幽默和欢笑声对健康的作用

幽默是有感染力的。大声欢笑与咳嗽、抽泣和打喷嚏一样，都是会传染的。当大家在一起欢笑的时候，笑声就把大家拢在一起，使大家感到更加亲密，也增加了快乐。除了因为笑声所带来欢乐和娱乐的连锁反应以外，笑声还让人们的身体迈向健康。幽默和笑声可以增强人体免疫系统的功能、提高体内的能量、消除病痛、解除由于精神压力对人体所造成的各种坏结果。最重要的是，这个无价之宝不仅是有趣、容易做到，而且是免费的。

欢笑是人们身心健康的强有力之“良药”

“人们每一天对幽默的喜爱程度是一个强有力的手段来决定人们每天的情绪和心情，然而人们的情绪和心情又是人们健康的支柱。”- 保罗·伊·麦克基博士

欢笑是对精神压力、疼痛和痛苦挣扎心情的一种有效的缓解剂。没有任何一种药物或者方法比欢笑可以更快地让人们的身心恢复到平衡的状态。幽默减轻了人们的思想包袱、让人们相互之间建立了联系、稳定了人们的心情、也让人们集中精力，而且提高了警觉性。

罗列了上面那么些医治和挑旺人心的功能，很容易就能看到欢笑具有最方便和最常用来克服困难、提高人际关系、增强身体健康和保持心情稳定的能力。

欢笑对人们的身体健康有好处:

• 欢笑使全身放松。在一次大声的欢笑之后，身体上的紧张部位就会的到放松，而且身体的肌肉也有可能放松达四十五分钟之久。

• 欢笑提高人体免疫系统的功能。欢笑可以减低由于压力所产生的激素，然而又增加免疫细胞的数量，还会增加对炎症的抗体，从而增加了人们对疾病的抵抗力。

• 欢笑还会使身体释放出一种称为“内啡肽”的物质，这就是人体内部分泌的一种让人们有良好感觉的化学物质。内啡肽能使人们有一个整体感觉良好的感觉，也可以给人有一段镇痛效果。

• 欢笑对心脏有好处。欢笑可以提升血管的功能，并能增进血液循环。这样就可以帮助人们对抗心脏病的发作 ，也能对抗其他一些心血管的疾病。

欢笑和幽默使人们保持身心健康

欢笑让人们有很好的感觉。那种由欢笑所带来的好感觉不仅在笑的时候存在，而且在欢笑之后还会在人们的身上继续保留。幽默使人们即使在困难的时候、失望的时候、甚至失败和丧失的时候，也有一个积极和乐观的态度和心情。

幽默和欢笑不是仅仅把悲伤和疼痛掩盖起来，欢笑给予人们一种鼓励和力量，从而可以有力量来寻找新的成功的意义和希望。甚至在极其困难的时候，一个笑声 - 或者一个简单的微笑 - 也对人们开始有个好一些的感觉有重要的作用。笑声真的是有感染力的 - 仅仅因为是听到了笑声就能使你脑子青春焕发，也让人们做好了进入微笑和欢乐的准备。

欢笑与心灵健康的连系

• 欢笑能够消除苦恼的心情。当人们欢笑的时候，就不可能同时也感到焦急、愤怒和悲伤。

• 欢笑使人们放松并且从新振作精神。欢笑可以减轻心理压力，使人们精神抖擞，集中精神，从而能够作出更多的贡献。

• 幽默可以改变对事物的看法。可以让人们对事物有更清晰的了解，而不是只看到负的一方面。 一个幽默的态度将会从心理上把挫折的感觉置之度外。

欢笑是天赋的，是人们生活中很自然的一部分，也是每一个人天生固有的。出生不到一周的婴孩就会微笑，几个月以后就会大声欢笑。哪怕一个人出生的环境里并没有欢笑声，任何人都可以在生活中的任何时候学习欢笑。

可以先拿出一段时间来找出一些幽默和笑话的内容，从中你设计了你的幽默和笑话，从此就可以建立你自己的一套幽默。最后，你就会把幽默贯穿在你的生活中每一个细节，灵活应用在你工作中的每一个环节上。

• 制造欢笑的机会

• 看喜剧电影和电视

• 加入喜剧俱乐部

• 看报纸上的幽默专栏

• 与喜欢说笑话的人为友

• 与人分享那些有意义的笑话和有趣的故事

• 到书店的幽默书柜去看看

• 请朋友们来玩游戏

• 与宠物玩耍

• 参加“欢笑瑜伽”班

• 逗小孩子玩

• 干一些淘气的事

• 找时间来搞一些有趣的活动（比如：打保龄球、打小型高尔夫球、唱卡拉OK等等）

建立你自己的幽默感：不要总是那么严肃

让我们成为欢笑的人们的一个必要因素就是不要太严肃。我们都知道，对于人们一贯说的那种一直是拉着一个马脸，万事都是不如意的样子，对每一件事就像家里死了人一样严肃，任何时候脸上都没都没笑容的人，那是绝对没有是什么乐趣可谈了。

当然，生活中有的事情显然是很悲伤的，不是一个应该欢笑的场合。但是生活中的绝大部分事情，既不是绝对悲伤也不是必须兴高采烈的；常常是在模棱两可的情况之下，这就由你来选择是否要欢笑。

• 让你容易看到生活中欢笑的一面

• 自嘲一番：把你自己尴尬和为难的情景与大家分享。把你自己从很严肃的场面上解除出来的一个方法就是描述一下自己那个特严肃的场面。

• 遇到不如意的事，不要悲叹而要一笑置之。在困难的境况下，即使是被讽刺或者遇上生活中那些荒谬事情，也要有幽默感。这样的话，就能提高你的情绪，而且能感染你周围的人。

• 把你沉浸在欢笑之中。在你的桌子上和你的汽车里各放一个玩具；在你的办公室里，贴上一张滑稽的画片；选一个让你欢笑的图片用来作你电脑的屏幕保护；把你和你家人或者朋友一起欢笑的照片放在镜框里挂起来。

• 对事情有一个正确的看法。在生活中，很多事情都不是由我们来控制的 - 比如你周围人们的行为就不是受你控制的。如果你想担负起全世界所有事情的责任，那就会人们的尊敬，但是这是不符合实际的，也是没有效用的，甚至是不健康的和自私自利的。

• 正确对待来自各方的压力。压力绝对阻碍了人们的 幽默和欢笑。

• 注意观察小孩，还有模仿他们。孩子们才是真正的玩家，他们对生活没有负担，而且从心里发出笑声。

来源：

http://www.helpguide.org/life/humor_laughter_health.htm

讨论问题：

1. 你上一次大声欢笑是在什么时候？是为什么笑的呢？

2. 从这一篇文章里，你学到了哪些有关“笑”的内容是你以前不知道的？

3. 回家作业：准备一个笑话，在下一堂课里与大家分享。

The Health Benefits of Humor and Laughter

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. In addition to the domino effect of joy and amusement, 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.

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, 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 resource for surmounting problems, enhancing your relationships, and supporting both physical and emotional health.

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 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 on the fun.

The link 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.

Laughter is your birthright, a natural part of life that is innate and inborn. Infants begin smiling during the first weeks of life and laugh out loud within months of being born. Even if you did not grow up in a household where laughter was a common sound, you can learn to laugh at any stage of life.

Begin by setting aside special times to seek out humor and laughter, as you might with working out, and build from there. Eventually, you’ll want to incorporate humor and laughter into the fabric of your life, finding it naturally in everything you do.

Creating opportunities to laugh

• Watch a funny movie or TV show.

• Go to a comedy club.

• Read the funny pages.

• 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 around with children.

• Do something silly.

• Make time for fun activities (e.g. bowling, miniature golfing, karaoke).

Developing your sense of humor: Take yourself less seriously

One essential characteristic that helps us laugh is not taking ourselves too seriously. We’ve all known the classic tight-jawed sourpuss who takes everything with deathly seriousness and never laughs at anything. No fun there!

Some events are clearly sad and not occasions for laughter. But most events in life don’t carry an overwhelming sense of either sadness or delight. They fall into the gray zone of ordinary life–giving you the choice to laugh or not.

Ways to help yourself see the lighter side of life:

• Laugh at yourself. Share your embarrassing moments. The best way to take ourselves less seriously is talk about times when we took ourselves too seriously.

• Attempt to laugh at situations rather than bemoan them. Look for the humor in a bad situation, the irony and absurdity of life. This will help improve your mood and the mood of those around you.

• Surround yourself with reminders to lighten up. Keep a toy on your desk or in your car. Put up a funny poster in your office. Choose a computer screensaver that makes you laugh. Frame photos of you and your family or friends having fun.

• Keep things in perspective. Many things in life are beyond our control — particularly the behavior of other people. While you might think taking the weight of the world on your shoulders is admirable, in the long run it’s unrealistic, unproductive, unhealthy, and even egotistical.

• Deal with your stress. Stress is a major impediment to humor and laughter.

• Pay attention to children and emulate them. They are the experts on playing, taking life lightly, and laughing.

Source: http://www.helpguide.org/life/humor_laughter_health.htm

Discussion Questions:

1. When was the last time you had a good laugh? What were you laughing about?

2. What new information about laughter did you learn from this article that you did not know before?

3. For the next class, please prepare to tell a funny story or joke.