Bramma Business Insights

Laugh more… Live more…!!!

“Health Benefits of Humor and Laughter”

 

Laughter of one person can itself provoke laughter from others as a positive feedback. When laughter is shared, it binds people together and increases happiness and intimacy. Laughter also triggers healthy physical changes in the body. Humor and laughter strengthen your immune system, boost your energy, diminish pain, and protect you from the damaging effects of stress. Best of all, this priceless medicine is fun, free, and easy to use.

Laughing can be seriously good for your health; you know, the ones, where your side hurts, your eyes water, you can't catch your breath and your bodies totally spent. It feels like you've just finished a two-hour session at the gym. Laughter and exercise may share more in common than you think -- most notably, both can boost your health.

Laughter is strong medicine for mind and body..!!

“Your sense of humor is one of the most powerful tools you have to make certain that your daily mood and emotional state support good health.”- Paul E. McGhee, Ph.D.

Laughter is a powerful antidote to stress, pain, and conflict. Nothing works faster or more dependably to bring your mind and body back into balance than a good laugh. Humor lightens your burdens, inspires hopes, connects you to others, and keeps you grounded, focused, and alert. With so much power to heal and renew, the ability to laugh easily and frequently is a tremendous resource for surmounting problems, enhancing your relationships, and supporting both physical and emotional health. So when was the last time you had such a laugh???

Laughter is good for your health

·         Laughter protects the heart. Laughter improves the function of blood vessels and increases blood flow, which can help protect you against a heart attack and other cardiovascular problems.

·         Laughter boosts the immune system: Laughter decreases stress hormones and increases immune cells and infection-fighting antibodies, thus improving your resistance to disease.

·         Laughter relaxes the whole body:  A good, hearty laugh relieves physical tension and stress, leaving your muscles relaxed for up to 45 minutes after.

·         Laughter triggers the release of endorphins, the body’s natural feel-good chemicals. Endorphins promote an overall sense of well-being and can even temporarily relieve pain.

The Benefits of Laughter
Physical Health Benefits	Mental Health Benefits	Social Benefits
·      Boosts immunity ·      Lowers stress hormones ·      Decreases pain ·      Relaxes your muscles ·      Prevents heart disease	·         Adds joy and zest to life ·         Eases anxiety and fear ·         Relieves stress ·         Improves mood ·         Enhances resilience	·                                   Strengthens relationships ·                                   Attracts others to us ·                                   Enhances teamwork ·                                   Helps defuse conflict ·                                   Promotes group bonding

Laughter and humor help you stay emotionally healthy

Laughter makes you feel good. And the good feeling that you get when you laugh remains with you even after the laughter subsides. Humor helps you keep a positive, optimistic outlook through difficult situations, disappointments, and loss.

More than just a respite from sadness and pain, laughter gives you the courage and strength to find new sources of meaning and hope. Even in the most difficult of times, a laugh–or even simply a smile–can go a long way toward making you feel better. And laughter really is contagious—just hearing laughter primes your brain and readies you to smile and join in the fun.

The link between laughter and mental health

      Laughter dissolves distressing emotions. You can’t feel anxious, angry, or sad when you’re laughing.

      Humor shifts perspective, allowing you to see situations in a more realistic, less threatening light. A humorous perspective creates psychological distance, which can help you avoid feeling overwhelmed.

      Laughter helps you relax and recharge. It reduces stress and increases energy, enabling you to stay focused and accomplish more.

The social benefits of humor and laughter

Humor and playful communication strengthen our relationships by triggering positive feelings and fostering emotional connection. When we laugh with one another, a positive bond is created. This bond acts as a strong buffer against stress, disagreements, and disappointment.

Laughing with others is more powerful than laughing alone

Shared laughter is one of the most effective tools for keeping relationships fresh and exciting. All emotional sharing builds strong and lasting relationship bonds, but sharing laughter and play also adds joy, vitality, and resilience. And humor is a powerful and effective way to heal resentments, disagreements, and hurts. Laughter unites people during difficult times.

Incorporating more humor and play into your daily interactions can improve the quality of your love relationships— as well as your connections with co-workers, family members, and friends. Using humor and laughter in relationships allows you to:

      Be more spontaneous. Humor gets you out of your head and away from your troubles.

      Release inhibitions. Your fear of holding back and holding on are set aside.

      Express your true feelings. Deeply felt emotions are allowed to rise to the surface

      Let go of defensiveness. Laughter helps you forget judgments, criticisms, and doubts.

Bringing more humor and laughter into your life

Laughter is your birthright, a natural part of life that is innate and inborn. Infants begin smiling during the first weeks of life and laugh out loud within months of being born. Even if you did not grow up in a household where laughter was a common sound, you can learn to laugh at any stage of life. Begin by setting aside special times to seek out humor and laughter, as you might with working out, and build from there. Eventually, you’ll want to incorporate humor and laughter into the fabric of your life, finding it naturally in everything you do.Here are some ways to start:

      Smile: Smiling is the beginning of laughter. Like laughter, it’s contagious. Pioneers in “laugh therapy,” find it’s possible to laugh without even experiencing a funny event. The same holds for smiling. When you look at someone or see something even mildly pleasing, practice smiling.

      When you hear laughter, move toward it. Sometimes humor and laughter are private, a shared joke among a small group, but usually not. More often, people are very happy to share something funny because it gives them an opportunity to laugh again and feed off the humor you find in it. When you hear laughter, seek it out and ask, “What’s funny?”

      Spend time with fun, playful people. These are people who laugh easily–both at themselves and at life’s absurdities–and who routinely find the humor in everyday events. Their playful point of view and laughter are contagious

      Count your blessings: Literally make a list. The simple act of considering the good things in your life will distance you from negative thoughts that are a barrier to humor and laughter. When you’re in a state of sadness, you have further to travel to get to humor and laughter.

      Bring humor into conversations. Ask people, “What’s the funniest thing that happened to you today? This week? In your life?”

Creating opportunities to laugh

      Watch a funny movie or TV show.

      Go to a comedy club.

      Read the funny pages.

      Seek out funny people.

      Share a good joke or a funny story.

      Check out your bookstore’s humor section.

      Host game night with friends.

      Play with a pet.

      Go to a “laughter yoga” class.

      Goof around with children.

      Do something silly.

      Make time for fun activities (e.g. bowling, miniature golfing, karaoke).

So find the opportunity to laugh …….. Laugh more …….live more…..!!

By,

Abdul Hakheem

Manager - consulting

Bramma leaning solutions