Laughter to Avoid Sickness

May 22, 2009 · by Greg Mattlin

Every year, there is more evidence that your thoughts, moods, emotions, and belief system have a fundamental impact on the body’s basic health and healing mechanisms. Yes, it’s true, laughing cures sickness. Doctors have estimated that almost 85% of all human illnesses are curable by the body’s own healing system. Building a positive focus in your life plays a huge role in supporting the body’s immune system and laughing really does help. Are you laughing yet?

Here’s more information on how this works. The body’s healing system responds favorably to positive attitudes, thoughts, moods, and emotion….love, hope, optimism, caring, intimacy, joy, laughter, and humor are all very important. It is through the emotions you experience in connection with your thoughts and daily attitudes that your mind acquires the power to influence whether you get sick or remain well. Anything you can do to sustain a more positive, upbeat frame of mind in dealing with the daily hassles and problems in your life contributes to your physical health at the same time that it helps you cope with stress and be more effective on the job. Did you read that last sentence? Be more effective on the job! How great is this news going to be for empolyees in the Madison area? I should have patent this article. Especially all the hours of research I did to write my first blog. I’m a blogger!

O.K. let’s get back the body and what happens under stress. When you’re under stress, your body undergoes a series of changes which make up the “fight or flight” response. Even though there’s no physical threat to your life, your body reacts as if there were. Laughter reduces at least four neuroendocrine hormones associated with the stress response, including epinephrine, cortisol, dopac, and growth hormone. This is consistent with research showing that various relaxation procedures reduce stress hormones.

How could do you feel after a good laugh? How fun is it to watch Meet the Parents, Tommy Boy, Wedding Crashers, or Dumb and Dumber? Why do we enjoy funny movies? Because they make you feel good. The mere fact that you feel better after a good laugh is enough for many to conclude that humor must be good for you. Your sense of humor not only enriches life; it also promotes physical, mental and spiritual health.

So live long, be strong and laugh! Laugh at your dog, laugh at the crap in your fridge laugh with your friends, tell jokes, watch funny movies, make silly faces, laugh at the weird people in this world and pretty soon with six degrees of laughter, the entire world will be in a “Laugh Pandemic” and will have spread faster than this crazy swine flu!

Thank you for reading my blog.

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