More Laughter Benefits

Alters the flavor of your brain’s chemical stew, which is a form of “positive self-medication. It is really difficult to remain angry, fearful, or sad, if you can find something—anything—to trigger mirthful laughter. 1) It costs nothing. 2) It requires no prescription. 3) It burns calories but contains none. 4) It is cholesterol, fat, sugar, and gluten free. 5) It is convenient and easily accessible. 6) You can use it anywhere, anytime. 7) It has very few negative side effects.

 With all those benefits, what are you waiting for?

Laughter Benefits

Studies have identified a great many benefits from mirthful laugher. 1) It triggers the release of endorphins, the brain’s natural morphine. 2) It increases tolerance to pain. 3) It increases the activity of natural killer cells that help to fight viruses. 4) It liberates inerleukin-2, immune system messengers. 5) It decreases cortisol levels. 6) It relieves psychological stress. 7) It lowers muscle tension. 8) It keeps the brain alert. 8) It improves creativity and problem-solving. 9) It enhances learning and promotes retention of information. 10) It stimulates and reconnects the cerebral hemispheres that tend to become somewhat disconnected by stressors.

 Please subscribe to my YouTube channel

https://www.youtube.com/user/braingurutaylor 

Humor-Laughter Connection

A sense of humor can be honed and developed. Personally, I think that is a good idea seeing that humor can be used to trigger laughter. It is very subjective, however. What your  brain perceives as “funny,” results from a mismatch between what your brain expected and what actually happened—which triggers laughter if you are open to it. For example, you see someone walking down the street and suddenly slipping on a banana peel. Part of your brain hopes there was no injury; the other part laughs because it was so unexpected. I enjoy oxymorons. “Soft rock, good grief, sweet sorrow, jumbo shrimp, exact estimate, original copy, head butt.”

 A new AUDIO podcast is posted every Saturday morning

https://anchor.fm/arlene-r-taylor

 A new VIDEO podcast is posted every Saturday morning

https://open.spotify.com/show/3uYHO9ryZiBXDNMnUFgu3e 

Laughter - Left Hemisphere

The left hemisphere is quite literal in its interpretations of humor. This means it rarely gets a joke. It is, however, drawn to wordplay. No surprise, as the left hemisphere is where reading, writing, audible speech, and heard speech centers are located. For example: “The bigger the summer vacation, the harder the fall.” Interestingly, the left hemisphere creates a sense of amusement. It is quite happy to laugh at more or less anything when prompted to do so. All things being equal it can laugh mirthfully almost on demand. The right hemisphere is alert to subtleties and nuances. It quickly grasps the meaning by pulling together threads of a joke, including context, assumptions, knowledge of personal bias or prejudice. It “gets” the joke by registering the dislocation in logic that is a hallmark of most formal humor. 

Laughter Triggers

Laughter originates from Broca’s area in the left frontal lobe that produces audible speech. Laughter is a sound, a form of speech. It can be triggered by a sense of humor, the laughter of others (it is catching!), surprise, fright, emotion, and personal choice to laugh. There are many types of laughter: angry, sad, fearful, happy, sarcastic, rueful, and mirthful. Studies have shown that mirthful laughter provides the most benefits to the brain and immune system. As with a sense of humor, when and where it is appropriate to laugh is learned, starting in childhood. Lord Byron reportedly put it this way: Always laugh when you can; it is cheap medicine.

Thank you for subscribing to my YouTube channel

https://www.youtube.com/user/braingurutaylor 

Gelotology

Gelotology is the study of the effect of laughter on the brain and immune system. Studies show that it takes a whole brain, both right and left cerebral hemispheres to appreciate humor and to laugh. The brain function of humor is located in your right frontal lobe. Humor is the capacity to perceive or express what is funny. A sense of humor is learned in your family-of-origin—or not. It is very subjective based on each individual brain because every brain is different. An ability to understand and express humor can be suppressed in cultures or belief systems that think humor has no place in a serious lifestyle. Humor may be appreciated with or without laughter. It can also be used to trigger laughter, which provides most of the benefits.

Norman Cousins

 While I was in nursing school, I heard about Norman Cousins who had been diagnosed with Ankylosing Spondylitis and had a 1/500 chance of recovery. Did laughter really help him sleep?

Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is a chronic, inflammatory disease of the spine and connective tissue, which apparently causes a great deal of pain. Cousins reported that 10 minutes of genuine belly laughter resulted in 2 hours of pain-free sleep. Reportedly, his story motivated Dr. Madan Kataria of India to form his first laughter club in 1995. Estimates are that there are 20,000 laughter clubs in 120 countries on Planet earth, helping people understand the importance that laughter can play in health and longevity. Is there something to this? As a certified laughter instructor of Dr. Kataria’s program, I am biased in favor of laughter. One of my childhood friends, Dr. Lee S. Burk, an internationally known laughter researcher, has identified myriad benefits of mirthful laughter to one’s health. Actually, I think I’ll list some researched benefits next week. Meanwhile, how many times a day do you laugh mirthfully?

 Please subscribe to my YouTube channel

https://www.youtube.com/user/braingurutaylor