Laughter: The Best Medicine

Are you aware that the average child laughs 400 times per day, and the average adult laughs less than 15 times per day? So, what is it about adult life that causes such a dramatic reduction in laughter as we age? And what benefits of laughter are we missing out on if laughter is not a part of our daily life?

Research has clearly demonstrated that laughter has many physiological and psychological benefits. We all know that laughter feels good, but many people don't realize that the positive feeling that you experience from laughter is caused by a measurable increase in the level of endorphins and other "happiness hormones" circulating in your blood stream. Laughter can also lower blood pressure, tighten abdominal muscles, tone blood vessels, oxygenate your cells, and increase lung capacity. Scientific research has also shown that laughter increases the number of infection-fighting cells produced by your immune system, thus boosting your ability to fight infection and illness.

Norman Cousins was the first person to popularize the healing power of laughter with the publication of his famous book, Anatomy of an Illness in which he tells the story of how he taught himself to laugh in order to recover from a debilitating illness.

In 1995, Dr. Madan Kataria of Bombay (Mumbai), India founded Laughter Yoga, a social movement dedicated to bringing the health benefits of laughter to the world. Laughter Yoga uses yogic breathing, rhythmic clapping and specialized laughter exercises to elicit laughter from participants, and it is based on the scientifically proven notion that your body cannot tell the difference between authentic laughter and forced laughter, thus whether your laughter is forced or "real", you still receive all of the physiological benefits described above.

Whether you participate in a Laughter Yoga class, watch funny videos on YouTube, laugh together with friends, or simply sit and laugh in your car while waiting at a red light (give it a try!), laughter has many benefits for your mind and body. However you bring laughter into your life and the lives of others, it will surely improve your sense of well-being and that of those around you.

They say that laughter is the best medicine, and perhaps that old adage has now been proven to be true.

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Keith Carlson, RN
Public Health Nurse