When was the last time you had a good laugh -- one of those
deep belly laughs, a laugh that used your whole body, from the doubling over
with amusement to tears running out of your eyes? If you cannot remember, I hope you’ll make a
point to find something particularly humorous today, because laughter is good
for you. I’ll spare you the reading of
several journal articles, but give you the conclusions to two different studies
I perused. One study was on depression,
cognition and sleep of an elderly community and the other was on depression,
quality of life, resilience and immune response in cancer survivors. Each study concluded that laughter is good
medicine. Laughter therapy is useful,
cost-effective and has positive effects on depression, sleep and insomnia. One study concluded that laughter therapy may
be an effective nursing intervention as it improves quality of life and resilience.
Laughing can also be great for social bonding. One of my recent good laughs was with my
daughters. I was telling a story of
something I thought was superbly funny and as I told the story, the thought was
still tickling me, so I periodically had to stop talking as I was consumed with
laughter. Then, when each of my
daughters started to understand what had amused me so, they each laughed as
heartily, if not more so, and there we were laughing and laughing at the
kitchen counter. My oldest daughter
laughs with such enthusiasm her whole face is consumed in the task, which, when
you observe it just makes you laugh even more.
Apparently, this is inherited. I
told her the next day part of what made the story so funny was her
reaction. I told her I was laughing as
much because she was laughing as because of how funny the story was. She just looked at me, deadpan, and said,
“Same.” And, then, with a twinkle in her eye admitted that my laughter was so
funny it made her laugh all the more.
With her sixteen-year-old style, she said, “Your story wasn’t nearly as
funny as you were.”
Our family fit of laughter was probably good, not only for
our relationships, but also for our physical and mental health. Laughter can increase blood circulation,
raise your heart rate in a good way and work your abdominal muscles. Think of it as inner jogging for the
body! Laughter lowers levels of stress
hormones, releases endorphins and lowers blood pressure. It enhances creativity, problem solving, and
fosters harmony. Laughter is a natural
internal tranquilizer with no known bad side effects!
You need to figure out your own humor enjoyment, whether
that is reading cartoons, reading or telling jokes, playing small practical
jokes (where no one can get hurt), telling funny stories, watching videos or
playing gags on friends or family. What
I find truly humorous are the stupid things I do. One day, in an attempt to carry too much out
of my office to a class, I got wedged between the wall and the desk. As I hit both and got stuck, I happened to
look up in surprise and catch my reflection in a mirror. The look on my face was hysterical and it
became obvious that it was ludicrous of me to even think I could have made it
through that space with that much stuff.
Then I thought how I might have looked to anyone else and I started
laughing so uproariously that my co-workers came to check on me. I tried to explain, through the laughter, but
the moment was missed on them!
I also think my own sense of humor has either been
influenced by genetics or environment. My
dad and grandpa were both famous for hiding somewhere unexpected and scaring
people. In fact, my dad would recall
stories of taking people by surprise with such delight. Two of his famous sneak attacks gave him
pleasure for years. The fun in his style
caught on with me somehow and I’ve been known to plan similar attacks. One year at 4-H camp, I was in the lodge and
shutting things down for the night when I saw that one of the chaperones was
headed toward the lodge. With the lights
off, I crawled over to the door to remain undetected, crouched, and waited
quietly. As he came in, I saw he had on
shorts, so I just reached out and rubbed my hand lightly on his ankle. You should have seen his reaction! When he got over it, he was laughing as much
as I was. One night at my house, one of
the girls got me by surprise and couldn’t have done so more beautifully. After the initial adrenal rush of the scare,
it was as funny on the other side of the humor equation. Plus, I was truly
proud. They had thought quickly to take advantage of a situation and get me
back for several times I’ve spooked them. We laughed and laughed.
Michael Pritchard is credited with saying, “You don’t stop
laughing because you grow old. You grow
old because you stop laughing.” March 22
is National Goof Off Day – who knew? It
was probably some clown who came up with that idea! I’d suggest thinking of some great things to
do that day, but more importantly, try to find something humorous today. There have been dozens of studies on laughter,
but I suggest you conduct some of your own informal research anyway – jest for
the health of it!
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