If you want to hear lots of laughter at your wedding reception or party, hire a photo booth so your guests can dress up and have a lot of fun taking funny photos of themselves and their friends. Laughter gives us many health benefits and here are some of them.
- While it may seem like a simple thing to do, laughter is considered to be a great workout because it exercises your shoulders, diaphragm, abdomen and respiratory system. This is why having a good belly laugh makes you feel relaxed and happy afterwards.
- Laughter relieves stress, decreasing stress hormones such as cortisol in the body, while at the same time increasing health-inducing chemicals. It stimulates the blood circulation and gives your muscles a gentle workout that stimulates them and alleviates stress.
- When you laugh, the body produces more melatonin, a hormone that improves your sleep quality as well as the ability to go to sleep. Thus, sleep patterns are improved and you feel a lot better after a good night’s sleep.
- Laughter therapy can fight depression, whether it is seasonal affective disorder (SAD), or depression from any other cause. It is especially good for fighting depression and hopelessness in elderly people, but even young children and everyone else can benefit from laughing.
- It boosts the immune system by releasing more chemicals into the body that fight against disease and infection. It even helps ward off the common cold.
- It relieves pain and in fact, studies have shown that people who laugh a lot can withstand 10% more pain than the people who don’t laugh.
- According to a study done in Japan, laughter helps to lower blood sugar levels in people with Type 2 diabetes. This is believed to be due to its impact on the neuro-endocrine system, which is what monitors your glucose levels.
- It increases heart health because it expands the lining of the blood vessels and this increases the flow of blood. This fights against atherosclerosis and reduces the risk of heart attack.
- Laughing gives you a facial, making you look younger. When you laugh, 15 muscles in the face work together to increase the blood flow around the face.
- It increases the oxygen in the body, muscles and tissues due to the air that is taken in and expelled during laughter. This makes you feel more energised, with improved alertness, creativity and memory.
It seems that laughter is one of those things that nobody should be without, so if you haven’t had a good laugh lately, do whatever tickles your funny bone and start to laugh on a regular basis. You’ll be much healthier and enjoy life more.