Many very serious people consider laughter to be trifling. In their opinion, in such a difficult time in which we live, there is no time for laughter. Unfortunately, they do not understand that if we laughed and smiled more, then our time would not be so “difficult”.
It is difficult to say exactly what physiological and mental changes caused by humor occur in the human body, but the fact that they occur and have a beneficial effect on a person can be considered already proven.
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Immanuel Kant wrote in his Critique of Pure Reason that “laughter gives a feeling of health, activates all vital processes. The peristalsis of the intestines and the movement of the diaphragm increase, the harmony of the soul and body is achieved. Later, all these statements of the German philosopher were confirmed by scientific data.
During laughter, many more muscles work than is usually thought: these are not only the muscles of the face, but also the abdominals, and the diaphragm, and the stomach. In addition, when we laugh, we breathe especially deeply, which renews the oxygen reserves in the cells, helps to straighten the bronchi and lungs and clear the airways. Laughter is an excellent gymnastics for stimulating digestion, all organs located in the abdominal cavity. Laughter also has analgesic and anti-inflammatory properties, and the brain releases the “hormone of happiness” during laughter.
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Doctors from the University of Bern (Switzerland) came to the conclusion that the healing effect of physical exercise is incomparable with the healing effect of laughter. Based on numerous studies, it has been proven that unrestrained laughter for 5 minutes not only relieves depression, but also has a beneficial effect on the activity of the heart and lungs. As Swiss scientists managed to calculate, one minute of laughter is equivalent to a forty-minute run.
Naturally, laughter is different from laughter. There is nothing good in the laughter of superiority or malevolence when laughing at how hurt a person is. The most beautiful laughter is the laughter of a child, because it is the laughter of life itself, it is causeless, unconditioned, sincere. There is a wonderful Russian folk proverb: "When a child laughs, the sky smiles."
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No less beneficial effect on the human body and a smile. Smiling broadly, we not only feel a surge of good mood, but also include the pleasure centers of our brain in the “working mode”. However, in this case, we are not talking about a duty, or, as they say, “plastic” smile. In order for the nerve endings of the brain to work, as in moments of true happiness, it is necessary to make the muscles running from the cheekbones to the lips, and the muscles around the eyes, work. A polite smile or smirk will not change the mood.
And one more interesting fact. Research scientists have shown that a good mood protects against colds! Having fun with friends or doing what you love, you guarantee yourself the invincibility of the immune system for two days. And the consequences of a bad mood are a weakening of immunity for a day. Studies have shown that perfectly healthy people can easily catch a cold when going outside in a gloomy mood.
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