Laughing and Feeling Good
Michael’s Mum is staying with us at the moment all the way from New Zealand, which is lovely. We got into a conversation recently about laughing. Michael’s Mum was widowed many years ago, and one thing she noticed about living by herself over the years was that there were not quite the same opportunities to joke and laugh as there had been. What really inspired me though is that along the way she made a decision to bring as much laughter into her life as possible, so that if she is watching something funny on TV for example, instead of finding this quietly amusing, she will laugh out loud and really enjoy it. I think that is so great! She has said that it has made a real difference as well, not just in terms of feeling more upbeat and happy, but even physically she has felt better!
Proverbs 17:22 says that “a merry heart does good, like medicine” which at first glance seems to suggest that joyfulness, a happy disposition and a good sense of humour is good for us, and even has a healing effect. How great is that? This seems to be borne out in the experience of a man called Norman Cousins who published a book in the 1960s called Anatomy of Illness. From what I have read about his situation, Cousins was diagnosed with a painful disease which caused the connective tissue in his spine to disintegrate with a 99.98% likelihood that he would not recover.
Cousins prescribed himself with ‘humour treatments’ and evidently hired a nurse to read funny stories to him, and play him funny movies. His health improved rapidly and he was soon off pain killers and sleeping pills, finding that 15 minutes of belly laughter helped him to sleep for 2 hours pain free. Evidently Cousins was eventually able to reverse his illness and even though his claims about laughter were met with some criticism at the time, since then medical science has confirmed ways in which laughter benefits health, including strengthening the immune system.
So what are some of the other health benefits that can come with lots of laughing? An elevated mood and reduced stress, lowered blood pressure and relaxation, laughing can also help to improve brain function, and in general, it makes us feel good!
If you have any stories about how laughing has had a positive effect in your life, feel free to leave a reply, otherwise have a really happy week where there’s lots to make you laugh!
