Belly Laughter
NATURAL BELLY LAUGHTER
Humor is an essential part of our natures. It’s easy and you pay nothing for it, but the benefits may last a lifetime. Watching other people laugh could energize you and cheer you up, even if you do not know them.
Studies of brain scans show that involuntary laughter originates within the limbic system and portions of the brain stem.
Voluntary laughter appears to originate from the neo-cortex. Although this can be spontaneous and pleasurable, it’s often used to positively influence, or appease, manipulate, belittle, or subvert others.
Natural, mirthful belly laughter can result in feelings of being liberated from something you hung on to for a long time.
Extensive research over the past decades has shown that:
Natural laughter keeps depression and anxiety at bay by boosting the production of serotonin, an anti-depressant.
A good sense of humor will get you seldom depressed.
Belly laughing expands the inner walls of the arteries and so increases the blood flow and blood pressure for 30-45 minutes. When you stop laughing, your blood pressure drops all the way back to its baseline.
Our breathing is shallow during stress, resulting in residual carbon dioxide and air in our lungs. Belly laughing forces all air out, followed by a deep inhalation. Repeated laughing cleanses the body and energizes it with fresh oxygen.
The main factor responsible for sleep problems is stress and anxiety. Having some good natural laughs prior to sleep reduces stress, and allows for a deeper, more restful sleep.
Belly laughter seems to boost self-confidence and gives mental strength to cope with conflicts and challenges in life. It also helps us come out of anxiety and depression.
Natural laugher lifts your spirits as well as others around you. One humorous individual lifts the spirit of everyone around.
Natural laughter may help you find a mate. Men love women who laugh in their presence and women actually laugh more than men. A shared sense of humor is an important factor in keeping a relationship alive.
A hearty chuckle raises the heart rate and speeds up the metabolism, and thus burns off calories.
Laughing helps people forget about pain. Children watching comedy films tolerate pain more easily.
Belly laughing gives a good massage to the abdominal organs, like liver, kidney, pancreas, spleen and adrenal glands. The increased blood flow improves their functioning.
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Natural laughing forces dozens of facial muscles into a smile. The increased blood flow makes you look younger.
A good belly laugh exercises the diaphragm, contracts the abs and even works out the shoulders, and the heart, leaving all muscles more relaxed afterward.
People watching a funny video after a meal had lower blood sugar levels than those watching a serious one.
Natural laughter empties your lungs of more air than it takes in, resulting in a cleansing effect similar to deep breathing. It is helpful for people with respiratory ailments, like asthma.
Natural laughter increases the number of antibody-producing T-cells, and so boosts the immune system. This reduces the likelihood to get coughs and colds.
It rekindles the fire of passion in the belly!
Seriousness vs laughter
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