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A Big Belly (Laugh) Can Be Healthy
The health benefits of humor are well-known. Laughing lowers blood pressure levels, reduces stress and overcomes burnout. Scientists believe that laughing releases natural chemicals called endorphins (the same agents that produce the so-called "runner's high"). Laughing can even ease pain and improve the immune system.
April is National Humor Month, a celebration founded in 1976 by humorist Larry Wilde. So share jokes with friends, read funny stories or see the latest comedy at the theater (just go easy on the extra-large buttered popcorn.)
Cancer survivor Saranne Rothberg founded the ComedyCures Foundation to bring therapeutic humor programs to children and grown-ups living with illness, depression, trauma and disabilities.
To read more about the use of humor in therapy, the Association of Applied and Therapeutic Humor has a list of books and articles. To prepare for a night of laughter at home, find 80 years worth of funny movies at The Humor Collection.
Always be ready to laugh and to share a joke. As Larry Wilde says, "Humor improves vision. Things always look better after a good laugh."
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