{"id":1027,"date":"2016-08-30T01:10:50","date_gmt":"2016-08-30T01:10:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/christinaryanclaypool.com\/blog1\/?p=1027"},"modified":"2021-03-14T06:59:18","modified_gmt":"2021-03-14T06:59:18","slug":"why-laughter-is-good-for-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/christinaryanclaypool.com\/blog1\/2016\/08\/30\/why-laughter-is-good-for-you\/","title":{"rendered":"Why laughter is good for you"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"PaperDid you ever have one of those days when nothing seems to go right? I\u2019m not talking about huge problems here, just a string of trivial irritations that add up.\u00a0Then with a lot on your mind, when a normally minor annoyance occurs it\u2019s easy to get out of sorts. In my little world, the last straw for me on a particularly stressful day was the paper towel machine in the ladies restroom of a public building that refused to cooperate. Concerned about being late for an important appointment, I stood there frantically waving my wet hands in front of the designated detector with no success.<\/p>\n

I thought this was going to turn into be one of those humiliating moments when a couple teens were about to mock an uptight baby boomer. You see, two attractive teenage girls were looking on in amusement at my plight, when one sympathetically said, \u201cDon\u2019t you hate when that happens?\u201d<\/p>\n

And then I laughed. It was the kind of belly laugh that comes from deep inside when pent up emotion is finally released. The teens chimed in laughing with their girlish giggles sounding like a rippling melody. It\u2019s that simple, I laughed, and suddenly the whole world seemed brighter. Decades were spanned in that moment of laughter too, and camaraderie forged between the generations.<\/p>\n

In that instant, I was reminded that sometimes the young are just as afraid of not being accepted by us mature adults, as we are of them. I also realized that it had been awhile since I had heard the sound of unrestrained laughter.\u00a0Instead, lately I have noticed the stoic faces of human beings everywhere, assuming the continually charged political climate, back to school blues, or unusual summer weather might have been taking a toll.<\/p>\n

Still, people need to laugh. There have been many studies that provide documentation for the medical benefits of laughter. For example, on the website www.moodwatchers.com<\/a> we find that, \u201cResearch has shown health benefits of laughter ranging from strengthening the immune system to reducing food cravings to increasing one\u2019s threshold for pain. There\u2019s even an emerging therapeutic field known as humor therapy to help people heal more quickly\u2026 \u201d<\/p>\n

An April 2016 post on the Mayo Clinic website www.mayoclinic.org<\/a>, \u201cStress relief from laughter? It\u2019s no joke,\u201d reports that laughter can, \u201cStimulate many organs\u2026Activate and relieve your stress response\u2026 [and] soothe tension. <\/strong>\u00a0Laughter can also stimulate circulation and aid muscle relaxation, both of which can help reduce some of the physical symptoms of stress.\u201d\u00a0We have known that laughter is healthy for us dating back to Biblical times. To quote the famous proverb, \u201cA merry heart does good like a medicine, but a broken spirit dries the bones,\u201d which remains a common saying in our everyday language.<\/p>\n

Many of us could use some relief from stress, but we won\u2019t all find the ability to laugh through the same method. Recounting humorous events, telling funny jokes, reading the comic section, watching slapstick TV, or viewing a comedic movie might result in a few chuckles. If all else fails, you could try tickling a loved one. I wouldn\u2019t tickle a co-worker though, because you will probably find yourself unemployed.<\/p>\n

Speaking of employee etiquette, I used to have to endure colleagues who relished telling dumb blonde jobs before the advent of political correctness or lawsuits for workplace discrimination. I never enjoyed being the brunt of the joke having had blonde hair all my life. I was deeply touched once when a co-worker asked for my forgiveness for telling a rather harmless dumb blonde story sensing my discomfort. That\u2019s why a word of caution is necessary, because humor can be based on cruelty.\u00a0That\u2019s why a word of caution is necessary, because humor can be based on cruelty.\u00a0 Hopefully, most folks mature into understanding that it\u2019s never appropriate to make fun of other people, unless you are a presidential candidate of any party. Sorry, I couldn\u2019t resist. But it is good to laugh at ourselves when we are taking life too seriously.<\/p>\n

For me, on blue days watching a couple YouTube videos of babies laughing or pets doing funny things usually lifts my spirits. Click on this cute baby’s photo and I’ll bet you that you won’t be able to not smile. Yet it is those spontaneous happenings when someone in a conversation or group does or says something that is so hilarious that you can\u2019t help but bust out laughing, no matter what else is going on, that\u2019s best. \u00a0Think about it. When was the last time, you had a good belly laugh? So good that you wiped the tears from your eyes and ran for the nearest restroom? When you get there watch out for the paper towel machine.<\/p>\n

\"ChristinaChristina Ryan Claypool is an Amy award-winning freelance journalist and inspirational speaker. Contact her through her website at www.christinaryanclaypool.com<\/a>. \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Did you ever have one of those days when nothing seems to go right? I\u2019m not talking about huge problems here, just a string of trivial irritations that add up.\u00a0Then with a lot on your mind, when a normally minor … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[774,29,777,776,771,772,775,778,779,48,773],"class_list":["post-1027","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-practical-advice-on-the-road-less-traveled","tag-annoyance","tag-bible","tag-generations","tag-headlines","tag-humor","tag-jokes","tag-laughter","tag-mayo-clinic","tag-presidential-candidates","tag-scripture","tag-stress"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/christinaryanclaypool.com\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1027","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/christinaryanclaypool.com\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/christinaryanclaypool.com\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christinaryanclaypool.com\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christinaryanclaypool.com\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1027"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/christinaryanclaypool.com\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1027\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1664,"href":"https:\/\/christinaryanclaypool.com\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1027\/revisions\/1664"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/christinaryanclaypool.com\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1027"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christinaryanclaypool.com\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1027"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christinaryanclaypool.com\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1027"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}