Laughter & Humor-Natural tonics for body & soul

You’ve heard the expression “laughter is the best medicine”.  When we laugh, the nerves in the brain trigger electrical impulses which in turn trigger the release of endorphins which calm our minds and help us conquer pain.  Laughter has been credited with aiding digestion, improving blood flow by causing arteries to contract and relax thereby lowering blood pressure . When we ” laugh so hard we cry”  those tears contain substances that kill bacteria.

Why do we laugh?   According to Norman Cousins, author of ” Anatomy of an Illness” , who credits laughter as an important part of his recovery from a serious illness,  feels laughter is our response to the incongruous.   Humor helps us deal with grief and stress , it helps us relax and open up to each other. The people we can laugh with are often the people we like the best.  Laughter is the child of surprise.  If your laughter together with others is good and healthy, and not at the expense of others, then you have a healthy relationship to the world. If you can make each other laugh, you can always surprise one another.  And if you can always surprise each other, you can always keep the world around you new.

How does laughter affect health?  The endorphins released by laughter are morphine-like molecules that naturally alleviate pain, boost our immune systems, and release feelings of anxiety and depression.  

Excerpt from: Wake up laughing.com     Your daily laughsitive..Rx rated humor                Where we take humor seriously, and seriousness humorously.    by Swami Beyondananda                                         The swami’s favorite yoga pose is: tongue-in-cheek.   Dilemma: when you’re faced with a dilemma, might as well make dilemmanade.  Confusion: studies show that 65% of  Americans are confused, and the rest aren’t sure.

For years the Swami has been looking for ways to encourage and empower others in the ancient art of Foo Ling- using laughter as a tool to enlighten up their own lives and the lives of those around them. One of the best ways to multiply Healing laughter is to celebrate those moments when laughter leads to breakthrough- what the Swami calls a moment of Fool-Realization. You know, the times we find ourselves laughing at our situation in spite of it all, those embarrassing moments where we realize God is laughing so hard we are fools not to join in.  Sometimes the Universe will create a farce-field just for our benefit. So remember that  life is a situation comedy and we are just having an episode.

Check out: favorite funny movies found at the end of – favorite CD’s