Laughter!!
Did you read my blog post from yesterday? If not, please read that first as this the continuation, the “rest of the story” from yesterday.
So, Norman Cousins was bedridden, having lost the use of his limbs, and his jaw had nearly locked shut…
He decided to check himself out of the hospital and into a hotel across the street… and started watching funny movies, continuously. (It should be noted that he was also taking very high doses of Vitamin C).
What happened next was nothing short of a miracle. Cousins claimed that 10 minutes of belly laughter would give him 2 hours of pain free sleep, nothing that any of the drugs he had been on could do. Yep, watchingThe Three Stooges, Candid Camera, Laurel & Hardy,andThe Marx Brothers was starting to heal Cousins. Cousins is credited as saying, “Laughter is inner jogging.” He was literally healing from the inside out.
Within a few months, he was regaining movement and strength in his limbs, and within 2 years of his diagnosis he returned to his work as editor of the Saturday Review.
Cousins wrote about his crippling disease and his body’s ability to heal it in his 1979 book,The Anatomy Of An Illness.
Have you ever had a really hard laughing session that left your stomach sore the next day? Yes! Laughing actually works those abs out!
Now, how did laughing actually cure Norman Cousins?
Laughter activates the immune system…
It lowers stress hormones (cortisol and adrenaline)
Improves mood
Enhances creativity
Lowers blood pressure
Boosts disease killing cells in the body
Boosts oxygen flowing to the brain
Cells that “hunt” tumors, known as Gamma-interferon and T-cells, are increased through laughter!
Increases the amount of endorphins in the body, therefore, it is known as a natural painkiller
And, laughing at ourselves is actually a way that we love ourselves...
Here’s to love, laughter, and healing today!
#healwithdrugs #healnaturally #normancousins #laughteristhebestmedicine #curateforlife #liveto100 #healthyself
