The Healing Powers of Laughter

Blogigglers:

When transferring some new videos on to the computer from our video camera I came across this gem.  Basically laughing like Ernie from Sesame Street makes L Rizzy giggle like a school girl.

There are several health benefits from a good, hearty laugh.  It reduces stress, improves lymph flow (seriously, who ISN'T worried about their lymph flow), improves circulation and oxygenation, increases circulating levels of interleukins, and increases serotonin and endorphins.  There is also research that shows it lowers blood pressure and reduces the risk of heart disease.  Furthermore, it would take ten minutes on a rowing machine to achieve the same aerobic activity of one minute of laughter.  

Laughter is routinely listed by people as the attribute they most desire in a partner (more so by women then men- men tend to list things such as a big heart or a nice, round personality).  On average, adults laugh 17 times per day while preschoolers laugh nearly 400 times per day.

So what changes from preschool to adulthood that causes us to stop laughing?  Preschoolers are not worried about not having enough money to buy food, not worried about passing the written boards, not worried about not getting a job when they come back to America, not worried about whether their previously well trained hands are rotting away, not worried about whether the robe they are wearing is showing too much disgusting, patchy chest hair, and definitely not worried about whether their liver is nearing failure thanks to years of over-imbibing on good wine, 40 ounces of King Cobra, and scotch.

So it is obvious that we all should laugh, and that we should all laugh more often.  I, for one, am taking my own advice.  I just laughed, out loud (lol), at the thought of Matt attacking a Christmas tree, the thought of Frank scream puking in Canada after cutting me off, the thought of Curt falling into the lake (but not before he exclaimed "I'mmmmmmm in, yep yep yep"), the thought of Katie screaming "stop touching me" in public and my father replying "Katie, quit picking your nose," the thought of my mother's 12 GPS systems, the thought of my wife asking a german lady "Habla espanol" instead of "Sprechen sie English," and the thought of my son giggling like a school girl.

Quotabulous:

"A well-developed sense of humor is the pole that adds balance to your steps as you walk the tightrope of life."

William Arthur Ward