What Science Says About the Healing Power of Laughter -- and How The Sedona Method Provides a Shortcut to Those Benefits

Sedona, AZ (PRWEB) April 14, 2008 -- There is an easy, fun and free way to help improve health and well-being, according to Hale Dwoskin, one of the featured self-growth teachers in the mega-blockbuster book and film The Secret, and the CEO of Sedona Training Associates. And that way is laughing.

Laughing does not just feel good, it prompts real, positive changes in the body. Laughing stretches muscles, raises the pulse and blood pressure slightly, and causes the breathing rate to go up (which helps oxygen to reach the body's tissues).

"The reason that laughter is so healing is it is one of nature's natural relief valves. It's one of the natural ways that we release or let go," says Hale.

In fact, some experts have even compared the benefits of laughing to those of exercise!

One study by researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore found that laughing impacts how well the blood vessels are able to expand (the better they expand, the lower the chances of heart attack and stroke). After volunteers watched a funny movie, blood flow significantly increased (by 22 percent) in 19 of the 20 volunteers.

The benefits were so significant that the researchers said laughing improved volunteers' blood flow the equivalent of what would be seen after a 15- or 30-minute workout!

There are other ways laughter helps the body, too.

According to a study presented at the American Heart Association's 73rd Scientific Session in New Orleans, people with heart disease were 40 percent less likely to laugh in a variety of situations compared to people without heart disease.

Laughter also prompts the body to release the feel-good chemicals known as endorphins. Endorphins are the body's natural painkillers, and they also contribute to a sense of well-being. It is thought that endorphins are responsible for the positive feelings people get after exercising (a "runner's high") and orgasm -- and they may actually counteract the negative effects of stress.

A good laugh also increases the body's level of human growth hormone, which may help to slow the aging process.

For anyone who needs a laugh right now to improve well-being, here's a joke:

A couple had been married for 25 years and was celebrating the husband's 60th birthday. During the party, a fairy appeared and said that because they had been such a loving couple all those years, she would give them one wish each.

The wife said, "We've been so poor all these years, and I've never gotten to see the world. I wish we could travel all over the world." The fairy waved her wand and POOF! -- she had the tickets in her hand.

Next, it was the husband's turn. He paused for a moment, and then said, "Well, I'd like to be married to a woman 30 years younger than me."

The fairy waved her wand and POOF! He was 90.

Interestingly, laughter is so powerful that just thinking about it can increase the body's levels of endorphins and human growth hormone. According to research by Lee S. Berk of Loma Linda University in a paper presented at an American Physiological Society session at Experimental Biology 2006, beta-endorphins were 27 percent higher -- and human growth hormone 87 percent higher -- among people who were expecting to watch a funny movie.

Ideally, everyone should laugh -- often. Yet, experts estimate that while children laugh up to 100 times a day, adults laugh just five or six times a day if they're lucky.

So while it is highly recommended that people add more laughter to their life, obviously they can't realistically go around laughing ALL the time.

But people CAN get the benefits of doing so as often as they like.

"Genuine laughter produces the same effects as using The Sedona Method," Dwoskin says. "You find that you breath more deeply, your body relaxes, your circulation gets better and your attitude, point of view, state of mind and feeling states all improve dramatically."

The good thing about The Sedona Method is that, unlike with laughter, people can use it anywhere, anytime, and get instantaneous relief. They can also use The Method during times they don't feel like laughing, because it works regardless of whether people are smiling or crying.

Right now everyone can get the free Insiders Guide to The Sedona Method email course sampler (http://www.sedona.com/power-of-laughter.aspx) by inputting just their name and email in the sidebar on the right of the article at http://www.sedona.com/power-of-laughter.aspx.

For more insights on the topic of releasing, Hale Dwoskin, New York Times Best-Selling author of The Sedona Method, featured expert in the film and New York Times bestseller "The Secret," and CEO and Director of Training of Sedona Training Associates, is available for interviews. Sedona Training Associates is an organization that teaches courses based on the emotional releasing techniques originated by Hale Dwoskin's mentor, Lester Levenson. Dwoskin is an international speaker and featured faculty member at Esalen and the Omega Institute. For over a quarter century, he has regularly been teaching The Sedona Method techniques to individuals and corporations throughout the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. Visit www.Sedona.com.

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