As a child, do your remember falling down and getting hurt? While bandaging your wound, you mother most likely told you to smile and then the pain would go away. Over the years, scientific research has proved repeatedly that laughter does have therapeutic benefits.

The average toddler laughs almost three hundred times a day while an adult manages only around seventeen laughs daily. Why is there such a big difference? Are adults too tense, too serious about life? Does a person laugh less as he grows older or is he growing older as a result of laughing less? Here are some of the provenbenefits of laughter.

Boosts Your Immune System

When you are stressed out, your body experiences an increase in the amount of 'stress hormones' like cortisol, adrenalin, epinephrine, and dopamine. These hormones tend to increase your blood pressure so thatyour body can cope with the increased demands placed on it. This causes your heart to pump faster and keep up the increased blood flow.

On the other hand, when you laugh, it triggers a release of endorphins from your body. These are the hormones associated with reducing pain and making your body 'feel good'. When you laugh, your blood pressure drops. This allows more oxygen and nutrients to be made available to your body, especially in the brain. Laughter also increases the number of antibodies in our body. This makes it easier for your body to fight against germs and ensures that you do not fall ill on a regular basis.

Gives Your Body a Workout

Laughter involves using muscles in different parts of the body like the face, abdomen, respiratory system, etc. A good belly laugh causes the muscles in the diaphragm to contract. This strengthens the muscles holding the abdominal organs in their respective places. The contractions of the diaphragm also massage the abdominal organs themselves, which improves their functioning. Your digestive system becomes more efficient and your intestine is better able to absorb the nutrients from food. The calories you burn by laughing hundred times are equal to the same amount you would lose if you spent fifteen minutes riding a bicycle.

Improves Mental Health

Each time you laugh, you stimulate both sides of your brain. This eases the psychological stress on the brain. This in turn makes your brain more alert and enhances your learning capabilities. This is why you find it easier to concentrate on your work when you are in a good mood as compared to the effort you would have to put in if you were feeling stressed.Laughter relieves the tension you are experiences and puts you in a relaxed frame of mind. You will feel ready to face the day.

Laughter can also trigger a change in your perspective towards a potential threat. When you look at a serious situation with a sense of humour, you will often find that the situation then appears less grim. This makes it easier for you to approach the problem and gives you a positive outlook on life itself. In a sense,laughter makes you lose some of your inhibitions.

Benefits You Socially

Laughter is a great way to relieve tension. When you laugh at yourself, you prevent others from making fun of you for the same reason. This means you will not experience humiliation or feel as if you have been hurt. In addition, you avoid any possible confrontations that might have arisen from a potentially nasty situation. This is especially useful in a team scenario, where you have to interact with different people.

Laughter also increases social interaction. When you laugh, you motivate other people around you to laugh as well. This improves the general well being of members in an entire community. Seeing a person smile creates what is called a 'halo effect'. This means you remember happy events in your own life, which in turn makes you feel motivated and optimistic.

Laughter is contagious. It does not cost anything to laugh, yet the benefits are immense. It is true that when you laugh, the whole world laughs with you. So go ahead and keep laughing.