Belly Laugh Day
And now for a public service announcement. We’ll start with a question: when was the last time you had a true belly laugh? One of those deep laughs that was so out of control that your sides ached, and the tears streamed down your face. Take a minute and think about it.
Because those laughs actually add years to your life. There is actually lots of research to confirm the beneficial effects of laughter. But we’ll just give you a brief run-down from no less an authority than the Mayo Clinic. To summarize, laughter stimulates the good things like heart and lungs, increases oxygen intake and increases endorphins. After all that stimulation, a belly laugh then calms you down and releases tension. These are just short-term effects. In the long term, according to the folks at Mayo, laughter can improve your immune system, relieve pain, increase your sense of satisfaction in life, and incidentally, attract other people to you, which relieves isolation and loneliness.
And, as everyone knows, there is nothing more infectious than laughter.