When was the last time you had a really good laugh? Do you laugh every day? Once a week ... a month? There's lots of evidence to prove how good laughter is for our health and wellbeing.
Where do you Start?
Where do you start if you're out of practice with laughter? Where can you find inspiration? Has life become too serious? It’s easy to get into a pit of worry with all the doom and gloom news on the TV lately, so think what would tickle you. Learning to laugh again takes practice.
- How about learning to dance? My own experience of various styles has always been very funny! Not just ballroom but jive or belly-dancing or line-dancing or tap.
- Go to a comedy club (if you’re prepared for bad language.)
- Watch more funny movies and DVDs
- Read funny books (There are some titles to start you off at the end of this article).
- Spend plenty of time with friends swapping photos of yourself when you were in your teens or twenties or at that fancy dress party … you know the ones that make you laugh.
- Talk often about happy times you've had and focus less on the negatives in life.
- Find a "Laughter Clinic" near you for a really hilarious experience that will teach you how to laugh like a child again.
- Mix with children, watch how much they laugh and join in.
Here are some excerpts from a report by BUPA that you might like to read (full article here)
"Laughter really may be the best medicine, according to research presented to the American College of Cardiology. Laughing appears to boost your blood flow and researchers say it may reduce your risk of developing heart disease.
But the benefits of laughing don't stop with your heart: laughing has previously been found to help fight infections, relieve hay fever, ease pain and help control diabetes.
What did this study find?
The researchers found that laughing increased blood flow by more than 20 percent - a similar effect to that of aerobic activity. The positive effect of laughing lasted for 30-45 minutes. In contrast, stress decreased the flow by about 35 percent.
Almost everyone seems to benefit from having a good laugh:
95 percent of the volunteers in the study had better blood flow after watching a comedy movie clip
70 percent had a worse blood flow after watching a stressful film sequenceWhat do these findings mean for me?
According to the researchers, regular laughter in your life could help to reduce your risk of developing heart disease. They recommend 15 minutes of laughter a day as well as regular exercise to reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease.
What are the other benefits of having a good laugh?
Various studies have suggested that a positive outlook on life and having a good laugh is associated with much more than just keeping your heart healthy.
Laughing is thought to help you to fight off illnesses by boosting your immune system. It increases the amount of immunoglobulins, natural killer cells and T cells in the body, which fight infection and tumours.
Laughing reduces pain.
Children watching comedy films relax more and tolerate pain more easily. In fact, humorous videos are being used in anaesthetic rooms at Manchester Children's Hospital. And an American nurse has found that telling jokes to her patients before she administers a painful treatment reduces their discomfort.
• Laughing reduces allergic responses, including hay fever symptoms.
• Laughing lifts your mood - even if you have to force yourself to laugh.
• Laughing reduces the effect of stress by lowering stress hormone levels.
• Laughing helps keeps diabetes under control. It may help to control spikes in blood sugar levels after a meal, reducing the chances of diabetic complications. In one study, people who watched a funny video during dinner had lower blood sugar levels after the meal compared to the people who watched a lecture video.
Make time to laugh
The researchers suggest that we should try to laugh more. In the same way that we try to eat five portions of fruit and vegetables a day and climb the stairs instead of taking the lift, perhaps we need to make time to have a good laugh.
Dr. Miller says. "The recommendation for a healthy heart may one day be - exercise, eat right and laugh a few times a day."
Well, I promised you a book list and there's an audio title thrown in for good measure ...
Dear Fatty by Dawn French
"Moving, Warm and Funny, a tremendous read" : Amazon review
The Sound of Laughter by Peter Kay
A Bad Case of the Giggles : Kid's Favourite Funny Poems by Stephen Carpenter and Bruce Lansky
That's Another Story : Julie Walters
"Totally Absorbing: Wonderful!" Amazon review
Crying with Laughter : My Life Story by Bob Monkhouse
"What an appropriate title ! If worshiping Bobby Monkhouse was a religion than this text would be the bible. Either this or his joke book was stolen. Either way, Bob Monkhouse is the daddy of comedy..." Amazon reviewer
A Beginner's Guide to Humour and Healing (Audio CD) by Bernie S Siegel
"This CD offers a philosophy of living; a way of thinking, it reminds us of something so easily forgotten; that life is cause for celebration" Amazon reviewer
Enjoy
Bee
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