Laughter

When all else fails to cure your woes, perhaps a round of hearty laughing could be the answer.

Although it seems far-fetched, patients suffering from painful diseases have testified that laughing actually dulled their pain, and that while they were laughing they felt relief from whatever was ailing them. Norman Cousins, the author of Anatomy of an Illness, claimed that by laughing for only ten minutes he was allowed two-hours of pain-free sleep while he was suffering from a painful spine condition called ankylosing spodylitis. 

Physically, laughter is known to reduce problems associated with stress, arthritis pain, and ulcers and help fight infection. Emotionally, laughter improves our mood by the release of endorphins that take place, which release anger, fear, anxiety and tension.

Laughing even burns calories- one study showed 10 to 15 minutes of laughing can burn 50 calories and a miniature workout is even achieved as our face and body stretches and uses muscles in the face, stomach, and diaphragm—our heart rate deepens and blood pressure increases, and we breathe faster sending oxygen to our tissues.

William Fry, a laughter researcher, claimed it took 10 minutes on a rowing machine to reach the level his heart rate reached after just one minute of vigorous laughter. The levels of cortisol and epinephrine, two stress hormones that suppress the immune system drop, blood flow increases, and blood sugar is lowered. 

Researchers even found that while in good moods, ‘natural killer cells’ which destroy malignant cells, were more actively attacking tumor cells, the effects of which lasted up to 12 hours. So chuckle, giggle, hoot and snort all you like- the effects could be life saving.