Laughter
Having an optimistic view of life is a healthy way of combating stress. Humor is always beneficial in such situations as it can help us in taking the edge away from the causes of everyday stress. It is not good to be in a serious mood or alert mood all the time. A proper and healthy balance is required to maintain equilibrium of thoughts and also to aid in clear thinking. It is perhaps the smartest way to combat stress by laughing away at it. Being able to be humorous in stressful situations can be helpful in perceiving and appreciating the oscillations in life and also to provide with some pleasant moments. The emotions created by stress can create a weakness in the immune system which can make the body susceptible to outside interference. The positive ns happy emotions help in generating some changes in the body that help in counter balancing these effects.
Humor and laughter can help in reducing the levels of stress because of the given reasons:
• Laughter provides with effective cardiac conditioning, especially for people incapable of performing physical activities.
• Laughter helps in reducing the blood pressure and also aids in lowering hypertension.
• It provides flexibility in the muscles, efficient blood circulation in the body and relaxation.
• It strengthens the immune system of the body by increasing the levels of the cells which help in fighting infections, the T-cells. They also raise the levels of disease fighting proteins as well as of B-cells which are the anti bodies that help in destroying diseases.
• Laughter helps in reducing the amount of hormones that cause stress. It lowers the level of a minimum of four neuro endocrine hormones which are associated with stress response.