Ram Up Your Laughter
by
Santhanaram Jayaram
Copyright 2012 Santhanaram Jayaram,
All rights reserved.
Published in eBook format by eBookIt.com
ISBN-13: 978-1-4566-1165-1
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.
Dedication
To Mum (Vasanta),
Dad (Jayaram),
Sister (Dharma),
Bro-in-law (Guru),
Nephew (Arjun)
& Niece (Akshal)
Chapter 1: The Physiological Effects of laughter: Laughter and Endorphins
We've all heard the quote that laughter is the best medicine, but what does it mean? There has been a lot of research done on laughter and its ability to heal and restore the body and the truth of the matter is that laughter actually has many positive benefits.
Laughter releases your body's endorphins or feel good chemicals.
In essence, laughter is nature’s own pain reliever, and it may in fact be much more effective than any drug you could ever purchase. Laughter can be a great stress reliever as well as a pain reliever and it is not just for fun because laughter can even enhance creativity and increase innovation. There has even been research that tells us that a before we actually even laugh, a wave of electricity shoots through our brain and this research tells us that this wave of electricity covers the entire cerebral cortex region, rather than just a single region, so there really is some science behind the idea of laughter.
It is hard to be in a bad mood when you are laughing and it actually takes much more effort and muscle power to frown than it does to smile. Laughter can help relax us, amuse us, calm us and even surprise us. Laughter is a wonderful ice-breaker for a nervous crowd and it can be a great coping mechanism.
Those who have a sense of humor deal with life's problems much better because they have a tendency to roll with the punches better. According to Doskoch (2011) laughter causes your blood pressure and even your heart rate to drop below normal helping you feel extremely relaxed; laughter also stimulates your endorphins, which are of course your brain's natural pain reliever.
According to William Fry, a professor emeritus at Stanford University, "creativity and humor are identical" (Doskoch, 2011). Fry also contends that creativity and humor bring together two things, which do not normally have an obvious connection, creating a beautiful relationship. Laughter has so many benefits it's hard to list them all.
According to researchers at the Loma Linda School of Medicine in Loma Linda, California laughter sharpens the instruments of the immune system and it activates our natural killer cells and T lymphocytes, which help our body destroy various microorganisms; furthermore, laughter increases the production of the immune boosting gamma interferon and it even speeds up the production of new immune cells (Doskoch).
Laughter is a great distraction as well, and it can help us forget about our problems, even if only temporarily. Research also tells us that most children laugh at least 300 times a day with the average adult only managing a mere 17 times, it’s no wonder we are all so crabby! (Doskoch, 2011). Laughter can help us through dark times and through happy times. Laughter can lift us up when we feel sad and it can help us cope when things go bad. Laughter is one of the best tools we have to deal with life's ups and downs and it can be a miraculous healing mechanism.
Laughter is also contagious and infectious. If someone in the room is laughing, chances are others will start laughing as well. Laughter binds us together in many ways and it may even make us happier.
Humor can make life bearable and manageable and it may even protect your heart. Laughter improves the function of your blood vessels and can even increase the blood flow and protect you from future heart attacks and other related problems.
What about some other benefits to laughter? Besides laughter's ability to lower stress and boost your immunity, it also has many social and mental benefits. For example, laughter can:
N Laughter can even help defuse conflict and enhance teamwork, making it a great benefit to companies as well as individuals.
Just like taking a short nap, laughter can help you recharge and rejuvenate.
If you feel overwhelmed, the best thing you can do is to laugh, because it will give you an immediate mood boost. Just as optimists seem to deal with life better, those that laugh may be able to cope better as well. Some of us even find that we laugh in times of grief or despair, usually as a coping mechanism. The old black and white movies used this tool quite effectively creating characters that slipped and fell or tumbled down a hill creating laughter. The truth of the matter is that many of us could use a laughter break during the day.
There are many social benefits to laughter because laughter can help strengthen your emotional bonds. Laughter can release your inhibitions and help you express your true feelings and it may even help you enhance your creativity leading to more innovative thinking. Companies may find that laughter helps diffuse difficult situations at work, because a good belly laugh helps ease stress in any situation. Humor can be a very effective tool to have in your arsenal and it can help you in many ways. Just as having a pet may help you ward of depression, stress and even heart disease, laughter may be able to do the same thing. If you feel stuck or stagnate, the best thing you can do is to go take a walk or have a good laugh. Laughter may be one of the most effective tools we have to deal with stress. Nothing makes you feel better faster than laughter.
By bringing more humor into your life, you can more easily count your blessings and learn to appreciate things more. Laughter can help you feel more gracious and more loving and it can help you heal.
People that take life too seriously may end up driving people away. Attitude really is everything when it comes down to it, because your attitude shapes the world around you. If you wake up in the morning sunny and happy expecting a great day, you're going to be much better off than someone who is always expecting the opposite.
This book is meant to both educate and inspire people in terms of what laughter can do to enhance one's life. We will talk about using laughter to enhance creativity in chapter two and even how you can use laughter to enhance productivity in chapter three. There are many uses for laughter for those in