How you think affects your body. If you fret and worry, blood pressure increases, stress hormones are secreted and muscles constrict. Likewise, if you are happy and relaxed, it follows that positive changes will occur in your biology. Research is showing that this is true. Not only is laughter the best medicine but laughter should be part of any wellness program. In order to stay healthy, laugh.

Norman Cousins is often accredited as the first man to spur interest in the study of how humor affects human physiology. Cousins was diagnosed in 1964 with a painful, life-threatening disease (ankylosing spondylitis) and given only months to live. He reasoned that if negative thoughts and emotions could trigger negative effects on the body, then positive thoughts and emotions could trigger positive effects on the body. He proceeded to watch movies and TV shows that he found funny. Over time, his disease went into remission.

A Hearty Laugh is Aerobic Exercise
Further research into the mind/body connection continued in the late 1960’s with Dr. William Fry. He discovered that laughter causes many of the same physiological responses as a mild workout. Laughing increases heart rate, breathing, muscle activation and blood circulation. Dr. Fry describes a hearty laugh session as aerobic exercise.

According to WebMD.com, mirthful laughing 100 times a day provides the same benefits as 20 minutes of cardio exercise. This may seem like an impossible amount of laughter, but Dr Fry also found that the average kindergartener laughs 300 times a day. Perhaps it’s more challenging to giggle with adult problems, but considering your health, it’s worth the effort. Up your laugh quota; it’s good for your heart and lungs.

If laughter is aerobic exercise, is it also a calorie burner? Researchers at Vanderbilt University decided to find out. It turns out that laughing increases calorie expenditure by about 20 percent. If you laugh for 10 to 15 minutes straight, the calorie burn increases by approximately 50 percent. At this rate, if you laughed daily, you could lose about 4 pounds in a year. Not too exciting. Perhaps for weight loss it is better to exercise and laugh while you’re doing it.

Laughter Boosts the Immune System
While laughter may not be a massive calorie burning form of exercise, it does reduce negative hormones (cortisol and adrenaline) that have been linked with fat accumulation, especially in the abdomen. Dr. Lee Burk of Loma Linda University showed that laughter not only reduces negative hormones but also boosts the immune system.

Apparently a hearty guffaw triggers antibodies and other disease fighting cells to “kick it up a notch.” Cancer and some other types of tumors were reduced, according to Dr. Berk’s studies. Unserious behavior has serious benefits including less chance of illness and reduced fat accumulation.

Expect Good Things to Happen
If the thought of all this chuckling has you exhausted, there is an easier option. All you need to do is look forward to having a good time. Just the anticipation of positive events decreases stress hormones and improves the immune system. This is referred to as the “biology of hope.” This reaction is seen in terminally ill patients, who often hang on to life when a holiday or special occasion is imminent. For the healthy, this points to the value of setting goals and having future plans that are affirmative. Expecting good things to happen is good for your health.

Erma Bombeck once said, “if you can’t make it better, you can laugh at it.” It turns out that you can make it better by laughing at it!

Article by Paula Skinner,
ACE Certified Personal Trainer.
Email: Paula@PaulasCreativeFitness.com