22 Aug LAUGH A LITTLE by Beth Jones
“A cheerful disposition is good for your health; gloom and doom leave you bone-tired.” Proverbs 17:22, Message
Been a long week? Tired? Been challenged? Sick? Down in the dumps? Not feeling your best?
Laugh!
That’s right…laugh! Don’t submit to the blues today. Don’t succumb to the “too bad, so sad” motto. Stand up and just start laughing. Rejoice. Shout. Liven up your disposition. Do it on purpose. A merry heart and a cheerful disposition are good for your health.
Not only that – medical science has been studying the effects of laughter and humor and their role in the health of our mind and body. Humor therapy is being used for the relief of physical or emotional pain and stress.
Laughter is known to reduce muscle tension, increase cardio-respiratory function and reduce stress. Recent studies show the benefits of humor and laughter on various immune system outcomes. At the biophysical level, laughter moves lymph fluid around our body simply by the convulsions we experience during the process of laughing; so it boosts our immune system function and helps clear out old, dead, waste products from organs and tissues.
Laughter increases the oxygenation of our body at both the cellular and organ level. When we laugh, we intake vast amounts of oxygen. They’ve discovered that cancer cells are destroyed in the presence of oxygen and many parasites and bacteria don’t survive well in the presence of oxygen.
Laughing also boosts circulation and exercises abdominal muscles as well as the muscles of your face. Maybe it’s the next best thing to botox? The harder you laugh, the greater the effects.
I wonder if the Lord already knew this? No wonder He told us to rejoice always!
Have you had a “gut-busting” laugh lately?
A happy heart is good medicine and a cheerful mind works healing, but a broken spirit dries up the bones. (Proverbs 17:22, AMP)