Before I give the real answer of whether laughter truly is good for you, I think a better questions is, are YOU laughing enough? Do we leave room in our life for a lighter side? Do we ALLOW ourselves the opportunity to laugh?
Remember the movie Patch Adams? It was a movie about a real life doctor who still practices today and uses laughter as healing. He's quite correct in using laughter as a healing therapy, because it is one of the most healing activities you can engage in.
There are funny things around us that happen every day. I think we can sometimes get so hyper-focused on routine or the tasks at hand, that we forget that comical things do happen. Are you so tense, so uptight that you miss funny things that your kids do? Or the funny things that YOU do?
We have a comedian in our family. It's my youngest. He doesn't even recognize how funny he is which makes what he does even funnier. I love the innocense of childhood, and especially how they see things. For example, we have these CD's that my boys listen to at night when they go to bed. It's called Grandma Ginger Stories. My youngest especially likes them and his facial expressions tell it all. I have listened to Grandma Ginger's CD's and I also love them. The stories she tells ALWAYS have a moral, and they are REAL stories and ones that we can relate too. One story in particular ends with her telling the children that it's OK to ask your parents "why?" and that parents should tell their children a real answer...not just a "because I said so", but an answer that their brain can really wrap around and understand.
The other day, my youngest and I were driving in the car. He was asking me "the why question" about something, and I didn't answer him with the answer he wanted. I think I said "because or I'm not sure". He proceeded to tell me in a VERY matter of fact response, "Well, Grandma Ginger says that kids should ask their parents why and you should tell us!" I bust out laughing and listened closer to what he was asking and gave him the real answer. I had such a good laugh over his innocence and also learned how smart he is.
Another such incidence happened with my youngest again as we were having dinner. We were all talking about school and he proceeded to tell us how smart he was. My husband asked him "What is 2+3?" Without even missing a beat, he says "Oh, that's easy! Scott, will you tell dad what 2+3 is?" We bust out laughing to the point where our guts hurt.
You know the kind of laugh I am talking about? The one that give you a good ab workout. The one that leaves you crying and wanting more! I love those kinds of laughs.
He also likes to make up his own jokes! I think every child tries this at one point in their childhood. I love how their brains are working and they are using problem solving skills to create jokes! Most times, his jokes aren't funny and sometimes he will let us know he is displeased when he says "Hey! How come noone is laughting at my jokes?" That statement alone makes us giggle and then he feels satisfied that he accomplished what he set out to do...and that is to make us laugh.
There was a point in my adult life where it was hard for me to laugh. I'm not sure why, but I remember the day it finally hit me that I didn't laugh enough. I was watching others around me laugh at cute things and was thinking to myself "that was relatively funny, why aren't I laughing?". It helped me explore what was going on in my life that kept me from recognizing situations and experiences that were funny. I realized that I needed to relax more, not be so uptight, and most importantly....to laugh AT MYSELF!!
We all do funny and ridiculous things and it's OK to laugh at ourselves. In fact, the more I laughed at the silly things I did, the result was.....I started to laugh more.
Both experiences with my pants on the ground actually came in the form of wearing a skirt. Everyone knows I LOVE wearng skirts and the stretchy waste ones are my favorite. I was at a church activity holding my youngest(when he was a baby) in the back of the cultural hall! I was talking to a gentleman who was also holding his baby. My daughter came up and started tugging on my skirt to ask me something. Obviously, I did not respond in a quick enough manner for her, and there went the HUGE TUG and DOWN WENT MY SKIRT!....TO THE FLOOR in fact! I am sure my face became synonomous with my hair! At that point, I had two choices. Do I drop my baby and pick up my skirt, or do I non-chalantly try to use one hand to hold my baby and the other hand to gracefully try to pull up my skirt? Well, there was no grace involved! I held on to my baby and fumbled to pick up my skirt which was not going up as easy as it went down! Nevertheless, I did it! At this point, I was mordified and I quickly slipped out the door and tried to mentally recover. Now you are probably thinking, "What about the poor gentleman that was standing there?" I am positive that this gentleman who witnessed the whole scene was embarassed and would have probably helped me out, but thought otherwise. How would it look to anyone who happened to glance back at us? Enough said!! Needless to say, I am very proud of myself. I sat outside the door and just laughed. I am sure I was plotting against my daughter as well, but the point is....I LAUGHED!!
Another similar experience happened just about 6 months ago. I again was wearing a stretchy waste skirt and we were at church. I went to check on the nursery age children and squated down to talk with one of them. The heel of my high heels got stuck on my skirt and when I quickly stood up...you guessed it...DOWN WENT MY SKIRT....TO THE FLOOR...AGAIN! This time, there was no baby to worry about dropping, so I quickly (with no grace involved) picked up my skirt and looked around. There were several other women and men in the room, and I just started laughing. It diffused the sitaution tremendously! In fact, WE ALL LAUGHED...and it was the belly laugh that left us all crying and wanting more! I bet you are wondering why I still wear stretchy wasted skirts? Well, my answer is simply this....I don't like tight things on my waste, and even though the odds are stacked against me that my skirt WILL eventually be tugged to the floor once again, I am willing to take that chance!
Now, to decide whether or not laughing truly is good for the body. The answer is a resounding YES!! WebMD reports that "We change physiologically when we laugh. We stretch muscles throughout our face and body, our pulse and blood pressure go up, and we breathe faster, sending more oxygen to our tissues. People who believe in the benefits of laughter say it can be like a mild workout -- and may offer some of the same advantages as a workout. The effects of laughter and exercise are very similar. Combining laughter and movement, like waving your arms, is a great way to boost your heart rate."
One pioneer in laughter research, William Fry, claimed it took ten minutes on a rowing machine for his heart rate to reach the level it would after just one minute of hearty laughter. Laughing also boosts circulation, so at the same time that you're distributing oxygen around your body, you're boosting the circulation of your blood; you're exercising abdominal muscles; you're exercising the muscles of your face; and you're enhancing the flexibility of various joints throughout your body. So it's a bit of physical exercise and healthful body movement as well.
The harder you laugh, the greater this effect. If you can find a way to put yourself into a state of rolling, outrageous laughter, you're going to get a fantastic physical workout from it. In fact, the next day, you may even find your stomach muscles are sore. Have you ever laughed so hard that your stomach hurt and your facial muscles were exhausted? That's some serious exercise, and it's the kind of exercise in which we should all engage on a regular basis."
So, go ahead...LAUGH! Let it all out! Go enjoy a good episode of Candid Camera or America's Funniest Home Videos!! Take time to find the lighter side of life. We all know what stress does to the body. It leads to depression, weight gain, heart attacks, and slew of other illnesses that make life so much less enjoyable. We can't avoid stress, but we can learn to better cope with it and counteract it with a good laugh.
Daily Challenge: Find something today that makes you laugh. Think of a funny experience you have had, get a good laugh from mine, and let out that healthy belly laugh that makes you cry and wanting more and you'll also enjoy the health benefits as well.
