an eye read on the current article, which will be discussing on some of the most crucial health benefits of laughing in life.

Laughter is considered to be one of the best treatments for many conditions; especially it acts as one of the best therapy for heart health, burning calories, relieving stress and so on. As per Wilson Fry, a pioneer in laughter research, the laughter and exercise both have similar kinds of effect on body. He also claimed that it took only one minute of real laughter to get his heart rate reach to the level equal to the level of heart rate reached on a rowing machine.

Apart from Wilson, another researcher named Meciej Buckowski also studied and explained how laughter helped in burning calories. He explained that 10-15 minutes of laughter burned 50 calories.

It is also explained that one can also physiologically change with the help of laughter therapy; as while we laugh we stretch muscles from all over our face and body which in turn enhances our pulse and blood pressure moves up leading to faster rate of breathing and this helps our body tissue get more oxygen in it.

“Life must be healthier as you grow elder”. Older adults, above 60+ ages must live a better quality of life and laughter gets it in real. Below is a new study showing the positive impacts of laughter in older people from the age group of 60s-70s.

• A study was conducted by the researchers from California from Loma Linda University who aimed at finding the best benefits of laughter in older adults from ages above 60 years.
• They involved 20 healthy older people from age group 60s-70s and studied about their stress levels and short-term memory in this new study.
• One group from the 20 old people were asked to remain quiet, without talking, reading or socializing by any ways for 20 minutes and another group was asked to watch funny/comic videos.
• After 20 minutes, a memory test was conducted in both the groups. It was found that the people under the “Laughter group” (or the one which help older adults watching funny videos) performed much better in memory recall than the other group. It was seen that about 43.6% of the people from laughter group presented better memory recall as compared to the 20.3% of the people in the other group.
• Apart from this memory test, they also were asked to provide their saliva as a sample for a test. It was found that the laughter group of older adults had comparatively lower level of cortisol hormone or the stress hormone than the other group.

When we look for the health benefits of laughter we can categorize the benefits into physical health benefits or the benefits to body and the mental health benefits or the benefits of laughter to mind.

• Laughter Relaxes Body Muscles: Laughing can increase the relaxation of body muscles. It is found that 15-20 minutes of daily laughter can impact greatly on relaxing body muscles and tissues. With the laughter therapy, stress is released, muscle stretches and feels relaxed. One can tone fine abs with laughter.
• Laughter Lowers The Blood Pressure: It is known that laughing actually lowers the blood pressure and thus decreases the risks of heart attacks.
• Laughter Protects The Heart: The functions of blood vessels are improved because of the laughter therapy and thus the blood flow gets increased. This in turn help one prevent heart attacks and also assist in protecting from various cardiovascular diseases.
• Laughter Helps Relieve Pain: Laughing helps in relieving pain and also provides a pleasure feel when releases endotrophins.
• Laughter Enhances The Immunity: It is also known that laughter helps in increasing the immune system functions. It lowers the production of stress hormones and increases the immune cells and antibodies. This in turn helps in fighting against diseases in a better way.

• Laughter Helps Reduce Stress: As mentioned earlier, laughter helps in reducing the stress hormones and thus decreases stress, worries and tensions.
• Laughter Helps Increase the Feel-Good Feel: While laughing endotrophins are released which gets a feel good kind of feel in us. Thus laughter keeps a fine mood at least for 45 minutes to one hour after a hearty laughing.
• Laughter Removes Distressing Emotions: You must have noticed while laughing you cannot feel angry, depressed or anxious. Thus laughter is known to dissolve various distressing emotions.

Now let us look at the general advantages of laughter

• Binds up people with happiness and intimacy.
• Source of attraction for being known as a social figure
• Helps in defusing confusion, conflicts and promotes group bonding
• Facilitates teamwork.

Are you looking for some interesting ways to invite humor and laughter into your life? If yes! Then check out some of the exclusive tips you can do for the same. Because as they say, “A day without laughter is a day wasted!”

• Join the laughing club or enter “laughter yoga” classes.
• Go through the funny pages over internet.
• Check out the comic videos, watch the comedy shows on television and simply watch a funny movie.
• Spend time with jolly and funny people to enhance fun in your life.
• Share jokes with friends.
• You can get enough dose of fun and laughter while playing with little pets or the kids.
• Engage yourself with the funny acts in front of the mirror, like act like any funny character, say joke on self, make faces on self. Watch out laughing is actually easy!

Now, apart from these above mentioned tips one must also keep in mind life is not that serious we usually feel life. Life is something to live and living means living to fullest. This can be done once one learns to take life in a smart yet easy way without taking the burden of extreme seriousness. Sometimes life will hit your hard, but you can hit it back by giving a fine dose of laughter. Someone has rightly said, “Laughter is the best response to anger!”