Benefits of Laughter

On Monday, December 07, 2009 2 comments

Stress Management : Benefits of Laughter

Physical Release: Have you ever felt like you "have to laugh or I'll cry"? Have you experienced the cleansed feeling after a good laugh? Laughter provides a physical and emotional release.

Distraction: Laughter brings the focus away from anger, guilt, stress and negative emotions in a more beneficial way than other mere distractions.

Perspective: Studies show that our response to stressful events can be altered by whether we view something as a 'threat' or a 'challenge'. Humour

can give us a more light-hearted perspective and help us view events as 'challenges', thereby making them less threatening and more positive.

Social Benefits of Laughter: Laughter connects us with others. Also, laughter is contagious, so if you bring more laughter into your life, you can most likely help others around you to laugh more, and realize these benefits as well. By elevating the mood of those around you, you can reduce their stress levels, and perhaps improve the quality of social interaction you experience with them, reducing your stress level even more.


How to Use Laughter:


Find Humour In Your Life: Instead of complaining about life's frustrations, try to laugh about them. If something is so frustrating or depressing it's ridiculous, realize that you could 'look back on it and laugh.' Think of how it will sound as a story you could tell to your friends, and then see if you can laugh about it now. With this attitude, you may also find yourself being more light-hearted and silly, giving yourself and those around you more to laugh about. Approach life in a more mirthful way and you'll find you're less stressed about negative events, and you'll achieve the health benefits of laughter.


'Fake It Until You Make It': Just as studies show the positive effects of smiling occur whether the smile is fake or real, faked laughter also provides the benefits mentioned above. So smile more, and fake laughter; you'll still achieve positive effects, and the fake merriment may lead to real smiles and laughter.

Laughter Therapy - An Effective Treatment

Today when nothing is free, laughter is perhaps the only medicine that comes for free but does miracles for us. Laughter is the best medicine! About 20-25 minutes of laughter every day can make you feel fresh, energetic and young for the whole day.

The base of laughter therapy is related to the idea of positive thinking, and an age-old philosophy according to which if you want to be free from any mental problem and keep yourself healthy, all you have to start laughter therapy; make yourself feel free and happy, keep smiling always. Laughter is one way to feel free and happy.


How laughter can help us in living a healthy life:


Most of the diseases are related to stress, tension depression etc. When we are in tension we attract various problems/diseases such as: mental imbalance, high blood pressure, heart problems etc. Laugher relaxes our muscles and helps in relieving stress. When we laugh, our mind does not distract and the thought process stops i.e. no other thought comes in our mind, keeping our stress at lowest possible level. When we laugh, the blood vessels carrying blood in our body expands which results in increased blood supply to various body parts. Laughter also helps in keeping the level of stress hormones low.


Laughter helps in improving our immune system. As stated above, the base of laughter therapy relates to positive thinking. It is proved scientifically that if a person entertains negative thoughts while he/she is ill i.e. if he/she falls prey to depression, anger etc. about his/her illness, then it results in weakening of his/her immune system and then it takes more time, high doses of medications etc. to cure that person. On the other end, positive thinking helps a person improve his/her immune system and become healthy again as soon as possible.


Laughter also assists in fighting against mental stress, anxiety, depression, insomnia and various other mental disorders. This reduces our dependencies on various medications required to stay away from such illnesses. People who try laughter therapy feel much better, tension-free, mentally balanced and they sleep properly than they used to.


Laughing is proven to be very beneficial for the people suffering from hypertension. It helps lower the blood pressure to normal. Laughing causes deeper breathing and increase in blood flow, due to which oxygen and essential nutrients are supplied to all body parts.




"Always laugh when you can. It is cheap medicine."

- Lord Byron

You don't stop laughing because you grow old. You grow old because you stop laughing."

- Michael Pritchard




http://stress.about.com

http://www.buzzle.com

2 comments:

Laughter therapy? Hmmmm.. But of course one should not laugh too much... coz sometimes that will actually make you cry.. Be moderate in anything you do..

Salaam. ketawa tidak salah selagi tidak terlalu over dan bukan hidup untuk KETAWA hehe

Ketawa bersama sanak saudara dan kawan2 adalah untuk mengeratkan HUBUNGAN, asalkan TIDAK MELAMPAU dan berkawan semata2 untuk KETAWA

Ianya untuk mengelakkan dari hubungan yang tawar dan membeku, bukan TUJUAN untuk mencari KESERONOKAN hidup

Dan saya ingin berkongsi satu lagi ubat yang PALING MUJARAB, yang diajar oleh baginda Muhammad S.a.w, iaitu MENANGIS

Antara pesan beliau yang bermaksud, "Jika kamu tahu apa yang aku tahu, maka kamu akan banyakkan MENANGIS dan kurangkan ketawa"

Kerana jika kita MENANGIS, segala resah dan sebak dalam dada boleh hilang insyaAllah, bermakna ianya untuk ketenangan dan kedamaian hati

Di samping tanda kita ingat pada Allah dan TAKUT pada seksaan nerakaNya dan kemarahanNya

Dan di antara peringatan yang diberikan oleh nabi ialah barangsiapa yang menangis kerana takutkan NERAKA ALLAH, maka Neraka haram baginya insyaAllah


Abul Laits meriwayatkan dengan sanadnya dari Ibn Umar r.a. berkata: "Pada suatu hari Nabi Muhammad s.a.w. keluar ke masjid, tiba-tiba ada orang berbicara-bicara sambil tertawa, maka Nabi Muhammad s.a.w. berhenti di hadapan mereka dan memberi salam lalu bersabda; "Perbanyaklah mengingati yang merosakkan kelazatan." Sahabat bertanya: "Apakah yang merosakkan kelazatan itu?" Jawab Nabi Muhammad s.a.w. "Mati." Kemudian Nabi Muhammad s.a.w. keluar melihat orang-orang sedang tertawa gelak-gembira, maka Nabi Muhammad s.a.w. bersabda kepada mereka: "Ingatlah demi Allah yang jiwaku ditanganNya andaikan kamu mengetahui sebagaimana yang aku ketahui nescaya kamu sedikit tertawa dan banyak menangis." Kemudian pada hari lain keluar pula dan melihat orang-orang sedang gelak ketawa sambil berbicara-bicara, maka Nabi Muhammad s.a.w. memberi salam dan berkata: "Sesungguhnya Islam ini pada mulanya asing dan akan kembali asing, maka untung bagi orang-orang yang asing pada hari kiamat." Ditanya: "Siapakah orang-orang asing itu pada hari kiamat?" Jawab Nabi Muhammad s.a.w.: "Ialah mereka yang memperbaiki di masa kerosakan manusia." (Yakni jika manusia telah rosak moralnya (akhlak) maka mereka tetap memperbaiki akhlak mereka.)



Nabi Muhammad s.a.w. bersabda mengenai firman Allah s.w.t. (Yang berbunyi): "Wa kaana tahtahu kanzullalhumma." Dibawahnya ada lembaran emas yang tertulis lima garis iaitu:

- Saya hairan pada orang yang yakin akan mati, bagaimana ia dapat bergembira

- Saya hairan terhadap orang yang yakin adanya neraka, bagaimana ia dapat tertawa

- Saya hairan pada orang yang yakin pada takdir, bagaimana ia susah (berdukacita)

- Saya hairan pada orang yang yakin pada perubahan dunia, bagaimana ia merasa senang

- Laa ilaha illallah, Muhammad rasulullah


Yahya bin Mu'aadz Arrazi berkata: "Empat macam yang menghilangkan tertawanya orang mukmin dan kesenangannya iaitu:

- Memikirkan akhirat

- Kesibukan pencarian keperluan hidup

- Kerisauan memikirkan dosa

- Tibanya musibah bala




Tiga macam hal yang dapat mengeraskan hati iaitul;

- Ketawa tanpa sesuatu yang mentertawakan (kelakar)

- Makan tanpa rasa lapar

- Bicara yang tidak penting

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