One day the headlines may read,

"Next New Prescription – Laughter." by Judy L. Young

 

I met Judy at an ASTD chapter meeting in Wichita, Kansas where she reconvinced me of laughter’s power.  Her interesting article will give you a new perspective on this treatment for a healthy life.

 

We have heard it said that laughter is the best medicine and the world of science is busy proving it. There are so many studies out showing great improvements in people's blood flow, blood chemistry, blood sugars, heart rate, oxygen levels, hormone levels, brain chemistry plus all the studies showing vast improvements in emotional well being. Yes, all of this and more just from our own regulated bodily action of laughter. Good deep robust belly laughter is aerobic and beneficial in so many ways. And we have complete control in turning it "off and on" just like a water faucet and humor is not required.

 

Need a new Rx for your allergies? Or need help sleeping more soundly? Or trouble getting to sleep? Need a little boost with that bout of depression or anxiety? Want a little something to help with the stresses at work? Suffering from long commutes to the office? Need a little help with that lack of energy and pizzazz? Want to be more alert? Need help lowering your blood pressure? Got circulation problems? Need a boost for your immune system? Want to get high?????

 

Yep -- laughter does all that and more. Spend 15-minutes each morning in deep aerobic laughter without humor for just three weeks and you too will be hooked on the same endorphin high that runners get. They will tell you a dozen reasons why they run but the biggest is they love the way it makes them feel. Oh so good!!!!! That's why you see them out there in frigid or sweltering weather. They got to have their fix. And aerobic laughter is the same. It stimulates all those feel good chemicals in your body giving you a wonderful attitude adjustment that vastly improves your outlook.

 

Please do not misunderstand there is nothing wrong with humor. We desperately need lots of it to make the world a better place. However each of us has a very separate and independent view of what is funny. We don't all laugh at the same jokes, unless those jokes are told by our boss. We don't all like the same comedians, do we? No in fact we find some to be quite offensive from time to time.

 

Which brings us to the next issue of humor, our mood at the moment. How many times have you heard a joke say on Tuesday night, laughed yourself silly but when you tried to re-tell it on Wednesday you couldn't for the life of you figure out what you had thought was so funny in the first place. It has happened to all of us from time to time. Not only is our personal sense of humor dictated by our language, our intelligence, our culture, our values, our preferences, our tastes and most importantly our mood at the moment, as we have just demonstrated.

 

Laughter on the other hand is a learned physical activity. We are not born laughing are we? No in fact most of the babies I know arrive screaming. It takes an infant 10-14 weeks to learn the physical act of laughter. Fortunately for all of us babies learn to smile much sooner.

 

Which brings us to the fact that we can smile without humor. So why do we have so much trouble wrapping our brains around the fact that we can have laughter without humor. We have thought of the two as being synonymous for so long we forget they are indeed separate. Humor is cognitive requiring thinking, reasoning, intuition and perception.

 

Where as laughter only requires deep breathing and uttering a few simple sounds that simulate laughter. In the process you will engage lots of muscle groups, stimulate all those feel good chemicals in the brain and your entire immune system. Good deep robust belly laughter, not a mild social tee-hee but rather solid aerobic laughter will stimulate your circulation system, your blood supply and your heart rhythm which all in turn lower your blood pressure.

 

The other thing about laughter is it is IMPOSSIBLE to worry about anything while in the midst of deep robust belly laughter. So next time you start to worry ask yourself if there is in fact anything you can change about the situation. If not I highly recommend you engage your low belly in some deep robust laughter and chase your worries away.

 

Like we said the new "Next" Rx could be LAUGHTER . . . without humor. Try it . . . you'll like it.

 

Judy L. Young may be reached at www.laughterlinks.com