One of the easiest ways to improve our health is to laugh.
There’s so many opportunities to find laughter in our day. There are endless numbers of videos to watch that people are making to try to get a laugh.
I watch a few and I usually have a good laugh, then I say, “Ouch! That had to hurt!” I imagine there will never be a shortage of people willing to hurt themselves for our laughing benefit.
When was the last time you laughed at yourself?
The older I get the easier it’s become to laugh at myself. Laughing at ourselves reminds us that we’re not perfect and we shouldn’t try to be.
I’m also amazed at the amount of memes, cartoons, funny one liners and funny videos being made by many people who are coping with sheltering in place during the pandemic situation.
I guess it’s just in our nature to try to take a horrible situation and somehow find a way to lighten it with laughter.
When we laugh, we feel better. Here’s a few physiological benefits from laughter (International Council on Active Aging, ICAA).
Relaxes muscles
Try laughing to help relax your face muscles, chest muscles, and abdominal muscles. Laughing reduces muscle tension in the shoulders and the neck.
Improves our respiration
We can condition the lungs and improve our breathing ability because of laughing.
Improve our immune system
Studies have shown that laughing can increase our immune system’s ability to fight bacterial and viral infections. It can also reduce the negative effects of stress on our immune system.
Help with pain management
Laughter helps to increase endorphins and has been used as a pain management technique.
Improves the function of our mind
People who laugh regularly experience an improvement in their memory, alertness and person to person responsiveness.
Laughter is associated with positive stress and it helps our body.
When was the last time you had a good laugh?
When the day is tough, sometimes we have to choose to laugh.
Here’s to you finding your daily laughter.
About the author
Jonathan Souder is the fitness director at Manor House, an Acts Retirement- Life Community in Seaford, www.manorhouse.org. Email your thoughts to jsouder@actslife.org.
Okay, try this one for laughs
A man speaks frantically into the phone, “My wife is pregnant, and her contractions are only two minutes apart!”
“Is this her first child?” the doctor asks.
“No, you idiot!” the man shouts. “This is her husband!”