Speech

__**The Benefits Of Laughter**__

Laughter is infectious. The sound of laughing is even more contagious then any cough, yawn or sneeze. Laughing is a great pick-me-up, and it helps to relieve stress and anxiety. Sharing a good joke is sometimes all you need to bond people together and strengthen relationships. It also helps to enhance teamwork and attract others to us. When people see you laughing and having a good time, they will automatically want to be your friend and have a good time too.

Laughter is so contagious that it once reached epidemic proportions. In the year 1962 a few Tanzanian school girls began laughing uncontrollably. Soon enough, the laughter had spread to neighboring communities. This so called ‘Laughter Bug’ caused schools to close and didn’t subside for six months.

In addition, laughing will benefit your health, mentally and physically. Laughing one hundred times is equivalent to 15 minutes of exercise. Every time you have a good, hearty laugh, you burn of 3 calories. So think about it. If you laugh, say 50 times a day, that’s 150 calories!

Laughter releases a chemical in your body called endorphins, a drug which is ten times more powerful than the pain-relieving medicine morphine. Laughter will also increase your oxygen intake, therefore replenishing and revitalizing blood cells. And thirdly, laughing will boost your immune system, which means you will suffer from less colds and illnesses.

As a powerful antidote to stress, conflict and fear, laughter is great for your mental health. Nothing works faster or more dependably to bring your mind and body back into balance than laughter. Having a good sense of humor will help you accept the inevitable, rise to a challenge, get through hard times and still come out smiling.

During the 1950’s we laughed for roughly 20 minutes a day. That figure has now dropped to 6 minutes a day. Something has changed between now and then.

The average six year-old will laugh or smile 300 times a day. When we reach adult hood, that falls to 15 times a day. If this is surprising, that is because we only smile and laugh 35 percent as much as we think we do.

So don’t wait until you’re sick before you try the healing power of laughter. Start today by spending more time with fun and playful people, bringing humor into conversations and smiling more. Best of all, this medicine is fun and free. With so much power to heal and renew, laughter really is the best medicine.

By Sophie Adams