Why It is Important to Laugh: The Benefits

“A day without laughter is a day wasted.” There is no better way to put it. Going a whole day without laughing is like going a whole day without drinking water, staring at your crush or even breathing.

The anger and the sorrows that an individual can obtain from sickness can be upsetting and affects their wellbeing and during these times, most attention is drawn to the body's functional abilities leading to the carelessness of the spirit and mind. These two components also need attention and the only way to allow the body, spirit, and mind to receive it is through humour so that the patient can survive to live healthily.

According to the American Association for Therapeutic Humour, it understands therapeutic humour is an ability to engage with others to improve their wellbeing while cherishing the unpleasant life situations and accepting them therefore laughter is concerned a fulfilment since it allows the patient and nurses to have an interaction with each other making the healing process more effective it allows the patient to ask questions on their condition and for them to be well equipped to handle the difficult news.

Laughter plays a vital role in easing stress hormones, allowing the patient to deal with tension from their illness and its benefits in this way since the risk of depression is lowered. Humour energizes social support groups where individuals can share jokes dependent on their circumstance, jokes on films, animation, and book of scriptures. This lifts the spirit of individuals and restores hope. Engaging with people in times of difficulty with humour can build confidence and get rid of the loneliness feelings.

McPhee, P. (1998) states that humour builds a heart pulses that allows muscles of people to be more productive and relaxed, upgrading metabolic and immune reaction. The occurrence of a howl leads to a hack which clears the lungs and airways and their cardiovascular produces an exercises and their body’s perform anaerobic exercises.

Besides the direct benefits of amusement, it can come from an indirect source such as the nurse or doctor. It allows a patient-nurse relationship which can help develop a problem-solving technique; increasing the nurse\'s creative thinking helps since it provides a better understanding for the patient and increases their attention span. In this way, the patient feels comfortable to ask questions based on their illness without any feelings of anxiety and fear, the entertainment received can be the barrier of feeling pain and increase the sleeping hours.

Laughter is a delight and the breaker of all our negative energy. There is something about laughter that gives it so much privilege over other things. The beauty inside is indescribable. Laughter gives you the ability to love and accept everyone around you. When you laugh you forget about everything else. You forget about all your stress and pain in that moment and you feel yourself relaxing and wanting to laugh even more. Laughing is the best medicine mentally and physically though you might need medicine if you’re laughing for no reason.

Laughter is typically a physical response in humans, it is a response to specific outside or inside incentives. After reading chapters one and two, it took me some time think about what makes me laugh. Honestly, laughing makes me the person I am today, I am a funny individual. When I was younger, I used to find a lot of things funny, which was bad because I found things funny at serious moments which was sometimes not a good thing. Most things that make me laugh are generally not ok such as someone falling, tripping, etc. if they do not hurt themselves because pain is not funny. Laughter is a positive feeling, that can be developed over time. Laughter is the key to happiness. I am usually happy for the most part but, when I am sad, I only need a joke to cheer me back up. A sense of humor is an important thing in a relationship. Creating humor with people can be joyful. So why is it important to laugh?

As I started to read “Laughter Therapy” the first chapter was very accurate because growing up in this culture kids were taught to face their problems and to be brave. With this kind of mentality this only forces a person to not have a sense of humor and to be serious all the time. Taking life serious and not having a sense of humor is not something one should do. Today there are a lot of individuals who are so serious. I can honestly say that I use to always be a serious individual. Everyone should always try to have a sense of humor. Tomorrow is never promised so people should live more and laugh a lot.

After, reading chapter one and two I realized how laughter can have an impact on people’s lives. Seeing others laugh makes me happy. I enjoy seeing people joyful. Laughing protects the body from stress and illness. It also reduces hormones, and increases health enhancing hormones. Laughing boosts, the immune system and releases tension in the body leaving your muscles relaxed. It is not bad to laugh too much, laughing is good for the body.

In the beginning of chapter two, I laughed when the author talked about laughing in the beginning of every workshop or presentation he gives. What really made me laugh was when he stated that on some occasions, he laughs for two to three minutes. I found that funny because that is long period of time to laugh for. Most people laugh for a couple seconds and that is all. I have not experienced someone laughing for that long, so I found that a little funny.

Myth one is a myth that I do not agree with and I am sure others do not agree with it either. One does not need a reason to laugh, there are times where I just burst out laughing and cannot explain why I am laughing. Or I am not laughing at anything specific I am just laughing. I can honestly say this is something that prevents others from laughing because they believe this myth. Throughout life there may be times where you may find something funny whereas someone else does not find the same thing funny and it is ok. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. There is no agreement on sense of humor, sense of humor is based on personal preference, age, culture, background, etc.

Without any laughing moments what would life be? It is always nice to laugh and joke around with friends and family, it makes me feel good inside. Sometimes I laugh so hard that I start to cry tears of joy. Laughter is the best medicine, it has powerful health benefits. I disagree with myth three because, I can honestly say that there are not many things that make me happy but, there are lots of things that make me laugh. Just because one is laughing does not mean that they are happy. Humor is a good way to relieve stress. I had to start smiling more and I had to stop living a serious life. When I started to live more and laugh a lot it made my life a whole lot better.