Laughter is part of everyday life for every human. Although we do it daily, most people do not know how it works, nor how it helps us with our health. Something that we do all the time is something that we do not even think about. We, as humans, take laughter for granted. It might come easy to us, but laughing is actually very complex. It also helps us physically, mentally, and socially. Although, many people do not agree on humor, we can all agree on one thing: laughter is important.
Laughter is unique movements of the face and body that are expressed due to amusement and sometimes contempt or derision. (Websters) But do we not need more than that? Do we not deserve to know more? Of course. Although laughter is something that we
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Whenever the voice box is closed, air cannot travel. However, when the larynx is just barely open, it produces sound. When we hear the sweet music of laughter, is it because we breathed out while our vocal cords were not open and with the help of our respiratory muscles, we produce the steady sound of laughter. But, what goes on in the brain whenever we laugh?
Of course, we all know that the brain is one of our major organs and our brains are always in use, but what goes on in the brain when we laugh? The study of laughter and the affects it has on the body is called gelotology. Although laughter may come easy and natural to us, our body has to go through a rather complex process. We don’t know much, but researchers have done studies that have shown that laughter is caused by many parts of the brain. These researchers have done many tests by hooking subjects up to an electroencephalograph (EEG). An EEG is a record of the our brain’s electrical activity. (2013, Babylon) When doing these tests, researchers realized that the brain made the same continuous electrical pattern. The subjects were then shown something that was funny. Not even five-tenths of a second after the subject saw the joke, an electrical waved moved through the cerebral cortex. This part of the brain, the cerebral cortex, determines intelligence, determines personality, motor functions, planning and organization, and touch sensation. Laughter would result after the wave
1-Aside from improving our moods, laughter can reduce stress, help fight infection, and reduce pain.
Laughter relates to positive thinking. The positive thinking helps us to improve our immune system and become healthier. It helps in removing the negative thoughts from our mind and not letting our immune system become worse further.
Humor has a way of bringing happiness to someone in any situation, and because of this, I picked the subject “Philosophy of Humor”. I was curious as to what humor is, why it is what it is, and how it brings joy to life. This subject would be something interesting and easy for me to learn. Little did I know that any subject of philosophy is difficult to learn if you’re not a natural philosophical thinker. With that being said, I have found this subject, which I thought was going to be simple, way more difficult and complex than I ever
Patch may have been on to something since science itself claims laughter is good for the human body. For one, decreasing the pain you feel and helping your blood vessels to function better; allowing them to expand which increases blood flow. All of which is good for the heart and brain. (Hara Estroff Marano,
Laughing in itself is therapeutic. People laugh for many different reasons. Some people even laugh when something horrible occurs, it is a method of escape from what horrors or mishaps are going on around you. "Many psychotherapists find humor a valuable tool in helping their patients to solve their social and emotional problems." (G. Samuel) Chief bromden was
Laughter is something that breaks tensions, forms bonds between its victims, and can cheer up your day. It has been scientifically proven that laughter sends rushes of dopamine (the brain’s happy “drug”) to the brain, in which results in you being in a better mood. Everyone is different; hence, everyone will find their own definition of what is funny. Though, there are usually socially acceptable things to laugh at and to not within a community. For example, in America, it is not socially acceptable to laugh if you find out someone has died, or if someone is severely injured. First instinct is to cry, consult the family, and have alone time. However, in Felicidade Eterna, their first instinct is to make it a positive situation and laugh it
For example, it stops distressing emotions, for instance, you can’t feel sad, angry, or anxious while you are laughing! Of course we all know it relieves stress, but it also helps you relax and recharge, by increasing your energy, which enables you to focus and accomplish more. Laughter also has a positive impact on your mind set. It shifts perspective to see situations more realistically. If you approach situations with a humorous perspective, it creates psychological distance, so you won’t feel overwhelmed and can diffuse conflicts. It also improves mood, strengthens resilience, and overall, just adds joy and zest to your
The talk delineates a detailed picture regarding the power of laughing during stressful periods. Laughing is the simplest and cheapest method to deal with stress. It can relieve pain, reduce pressure, decrease stress, and help to protect self-respect and identity. The sense of humor existed in different countries from a long time ago. For instance, jokes about the Berlin wall in the Second World
Primarily, the article 2A “The Healing Power of Laughter” by Mary Fairchild states that laughing can help you in your health. So why don't we laugh more? According to Fairchild “laughing can Lower blood pressure, strengthen immune system, and even burn calories”. So, why not laugh all the time. Well if you are having a bad day and are depressed, it has been proved that if you just laugh when you are depressed it can make your day better without having to take the high cost of antidepressant pills.
Members of laughter clubs become conditioned to be joyful through the bodily experience of doing laughter yoga. Clapping in rhythm, chanting “ho ho ha ha” in unison, and positive affirmations like very good, very good, yay! are few
Laughter can be observed as children giggling on a playground or the businessman chuckling at his lunch meeting. Laughter is a core part of our everyday life. Many times laughter is so common we do it unconsciously. We are capable of laughing and smiling at just the right times during a conversation. It can direct the conversation in response to the social cues around us. This form of expression is much more than a response to comedy, instead it is the way of communicating with those around us. According to Provine (2000), “It is a hidden language that we all speak. It is not learned group reaction but an instinctive behavior programmed by our genes” (para. 2). Laughter and smiles are subtle body language cues that we use to communicate our feelings towards the other sex. In the study of Mehu and Dunbar (2008), smiling and laughter is known to be social behaviors. Naturalistic observations have been organized to view the frequency of smiling and laughter.
There are many health benefits that come with laughter. First of all, laughter and exercise share many similar characteristics. When you have a good laugh you get a feeling in your stomach just like when you’ve had a really good workout. Both can boost your health, and ultimately make you stronger. Sometimes people are faced with tough situations that we have no control over. In those times you can either get worked up about them, or you can lighten up the situation and have a good laugh, laughing will help you cope in those unexpected times and help you get through it. It can make anyone feel better from a difficult situation and that is a great benefit. With that said, laughing can decrease stress. When we are faced with anxiety, stress hormones like cortisol and epinephrine start to get high. Lots of laughter will decrease those stress hormones and make you feel better. According to http://www.cdc.gov/bloodpressure/facts.htm “67 million American adults suffer with high blood pressure that’s 1 of every 3 adults”. Laughter can improve cardiac health; laughter can lower the balance of high blood pressure and is known to increase blood flow. When you are laughing that is causing your blood to circulate, and increases oxygen. This is what helps fight against heart disease. “Laughing 100 times is equivalent to 10 minutes on a rowing machine or 15 minutes on a bike machine” according to a researcher on
Laughter has often been referred to as life’s best medicine. Walking through the hallways of hospitals, where the aim is to help people get better or cope with the nature of their illness, the resemblance is almost one of confinement, loss of hope, sadness, fear, dread, and uncertainty. The images are bleak, lifeless, and very routine. There must be something we can do as nurses and medical professionals to change this. The problem sounds so challenging and almost insurmountable, but perhaps we are making things too difficult. Research has shown that the need for laughter while providing health care is vital to overall wellbeing. While there has been a great deal of research on the topic it is not practiced as it should be in
Madan Kataria, laughter actually has the power to provide physical and holistic benefits to the human body. In a yoga class, an approximate of 10-15 minutes of laughter is what you will do, it is not just an ordinary short giggle, but a loud and deep belly laugh, that needs to come straight from the diaphragm. If you will try the laughter yoga, you must be open-minded and is willing to participate, because the philosophy of laughter yoga is to basically maintain a playful and childlike sense. Most people rely on sense of humor just to laugh, but with laughter yoga, you will basically commit to laughing on an everyday basis, to actually teach your mind and your body to laugh even if nothing is funny. The mind and and the body is tied to the laughter yoga, when deep breathing, physical movements, and deep laughter gets combined, laughing will then be a form of exercise for
This online newsletter suggests how laughter is a contagious phenomenon as laughter triggers responses in the premotor cortical region of the brain. It also discusses on how laughter epidemic brought on by stress, causes mass psychogenic illness or mass hysteria. Thus, Gelotology, is a way of studying and finding out how laughter and the result on the human body could be seen from both a psychological and physiological perspective.