Experts say that a good laugh - like a good workout - produces an overall sense of well-being and helps to manage the stress that underlies so many diseases, including heart disease. Laughter flexes the muscles of the chest and abdomen, including the diaphram, and causes deep breathing to take place. By exercising the shoulders, neck and face, it releases tension in the muscles. And humor itself can create a more positive perspective on life and its challenges.

Until recently, many health professionals dscounted laughter's therapeutic effect. Now things are changing, in large part because of the groundbreaking work done by Norman Counsins, once editor of Saturday Review and subsequently a professor at the UCLA School of Medicine. In his book Anatomy of an Ilness, he recounts how laughter helped to cure an unexplained sudden illness for which he had been hospitalized. After a period of time with no progress, he abondoned conventional thinking, stopped taking medication and ordered in reel upon reel of old Marx Brothers films. According to Mr. Cousins, his heavy, sustained laughter was the key to his recovery.

On average, adults laught 15 times a day. Experts say that if we could up that number, we might be able to reduce cardiac risk. Some ways to do that is by cultivating friends who smile and joke, putting playfulness into your relationships and leaving work concerns at the office.
1 | Left by Anon | Aug. 9, 2011 at 4:53pm