Infinite Indulgence - Good For You - Tips For Treating Yourself The Way You Deserve

Laugh More for a Happier and Healthier You
by Ann Karcich

Have you ever enjoyed a belly laugh? This is a deep, spontaneous laugh that begins, well, in the belly. Do you remember how good you felt after your belly laugh? Some of us think that 'belly laugh' is just an expression. It turns out though that this kind of laughter is good for our bodies, including our bellies, as well as for our mind and spirit. In this article, we'll cover some of the ways that laughter is good for us - and how to add more of it to our lives.

A Healthier You
That belly laugh makes us feel better by contracting and releasing muscles in the abs and the shoulders. After the laugh, the muscles are more relaxed. Some reports state that the 'feel good' aftereffect of a good laugh can last for up to 45 minutes. Laughter also improves our physical health by increasing the number and effectiveness of immune system cells. This stepped-up immune activity has been shown to help fight the common cold and other infections as well as increase activity against tumor cells. Other physical health benefits are pain reduction and cardiac conditioning for patients who can't perform physical activity. Laughter also has cardio-protective effects such as reducing blood pressure by improving the action of blood vessels and easing blood flow.

Less Stress, Anyone?
When we're stressed, our bodies produce more of the stress hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol. Excesses of these hormones cause our bodies to function less than optimally. For example, cortisol increases glucose in the bloodstream, suppresses the digestive system and weakens the immune system response. These changes are good if we're in a 'fight or flight' situation, a relatively short-lived situation with acute stress. But with chronic or long-term stress, these changes are detrimental and manifest themselves as foggy thinking, more frequent illnesses, insomnia and short temper. Laughter and humor reduce the amounts of these hormones created by our bodies. And laughter also causes the release of endorphins, those feel-good chemicals that are released by the body during exercise.

Add Some Laughter to Your Life
So why wait? Start now to find ways to increase the laughter in your life. Invite some friends over to watch some favorite comedy movies or head out to a local comedy club. Or better yet, learn to laugh at those frustrating curve balls that life throws us sometimes. There's also evidence that getting into a 'count your blessings' mindset can increase the likelihood that we'll respond with humor to a difficult situation. It's just like learning any new habit. And last but not least, smile. It's the first step to laughter and best of all, it's free and has no known negative side effects.