On the fifth day of kindness, my neuroscientist gave to me....

laughter as the best medicine

I am going to take all the fun out of laughter now, it is no joke how good laughter is!

Short term benefits are these -

Enhances your intake of oxygen rich air so stimulates your heart, lungs, muscles and increases endorphins released by the brain.

Soothes tension by stimulating circulation and aiding muscle relaxation.

Activates, then calms down, your sympathetic nervous system. A good, old laugh fires up and then takes back down your stress response, increasing then decreasing the heart rate. A contented, relaxed feeling follows!

Long term benefits are these -

Positive thoughts that are connected with laughter release neuropeptides that help to strengthen your immune system.

Laughter helps with social relationships and makes stressful situations easier to deal with - it is a natural coping strategy.

Laughter released natural pain killers into your body.

It helps DHEA be released from your adrenal glands, DHEA is a life elixir, it is anti-aging, anti-stressful and helps to keep us renewed and repaired.

If you have lost your sense of humour in the past few years - and it is really has not been funny the amount of stress we have all been under - you can relearn how to have one.

Create a haven for humour. Get funny pictures, funny cards, jokes, anything that will make you laugh, and put them all around you.

Find some friends who can both laugh at you and laugh with you. Laughter is contagious. Try it.

It really does not matter how you get it. Just get all the laughter you can.

Who needs to laugh in your life? Share this post with two other people. Their stress levels needs your kindness!

“The human race has only one really effective weapon and that is laughter.”