When you laugh, what is going on in your body? For starters, you have increased heart rate and blood pressure followed by a relaxation period. This results in improved circulation. Your muscles are stimulated and then become relaxed thereby decreasing muscle tension. If you laugh hard enough you can actually become "weak with laughter", which explains why some people hold on to something during a robust laugh. In your G.I. system, your internal organs are massaged by the muscles used to laugh. This enhances digestion. Your respiratory system is enhanced through deeper oxygen-rich breaths that are forcefully exhaled at rates up to 70 mph!

Laughter and play have been shown to be healthy yet why are so many people reluctant to take part? One of the main reasons is our culture undervalues laughter and play. Both are key components in the healing process and are healthy if practice on a regular basis.

What can you do to increase your "laughter factor"? First give yourself permission to laugh. Make a conscious effort to put humor into your daily routine. Try to spend one hour of play per day, seven day a week! Make a list of 40 activities you enjoy, half of which cost less than $5 each. Then when you need play the most and can't think of anything you have your list to refer to. Keep a diary of things you find funny. Start a collection of your own funny books, tapes or videos. These will help when your spirits are down. You can refer to your personal humor collection to boost your spirits. Try to hang out with happy people and put on a happy face yourself. A smile is not only powerful it is contagious.

Make a contract to yourself to incorporate some type of humor into your life immediately and on a regular basis. Unplanned humor is great, but it has too many benefits to let it happen by chance.

Funny books:
Without Feathers .... Woody Allen
Murphy's Law .... Arthur Bloch
The Grass Is Always Greener over the Septic Tank ... Erma Bombeck
Dr Burns' Prescription for Happiness ... George Burns
The Complete Mother .... Phyllis Diller
The Great Wall Street Joke Book .... John Pizzuto
Funny Audio Cassettes:
Live in Picayune, Top Gum ...... Jerry Clower
The Best of Bill Crosby, Wonderfulness, 200 mph ..... Bill Crosby
All The President's Wits .... Gerald Gardner
The Works ..... Groucho Marx
Funny Video Cassettes:
Blazing Saddles, Airplane!, The Return of the Pink Panther, Silverado, Some Like it Hot, The Making of the Stooges, The Films of Laurel and Hardy, All of Me, Making Mr Right

by Carol Glasscock, MS,PT