The Health Benefits of Laughter

The Health Benefits of Laughter Happiness Print The Health Benefits of Laughter By Elizabeth Scott, MS twitter Elizabeth Scott, MS, is a wellness coach specializing in stress management and quality of life, and the author of 8 Keys to Stress Management. Learn about our editorial policy Elizabeth Scott, MS Medically reviewed by Medically reviewed by Steven Gans, MD on April 20, 2017 Steven Gans, MD is board-certified in psychiatry and is an active supervisor, teacher, and mentor at Massachusetts General Hospital. Learn about our Medical Review Board Steven Gans, MD Updated on January 07, 2020 Thomas Barwick/Iconica/Getty Images More in Self-Improvement Happiness Meditation Stress Management Spirituality Holistic Health Inspiration Brain Health Technology Relationships View All Research has shown that the health benefits of laughter are far-ranging. Studies so far have shown that laughter can help relieve pain, bring greater happiness, and even increase immunity. Positive psychology names the propensity for laughter and sense of humor as one of the 24 main signature strengths one can possess. Unfortunately, however, many people dont get enough laughter in their lives. In fact, one study suggests that healthy children may laugh as much as 400 times per day, but adults tend to laugh only 15 times per day. Other studies find us laughing a little more than that, but if you ask me, virtually all of us could use a little more laughter in our lives, considering how beneficial a good laugh can actually be for our stress levels and overall wellness.   Stress Management Benefits of Laughter Hormones: Laughter reduces the level of stress hormones like cortisol, epinephrine (adrenaline), dopamine, and growth hormone. It also increases the level of health-enhancing hormones, like endorphins. Laughter increases the number of antibody-producing cells we have working for us and enhances the effectiveness of T cells. All this means a stronger immune system, as well as fewer physical effects of stress.Physical release: Have you ever felt like you have to laugh or youll cry? Have you experienced that cleansed feeling after a good laugh? Laughter provides a physical and emotional release.Internal workout: A good belly laugh exercises the diaphragm, contracts the abs, and even works out the shoulders, leaving muscles more relaxed afterward. It even provides a good workout for the heart.Distraction: Laughter brings the focus away from anger, guilt, stress, and negative emotions in a more beneficial way than other mere distractions.Perspective: Studies show that our response to stressful events can be altered by whether we view something as a threat or a challenge. Humor can give us a more lighthearted perspective and help us view events as challenges, thereby making them less threatening and more positive.Social benefits: Laughter connects us with others. Just as with smiling and kindness, most people find that laughter is contagious. So, if you bring more laughter into your life, you can most likely help others around you to laugh more and realize these benefits as well. By elevating the mood of those around you, you can reduce their stress levels and perhaps improve the quality of social interaction you experience with them, reducing your stress level even more! Using Laughter as a Coping Mechanism How to Use Laughter Laughter is one of my all-time favorite stress management strategies because its free, convenient, and beneficial in so many ways. You can get more laughter in your life with the following strategies: Laugh with friends: Going to a movie or a comedy club with friends is a great way to get more laughter in your life. The contagious effects of laughter may mean youll laugh more than you otherwise would have during the show, plus youll have jokes to reference at later times. Having friends over for a party or game night is also a great setup for laughter and other good feelings. Making time for this kind of fun is as important as any other habit you keep in your life to support your health, and its very possibly more enjoyable than most health habits as well.Find humor in your life: Instead of complaining about lifes frustrations, try to laugh about them. If something is so frustrating or depressing its ridiculous, realize that you could look back on it and laugh. Think of how it will sound like a story you could tell your friends, and then see if you can laugh about it now. With this attitude, you may also find yourself being more lighthearted and silly, giving yourself and those around you more to laugh about. Approach life in a more mirthful way and youll find youre less stressed about negative events.Fake it until you make it: Just as studies show the positive effects of smiling occur whether the smile is fake or real, faked laughter also provides the benefits mentioned above. The body cant distinguish between fake laughter that you just start doing on purpose and real laughter that comes from true humor. The physical benefits are exactly the same, and the former usually leads to the latter anyway. So smile more, and fake laughter; youll still achieve positive effects, and the fake merriment may lead to real smiles and laughter.Media:  Theres no shortage of laughter opportunities from  entertainment, both at the theater as well as at home with streaming movies and T.V. comedies. While wasting your time watching something marginally funny may actually frustrate you, watching truly hilarious movies and shows is an easy way to get laughter into your life wh enever you need it. You may want to share your recommendations with friends and youll have something to reference and laugh about together. Having Fun Is the Best Stress Relief

Definition and Examples of Parison

Parison is a  rhetorical term for corresponding structure in a series of phrases,  clauses,  or sentences—adjective to adjective, noun to noun, and so on.  Adjective: parisonic. Also known as  parisosis, membrum, and compar. In grammatical terms, parison is a type of parallel or correlative structure. In  Directions for Speech and Style  (circa 1599), Elizabethan  poet John Hoskins described parison as an even gait of sentences answering each other in measures interchangeably. He cautioned that although it is a smooth and memorable style for utterance, . . . in penning [writing]  it must be used moderately and modestly. Etymology: From the Greek. evenly balanced Pronunciation: PAR-uh-son Examples and Observations The closer you get, the better you look.(advertising slogan for Nice n Easy Shampoo)The louder he talked of his honor, the faster we counted our spoons.(Ralph Waldo Emerson, Worship)Everything you want, nothing you dont.(a slogan for Nissan automobiles)The milk chocolate melts in your mouth—not in your hand.(advertising slogan for MMs candy)Promise her anything, but give her Arpege.(advertising slogan for Arpege perfume, 1940s)Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival and the success of liberty.(President John Kennedy, Inaugural Address, January  1961)A day without orange juice is like a day without sunshine.(slogan of the Florida Citrus Commission)I have lovd, and got, and told,But should I love, get, tell, till I were old,I should not find that hidden mystery.(John Donne, Loves Alchemy)He that is to be saved will be saved, and he that i s predestined to be damned will be damned.(James Fenimore Cooper, The Last of the Mohicans, 1826)Oh, cursed be the hand that made these holes;Cursed the heart that had the heart to do it;Cursed the blood that lets this blood from hence.(Lady Annes curse in Act I, scene 2 of William Shakespeares  King Richard III)An Instrument of DelightBased as it is on identity of sound, parison is usually classified with figures of similitude and sometimes associated with methods of amplification, techniques for expanding and comparing. . . . Parison is, of course, an instrument of delight, causing, in [Henry] Peachams words, delectation by the vertue of proportion and number. At the same time, however, it serves a heuristic function, enlarging and dividing a topic for purposes of analysis, comparison, and discrimination. By arranging ideas into parallel forms, whether phrases or clauses, the prose writer calls the readers attention to an especially significant idea; at the same time, however, s uch an arrangement focuses the readers mind on the semantic similarities, differences, or oppositions exposed in parallel structures. . . .Parison—along with its rhetorical cognates—is one of the cornerstones of early-modern English writing.(Russ McDonald, Compar or Parison: Measure for Measure.Renaissance Figures of Speech, ed. by Sylvia Adamson, Gavin Alexander, and Katrin Ettenhuber. Cambridge University  Press, 2007)Correlative StatementsHere we have a type of notional structure which involves proportionality. It is seen in such statements as the following:  The bigger they are the harder they fall, The harder they work the sooner they go home. And perhaps even in the well-known adage, As Maine goes, so goes the nation, although the latter example is different in some ways from the former two. Each of these examples  implies a set of conditional sentences, thus: The bigger they are the harder they fall could be broken into a set of sentences, If they are smal l they dont fall very hard; If they are medium-sized they fall rather hard; If they are big, they fall very hard, where small, medium-sized, and big are matched with not very hard, rather hard, and very hard respectively.(Robert E. Longacre, The Grammar of Discourse, 2nd ed. Springer, 1996)

Reflection on Healthcare Technologies Essay - 698 Words

Week 4 Reflection Helen Einer NURS-6015 Information and Healthcare Technologies Applied to Nursing Practice Walden University July 24, 2010 Week 4 Reflection The ongoing development of computer technology and telecommunications has provided the healthcare industry with continuous opportunities to enhance communication, provide education, improve patient safety, and create new IT jobs within the industry. By 2014, the American health care industry will look toward full adoption of electronic health records (Hood, 2010, p. 386). The resources and information along with discussions with fellow classmates during the first half of this course has greatly improved my understanding of the numerous aspects of medical and nursing†¦show more content†¦Even though the healthcare system where I work implemented CPOE in 2007, the weekly resources have made me further understand the importance of CPOE and the role it plays in ensuring patient safety. CPOE is software that permits physicians to enter their hospital or outpatient orders directly into a computer system (Reider, 2003). The introduction of CPOE at our facility was met with some res istance due to the lack of involving the physicians in the early stages of the project planning. Our facility has been working diligently to try and make the system easier to use and less time consuming. This course has made me realize that CPOE, although difficult to implement, is capable of saving time, money and ensuring patient safety. The concept of telehealth is an area that I was unfamiliar with prior to enrolling in this course. Once again, the resources along with discussions regarding telehealth provided me with better insight into another area of healthcare that has limitless opportunities for nursing informatics. The idea of reducing costs, increasing choices and having more services available to keep people home longer is ideal especially with our aging population and of great interest to me. Through researching articles and reviewing the material for this course, I found many positive outcomes that telehealth can provide for everyone involved. Patients who live in remote areas could receive care with the use of videoconferencing and monitors. Some otherShow MoreRelatedTechnology Affects Our Lives And The World981 Words   |  4 PagesTechnology continues to influence our lives and the world. Hence as technology continues to advance so will the healthcare industry. Technology has become the center of our lives. Thus we are incessantly hooked to our cell phones, the internet, and all things technology related. Technology deviates the way humans function and interconnect with each other. 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Conservation of Electricity Free Essays

Electricity is the flow of electrical power or charge. It is a secondary energy source, which means that we get it from the conversion of other sources of energy, like coal, natural gas, oil, nuclear power and other natural sources. The energy sources we use to make electricity can be renewable or non-renewable. We will write a custom essay sample on Conservation of Electricity or any similar topic only for you Order Now Despite, its great importance in our daily lives, most of us rarely stop to think what life would be like if suddenly our world was without electricity! I shudder at the thought. All machines would stop; cities and towns would be into total darkness and panic. The end result would be destructive. Yet, like air and water we tend to take electricity for granted. Our daily lives are completely dominated by electricity, from lighting and cooling our homes to powering our televisions, computers, washers and stoves. Electricity is a controllable and convenient form of energy used in the application of heat, light and power. As responsible home owners and consumers, we should take the initiative to conserve energy. We need to be aware of our options and make our homes energy efficient. There are lots of household appliances with the logo â€Å"Energy Star†, these products can help reduce high energy bills and protect the environment from global warming. We also need to enforce several basic energy saving rules in our homes. Firstly, turn off lights and televisions whenever you leave a room, switch from higher wattage standard light bulbs to lower wattage compact fluorescents light, shut down computers after use because ‘stand by’ mode still uses electricity. Also unplug any battery and cell phone chargers once the units are fully charge. Solar energy is another alternative source of energy. It allows you to produce your own electricity with no noise, no air pollution or moving parts while using a clean renewable resource. So lets make promise that we will conserve electricity. How to cite Conservation of Electricity, Papers

Why Indie Music Is Better free essay sample

Why Indie Music Is Better Most people do not know about indie music. Independent music, in my opinion, is the form of all music with out the persuasion of the general public, as well as the persuasion of the immense gain of wealth that we see today by current mainstream artists. These independent artists have an unexpurgated, pure of form music with out the control of demanding labels and corporate companies. Independent music is superior to mainstream garble because you can appreciate the music for exactly what it is, and not have some preconception of the music just because it’s popular, or enjoy it because the â€Å"artist† puts on a â€Å"good show†. Indie artist are superior compared to mainstream artists because they are not owned by corrupt labels and corporate companies, and have not been created in order to please the general public. Today’s indie artists can range from post-punk garage rock, to new wave lo-fi, but they all have something in common. We will write a custom essay sample on Why Indie Music Is Better or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page All these independent artists stay true to their artistic integrity. They are able to do this because their creative talent is not constrained by the large labels. Compared to the most of the current mainstream, they have not been conjured up by a corporate company in order to seduce the general public into enjoying their music by using depraved tactics in pursuance of pleasing the mind and senses of the easily manipulated. Certain widely accepted artists tend to lack originality. This is because they eradicate their off beat artistic ideas, in order to make their music more digestible for the masses. This causes their music to be muddled with pointless simplistic beats that most people enjoy. Therefore, compared to the current mainstream, Independent artists do not break down their creative ideas and boil them down into nothing so that a large majority of people will accept it. These preordained mainstream artists are popular because of their artfully constructed image. People see this image that has been artificially fabricated, and like what they see. Money, fame, good looks; these are all ideals that the artists exhibit. If you look at â€Å"musicians† like One Direction or Katy Perry, you can see they have a few things in common. Both of them basically depict the same image, and put on shows that consist of highly sensory imagery that stimulates the brain. This is created so that people are convinced that they are having a good time, as well as enjoying the music. So, with the general youth tends to be manipulated by the flashy concerts and start to neglect the actual musical talent of the artists. Independent music is not widely advertised; therefore people don’t have a preconceived idea about the artist or their music. They do not have flashy concerts; they just show their true talent through their music. When you break down the music to its core, and analyze it, only then will you truly be able to create proper opinion about the musical clarity and ingenuity of the music. Indie music is unbridled, and is free from preconceived opinions. Mainstream music, on the other hand, is. Labels and corporate companies force the mainstream artists to fake an image, and dumb down their musical ideas. They do not stay true to their artistic ideas; therefore their music becomes very simplistic and easily digestible by the masses. Because independent artists are not selling out to corporate companies, they are free to explore new forms of their music, and can accurately portray their music the way they intend it to sound like. Therefore, because not many know about independent music, its individuality and uniqueness is preserved.

Essay on ethics in early childhood research

Essay on ethics in early childhood research Essay on ethics in early childhood research Reflection Ethical issues arise in all aspects of research, and are particularly noticeable when studying vulnerable members of society such as children within the early years sector. Appendix one includes an action plan of points of ethics I will have to take action on when completing my future research. I have also identified and recognized different ways to overcome different areas of ethicality I may find difficult when completing my research. Appendix two includes the presentation we completed as a group. The focus of the presentation (appendix 2) we completed was to focus of the ethical issues that may arise in the scenario; role of outdoor play in a nursery, however although we completed this presentation we did not achieve the expected outcome. Working together as group during this presentation proved to be more challenging than expected, and this may be the reason as to why we did not complete the presentation as expected. It was challenging because as Burns et al (2008) identify some of the group member’s did not contribute and always the same people spoke within the group. To overcome this in future group work presentations all group members should contribute and to do this would mean assigning each group member with a different area to concentrate on. Another aspect of the presentation that could have been improved on was to add different formats of presentation styles for example using videos and more pictures within the presentation. This was something that was said in the peer feedback; â€Å"the presentation needed more visual things such as picture’s and videos†. One of the points that we did not mention within the presentation was receiving consent prior to beginning the study. Gaining consent is also a point mentioned within the action plan (appendix 1). Although children should be viewed as capable beings, with their own voice, which they should express, by law they are not legally competent to consent to participate in research. Despite this the medical research council (2004) state ‘where children and young people have sufficient understanding and intelligence to understand what is proposed, it is their consent and not that of their parent/guardian that is required by law’ (MRC 2004:22-23) and in relation to Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC, 1989) which state’s that children have a right to express their views on matters that have an affect on them. Therefore Children should be given the opportunity to provide assent to participate, meaning that they have a choice whether or not they want to participate in the research. With older children that have an understanding I will explain to them what I will be doing and why I am doing the research, I will be talking to the children one to one as oppose to as a group as some children may be led by other children’s views and may give consent because they friend did too. Gaining consent off younger children may be proven more difficult as I can not explain to them what I am going to do and receive verbal consent of them however I can use the Mosaic approach to listen to the child’s voice and it allows me to respect the child’s view in an empowering way (Clark and Moss, 2001). The mosaic approach allows me collate material by using different methods such as observations, listening and communicating with the children, to consider their views and identify whether they are giving assent to participation. Also with younger children the Leuven scale (1997, 1998, 1999, 2000) cited in Palaiolog ou (2012) can be used to focus on how engaged a child is within an activity using a scale of 1-5; 1 being unengaged and 5 being fully engaged. Consequently if a child is not showing any engagement within the activity then they are showing dissent and should not be used as part of research. The Leuven scale is also effective with young babies, so when I am doing my research this will be the main method I use when wanted to

6 Steps of the Scientific Method

6 Steps of the Scientific Method The scientific method is a systematic way of learning about the world around us and answering questions. The key difference between the scientific method and other ways of acquiring knowledge are forming a hypothesis and then testing it with an experiment. The Six Steps The number of steps can vary from one description to another (which mainly happens when data and analysis are separated into separate steps), however, this is a fairly standard list of the six  scientific method steps that you are expected to know for any science class: Purpose/QuestionAsk a question.ResearchConduct background research. Write down your sources so you can cite your references. In the modern era, a lot of your research may be conducted online. Scroll to the bottom of articles to check the references. Even if you cant access the full text of a published article, you can usually view the abstract to see the summary of other experiments. Interview experts on a topic. The more you know about a subject, the easier it will be to conduct your investigation.HypothesisPropose a hypothesis. This is a sort of educated guess about what you expect. It is a statement used to predict the outcome of an experiment. Usually, a hypothesis is written in terms of cause and effect. Alternatively, it may describe the relationship between two phenomena. One type of hypothesis is the null hypothesis or the no-difference hypothesis. This is an easy type of hypothesis to test because it assumes changing a variable will have no effect on the outcome. In reality, you probably expect a change but rejecting a hypothesis may be more useful than accepting one. ExperimentDesign and perform an experiment to test your hypothesis. An experiment has an independent and dependent variable. You change or control the independent variable and record the effect it has on the dependent variable. Its important to change only one variable for an experiment rather than try to combine the effects of variables in an experiment. For example, if you want to test the effects of light intensity and fertilizer concentration on the growth rate of a plant, youre really looking at two separate experiments.Data/AnalysisRecord observations and analyze the meaning of the data. Often, youll prepare a table or graph of the data. Dont throw out data points you think are bad or that dont support your predictions. Some of the most incredible discoveries in science were made because the data looked wrong! Once you have the data, you may need to perform a mathematical analysis to support or refute your hypothesis.ConclusionConclude whether to accept or reject your hypothesi s. There is no right or wrong outcome to an experiment, so either result is fine. Note accepting a hypothesis does not necessarily mean its correct! Sometimes repeating an experiment may give a different result. In other cases, a hypothesis may predict an outcome, yet you might draw an incorrect conclusion. Communicate your results. The results may be compiled into a lab report or formally submitted as a paper. Whether you accept or reject the hypothesis, you likely learned something about the subject and may wish to revise the original hypothesis or form a new one for a future experiment. When Are There Seven Steps? Sometimes the scientific method is taught with seven steps instead of six. In this model, the first step of the scientific method is to make observations. Really, even if you dont make observations formally, you think about prior experiences with a subject in order to ask a question or solve a problem. Formal observations are a type of brainstorming that can help you find an idea and form a hypothesis. Observe your subject and record everything about it. Include colors, timing, sounds, temperatures, changes, behavior, and anything that strikes you as interesting or significant. Variables When you design an experiment, you are controlling and measuring variables. There are three types of variables: Controlled Variables:  You can have as many  controlled variables  as you like. These are parts of the experiment that you try to keep constant throughout an experiment so that they wont interfere with your test. Writing down controlled variables is a good idea because it helps make your experiment  reproducible, which is important in science! If you have trouble duplicating results from one experiment to another, there may be a controlled variable that you missed.Independent Variable:  This is the variable you control.Dependent Variable:  This is the variable you measure. It is called the  dependent variable  because it  depends  on the independent variable.