Laughter is the best medicine

Laughter releases endorphins, giving us the ‘feel good factor’

Acts as aerobic exercise and is like ‘internal jogging’

Unleashes inhibitions, breaks down barriers

Great team building tool encourages better communication

Helps boost our immune system which helps us resist disease

Tones muscles, improves respiration and circulation

Encourages positive thinking and creativity

Relaxes the whole body by reducing stress and tension

Laughter is a great medicine. Like intense exercise, laughter increases brain levels of serotonin and endorphins that can calm and relax the mind. Every year there is more evidence that your thoughts, moods and emotions and belief systems have a fundamental impact on the body’s health and healing mechanisms. Scientists have found that emotions are registered and stored in the body in the form of chemical messages. Better understanding of these interactions between emotions and these chemical messages (known as peptides) are the key to maintaining a strong health connection between the body and the mind and can influence whether you get sick or remain well.

Peptides are found throughout the body and are how all the cells in the body communicate with each other. This includes brain to brain, brain to body, body to body and body to brain messages. Building more humour and laughter in your life helps assure that these chemical messages are working for you not against you.

The medical community are now acknowledging the pain reducing power of humour. Some patients have reported that watching a funny movie, has reduced their pain for up to two hours. Other patients have reported that finding humour in their day has increased their pain threshold.

Remember laughter is free and is available to everyone as part of an ongoing health strategy. Laughter in a group also strengthens the bonds of friendship. It takes 72 facial muscles to frown but only 14 to smile. So give your face a rest and laugh every day. It can’t hurt.