Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 112 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom.

Laughter is the Best Medicine (1)

Thank you for joining us for our 7 day a week, 7 minutes of wisdom podcast. This is Day 112 of our Trek. Yesterday we asked the question “Have you taken your medicine today?” Referring to the medicines of laughter, joy, and kindness. Today and tomorrow, we want to expand on the actual health benefits of laughter.

In celebration of our 100^th day of our Wisdom-Trek, please check out Wisdom-Trek.com and sign up for our drawing for a free Wisdom-Trek t-shirt that will take place on October 5^th. We are giving away 7 Wisdom-Trek t-shirts.

We are recording our podcast from our studio at Home2 in Charlotte, North Carolina. After sleeping in a bit, today was a casual day of work at home. This evening our friends Ken and Anne had us over for dinner along with another couple. Anne prepared a delicious meal, and it was a good time of fellowship and sharing. Ken and Anne are missionaries with Wycliffe and focus on training nationals in using translation software throughout the world, so they travel quite extensively. Our time together was filled with stories and laughter.

It is always good to spend time with friends that share many common interest and values. These times together make our trek of life enjoyable and worthwhile. So, as we head out on the trail today, let us remember to take time with others sharing and laughing. Even during the most difficult situations of life, times of heartache and illness, never let us forget to take time to share and laugh together with family and friends.

The more medical professionals and scientists study the impact of laughter in our lives and on our health, the body of evidence continues to mount that proves laughter is the best medicine. Let us hike this mountain of evidence today and discover why science is proving this to be true.

1. Humor and laughter offer great health benefits.

Humor is infectious. The sound of roaring laughter is far more contagious than any cough, sniffle, or sneeze. When laughter is shared, it binds people together and increases happiness and intimacy. Laughter also triggers healthy physical changes in the body. Humor and laughter strengthen your immune system, boost your energy, diminish pain, and protect you from the damaging effects of stress. Best of all, this priceless medicine is fun, free, and easy to use.

2. Laughter is strong medicine for mind and body.

“Your sense of humor is one of the most powerful tools you have to make certain that your daily mood and emotional state support good health,” Paul E. McGhee, Ph.D.

Laughter is a powerful antidote to stress, pain, and conflict. Nothing works faster or more dependably to bring your mind and body back into balance than a good laugh. Humor lightens your burdens, inspires hope, connects you to others, and keeps you grounded, focused, and alert.

With so much power to heal and renew, the ability to laugh easily and frequently is a tremendous resource for surmounting problems, enhancing your relationships, and supporting both physical and emotional health.

Laughter cheers our hearts and helps to clear our minds of worry and doubt. As we looked at on yesterday’s trek, “A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person’s strength,” Proverbs [17:22].

Four ways that laughter is good for your health:

• Laughter relaxes the whole body. A good, hearty laugh relieves physical tension and stress, leaving your muscles relaxed for up to 45 minutes after.
• Laughter boosts the immune system. Laughter decreases stress hormones and increases immune cells and infection-fighting antibodies, thus improving your resistance to disease.
• Laughter triggers the release of endorphins, the body’s natural feel-good chemicals. Endorphins promote an overall sense of well-being and can even temporarily relieve pain.
• Laughter protects the heart. Laughter improves the function of blood vessels and increases blood flow, which can help protect you against a heart attack and other cardiovascular problems.

Laughter protects your heart and the hardening of your attitude.

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The Benefits of Laughter

3. Laughter and humor help you stay emotionally healthy.

Laughter makes you feel good, and the good feeling that you get when you laugh remains with you even after the laughter subsides. Humor helps you keep a positive, optimistic outlook through difficult situations, disappointments, and loss.

More than just a respite from sadness and pain, laughter gives you the courage and strength to find new sources of meaning and hope. Even in the most difficult of times, a laugh or even simply a smile, can go a long way toward making you feel better. And, laughter really is contagious. Just hearing laughter primes your brain and readies you to smile and join in the fun.

Three links between laughter and mental health:

• Laughter dissolves distressing emotions. You can’t feel anxious, angry, or sad when you’re laughing.
• Laughter helps you relax and recharge. It reduces stress and increases energy, enabling you to stay focused and accomplish more.
• Humor shifts perspective, allowing you to see situations in a more realistic, less threatening light. A humorous perspective creates psychological distance, which can help you avoid feeling overwhelmed.

4. Humor and laughter offer great social benefits.

Humor and playful communication strengthen our relationships by triggering positive feelings and fostering emotional connection. When we laugh with one another, a positive bond is created. This bond acts as a strong buffer against stress, disagreements, and disappointment.

Laughing with others is more powerful than laughing alone. It is more than just adding together the laughter. There is a compound or multiplier effect when more than one person comes together and laughing occurs.

Proverbs 5:30, “A cheerful look brings joy to the heart; good news makes for good health.”

It is important to choose and create opportunities to laugh on a regular basis. Here are some suggestions that may help to initiate the healthful practice of laughing:

• Watch a funny movie or TV show.
• Go to a clean comedy club.
• Read the funny pages or a good comic book.
• Seek out funny people.
• Share a good joke or a funny story.
• Check out your bookstore’s humor section.
• Host game night with friends.
• Play with a pet.
• Go to a “laughter yoga” class.
• Goof off with children or grandchildren.
• Do something silly.
• Make time for fun activities (e.g. bowling, miniature golfing, karaoke).

Shared laughter is one of the most effective tools for keeping relationships fresh and exciting. All emotional sharing builds strong and lasting relationship bonds, but sharing laughter and play also adds joy, vitality, and resilience. And humor is a powerful and effective way to heal resentments, disagreements, and hurts. Laughter unites people during difficult times.

Incorporating more humor and play into your daily interactions can improve the quality of your love relationships as well as your connections with co-workers, family members, and friends. Using humor and laughter in relationships allows you to:

• Be more spontaneous. Humor gets you out of your head and away from your troubles.
• Let go of defensiveness. Laughter helps you forget judgments, criticisms, and doubts.
• Release inhibitions. Your fear of holding back and holding on are set aside.
• Express your true feelings. Deeply felt emotions are allowed to rise to the surface.

Now that we have established that laughter is the best medicine, come along on our Trek tomorrow for another day of our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy, and we will learn how to bring more laughter into your life by developing your sense of humor.

That will finish our podcast for today. If you missed any of our previous podcasts, please check out the Wisdom-Trek on iTunes, Stitcher, SoundCloud, Spreaker, YouTube, or Wisdom-Trek.com.

If you enjoy our daily doses of wisdom, I encourage you to take the time to invest yourself.

1. Invest in improving Wisdom-Trek by leaving your name, email address, and a comment on our website, so we can provide you with wisdom and insights that best fit your needs.
2. Invest in yourself by listening to our 7 minutes of wisdom each day.
3. Invest in the lives of others by encouraging your family and friends to journey with us on our Wisdom-Trek.

The journal from this podcast can be found at Wisdom-Trek.com, where we also have pictures, tweetable quotes, wisdom nuggets, and free resources.

Thank you for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and most of all your friend as I serve you through the Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal each day. 

As we take this Trek together, let us always:

1. Live Abundantly (Fully)
2. Love Unconditionally
3. Listen Intentionally
4. Learn Continuously
5. Lend Generously
6. Lead with Integrity
7. Leave a Living Legacy Each Day

This is Guthrie Chamberlain reminding you to Keep Moving Forward, Enjoy the Journey, and Create a Great Day! See you tomorrow!