Calvin Hobbes

Calvin Hobbes
Gene Autry To Appear on New Stamp
WASHINGTON - Palm Springs' own "singing cowboy" Gene Autry will be featured on a new stamp.
For More Calvin Hobbes Info Click On The Blue Links Below

Laughter and Stress, not exactly opposites but definitely not things that would seem to go together either. Besides from being fun, laughter can be a fantastic tool to use to beat stress. It is very hard to feel stressed while you are laughing. I do know the stressed feeling where you try to resist laughing at something funny, try to resist it and just go with the laughter, you will feel better.

Physical Effects

Believe it or not laughter actually has positive physical effects on you. When you are stressed certain hormones are higher in your system, laughter lowers them. Your immune system also receives a boost from a good laugh as well. Not to mention the slight bit of exercise that some of your muscles get.

Mental Effects

Have you ever felt like you were going to laugh or you were going to cry? Well there may be a reason for that, laughter has a similar effect on releasing our emotions as crying. Now take a second and try to think of a time when you were watching someone laugh, it was probably pretty hard for you not to laugh as well. The distraction created by laugher is a great way to get our mind off our problems for a bit.

Reading to laugh

So now that you are aware of the effects of laughter what can you do about it? How can you help yourself with laughter. It may seem simple and obvious, laugh more. Its that easy. We all have a different sense of humor so all of us have different things that will work. Find little places in the day you can use a laugh. If you are a guy (only stereotyping here as my wife explains it to me) get some books of Dilbert or Calvin and Hobbes and leave them in the bathroom for a bit of entertainment.

TV to laugh

Also try to seek out humor when watching TV. I'm not saying you have to stop watching the good drama's but do try to add a few shows to the TIVO. Do a little hunting and experimenting on new shows looking for some great comedies.

Laugh at yourself

Also try to laugh at yourself some. This one may be the best for you as it helps you not to take yourself so seriously. We all have the stupid little things that we do that can be embarrassing but are also funny. For example: I bought a new pair of sneakers, and that night my daughter wanted to go bike riding, so i jogged along beside her. Being a new pair of sneakers, I did not double knot the extra long laces, so i ended up stepping on my own shoelaces, and down I go, fracturing my wrist. No it wasn't very funny at the time, but now it is pretty hilarious.

The short version is find what makes you laugh, and do a lot more of it, do a little every day. It will help you feel better.

Learn more on Laughter and Stress now!

Aaron Drake is the author of the Relaxation Techniques Made Easy website.

Many thanks for reading our Calvin Hobbes article