Laugh Til It Hurts So Good

The other night I met my husband, daughter and stepdaughter for dinner after the track workout for Team in Training. Famished from "hot potato" drills, where we ran for one minute taking fast, little steps, focusing on increasing our cadence, interspersed with 200s, and repeating the two drills for an hour, I convinced the family to meet me at a local Tex-Mex place for some fajitas and compuestas. While we caught up on the day's and week's events, somehow my teenage daughter brought up our fairly recent family portrait and, using her latest favorite word, described it as "awkward." If you don't have a teen in your household, please understand that "awkward" in teen lingo can be used to describe situations, conversations, interactions, parent blunders and faux pas, and just about anything that can be interpreted by the teen as not quite right. My stepdaughter whipped out her wallet sized pic and we began inspecting it. For some reason, picture taking opportunities bring out the frozen zombie smile in the Martinez family. Whip out a camera and my normal looking brood with bodies that move with fluidity transforms before the camera lens into a family that could be the poster-family for cryonics. Soon we were laughing hysterically over the pics and reminiscing about other classic Kodak moments where the developed film revealed expressions we didn't know we had. We were laughing and playfully teasing each other so loudly that nearby table patrons turned with smiles to take in our fun. I laughed so hard, tears were springing from my eyes and my sides hurt. I begged my daughter to stop so I could catch my breath and give my stomach muscles a rest--how great it felt to be laughing with my family!

I think laughter is something we forget to do on a daily basis and what a shame that is that we don't allow ourselves a great belly laugh each day. We all know how easy it is to become bogged down and inundated by the depressing news which batters at us each day from the television and news reports. As a psychologist I know that the emotions and moods we experience directly effect our immune system. A sense of humor allows us to perceive and appreciate the incongruities of life and provides moments of joy and delight. Positive emotions can create neurochemical changes that will buffer the immunosuppressive effects of diseases and stress. Studies have shown that laughing lowers blood pressure, reduces stress hormones, increases muscle flexion, and boosts immune function by raising levels of infection-fighting T-cells, disease-fighting proteins called Gamma-interferon and B-cells, which produce disease-destroying antibodies. Laughter also triggers the release of endorphins, the body's natural painkillers, and produces a general sense of well-being.

Earlier in the month Gina Kemp, M.A., and Cara Rosellini wrote a fantastic article which appeared on healthguide.org about the multitude of benefits stemming from laughter. Below I have summarized the article, but I encourage you to link over to it to read it in full.

Laughters Effects on the Body:

Laughter activates the chemistry of the will to live and increases our capacity to fight disease. Laughing relaxes the body and reduces problems associated with high blood pressure, strokes, arthritis, and ulcers. Some research suggests that laughter may also reduce the risk of heart disease. Historically, research has shown that distressing emotions (depression, anger, anxiety, and stress) are all related to heart disease. A study done at the University of Maryland Medical Center suggests that a good sense of humor and the ability to laugh at stressful situations helps mitigate the damaging physical effects of distressing emotions.

Laughter lowers blood pressure. People who laugh heartily on a regular basis have lower standing blood pressure than the average person. When people have a good laugh, initially the blood pressure increases, but then it decreases to levels below normal. Breathing then becomes deeper which sends oxygen enriched blood and nutrients throughout the body.

Humor changes our biochemical state. Laughter decreases stress hormones and increases infection fighting antibodies. It increases our attentiveness, heart rate, and pulse.

Laughter protects the heart. Laughter, along with an active sense of humor, may help protect you against a heart attack, according to the study at the University of Maryland Medical Center (cited above). The study, which is the first to indicate that laughter may help prevent heart disease, found that people with heart disease were 40 percent less likely to laugh in a variety of situations compared to people of the same age without heart disease.

Laughter gives our bodies a good workout. Laughter can be a great workout for your diaphragm, abdominal, respiratory, facial, leg, and back muscles. It massages abdominal organs, tones intestinal functioning, and strengthens the muscles that hold the abdominal organs in place. Not only does laughter give your midsection a workout, it can benefit digestion and absorption functioning as well. It is estimated that hearty laughter can burn calories equivalent to several minutes on the rowing machine or the exercise bike.

Laughter and Mental Health:

Humor improves brain function and relieves stress. Laughter stimulates both sides of the brain to enhance learning. It eases muscle tension and psychological stress, which keeps the brain alert and allows people to retain more information.

Humor is a powerful emotional medicine that can lower stress, dissolve anger and unite families in troubled times. Mood is elevated by striving to find humor in difficult and frustrating situations. Laughing at ourselves and the situation helps reveal that small things are not the earth-shaking events they sometimes seem to be. Looking at a problem from a different perspective can make it seem less formidable and provide opportunities for greater objectivity and insight. Humor also helps us avoid loneliness by connecting with others who are attracted to genuine cheerfulness. And the good feeling that we get when we laugh can remain with us as an internal experience even after the laughter subsides.


Social Benefits of Laughter:

Our work, marriage and family all need humor, celebrations, play and ritual as much as record-keeping and problem-solving. We should ask the questions "Do we laugh together?" as well as "Can we get through this hardship together?" Humor binds us together, lightens our burdens and helps us keep things in perspective. One of the things that saps our energy is the time, focus and effort we put into coping with life's problems including each other's limitations. Our families, our friends and our neighbors are not perfect and neither are our marriages, our kids or our in-laws. When we laugh together, it can bind us closer together instead of pulling us apart.
Remember that even in the most difficult of times, a laugh, or even simply a smile, can go a long way in helping us feel better.

So now you have some food for thought and hopefully this will inspire you to make room for a chuckle or guffaw in your daily routine. Think about this: there are no negative side effects to a great laugh!

Thought for the Day: What can I do to invite more laughter into my daily life? Some suggestions: subscribe to a feed with daily jokes, subscribe to happynews.com, rent a comedy to watch tonight. Just do something to lighten your load and help your health--all it takes is a few good laughs a day.

I've always thought that a big laugh is a really loud noise from the soul saying, "Ain't that the truth." ~Quincy Jones