A man took his wife to the doctor. After a short examination the doctor said, “Your wife’s mind is completely gone!” To which the man replied, “I’m not surprised. She’s been giving me a piece of it every day for the past 25 years!”
We all know that laughing feels good, but researchers are now confirming that laughter is good for us.
A study done at the University of Maryland Medical Center showed that laughter can actually relax arteries and increase blood flow.
Laughter is good aerobic exercise. It increases the heart rate, improves our ability to use oxygen, helps clear the lungs, and lowers blood pressure.
When we laugh, our muscles relax and tension is released. The production of stress hormones is reduced, and we feel a greater sense of control over our situation.
Humor and laughter have been shown to reduce anxiety and pain and to enhance the immune system.
Laughing makes us feel good because it stimulates the release of endorphins in the brain, natural substances which give us a feeling of euphoria.
Laughter is a form of communication which strengthens our bonds with other people, makes us feel younger, and gives us more energy.
Humor is a form of creative expression which helps us to cope with life’s problems and allows us to comment on the human condition.
Laughter therapy is now being utilized by healthcare and mental health professionals to promote more positive outcomes in patients. Corporations have discovered that humor programs are an effective way to reduce stress in the workplace.
The next time you’re feeling depressed or stressed, give yourself a little laughter therapy! Watch a funny movie, TV show, or favorite comedian. Pick up a joke book. Hang out with someone with a good sense of humor. Play with your kids. Do something silly and fun. Memorize your own jokes and tell them to everyone you meet. Throw an impromptu party.
As Thomas Edison once advised, “When down in the mouth, remember Jonah. He came out okay.”
Dawn Pisturino
April 2, 2007
Copyright 2007-2021 Dawn Pisturino. All Rights Reserved.
Dawn Pisturino's Blog 
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Hey my Italian Sister Dawn Ciao! Even when I’m pissed? Yea probably especially then right! How is it you keep saying all the things my mother is famous for! You ladies read the same books or talk to the same people? Well even if there isn’t a definitive answer I admit I have to agree totally; because I’m know to be a huge laugh fan once I get going, making other’s around me break out so bad laughing they can’t get pissed but do piss their pants; rolling on the floor laughs, I kid you not! Honest that happened once or twice at least; caught them with the funny at the wrong time; plus I’m a character and can get pretty zany, I was called the entertainer of my family for good reason; better than crazy right! I love it; especially when I can laugh at certain select people the one’s that annoy me the most and are trouble makers, meddlers, sneaks or backstabbers; I Always get the last Laugh; believe me when I tell ya!
Ciao!
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Oh, yeah, Lawrence! I can see you being the life of the party! You make me laugh. But my father was a big music lover and passed that on on to me and my daughter. And my grandmother was one of those people who can hear a song once and then play it on the piano. Very gifted. My husband is the Italian – he has a great sense of humor. In fact, his whole family does. My ancestry is primarily British Isles and then German and Norwegian. My parents weren’t funny at all, although my grandmother could be.
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Playing by Ear!!! Now that is natural built in genuine God given talent! My God that is one great family of talent and I bet your grandmother could make good with the funny! I had a girlfriend long term Norwegian/German and we were firecrackers together! So cool that you and Ariel got all that music talent passed on which I didn’t get the precise enough gene that my mother did like you both did too! Oh and don’t fret, with your husband and family, enough Italian rubbed off on you that you’re still my Italian Sister and a Paisano! I’ve been known to play it by ear only not music; LOL! Ah nothing like improvisation when you lack genuine talent; ya have and no choice but to go for the gusto, no holds barred then some interesting things can happen! And like when Alfred Hitchcock told Anthony Perkins when filming Psycho and Tony said, I don’t know if I have that kind of anger or rage in me; Hitchcock said, just fake it; damn I always thought Perkins was the perfect Norman bates out of his I want my Mommy Skull! Don’t get me wrong here, I’m not saying I’m a big faker, but only when I need to be!!!
Like once in a NYC subway stop after getting off an Amtrak Train about 3AM and as I was heading through this tunnel alone with cowboy boots Midnight “Cowboyesk;” I wanted to do a search just now for that film and instead spur of the moment typed in Pacinoesk as some people used to refer to me as being, so I’ll get to that in a minute as to what came up at the very top, too funny; yea so cowboy boots on, pointed toes and all, walking from Penn Station, when suddenly I was not alone but four Rican Hombres had me in their sights for a roll!!! I had to get to Brooklyn to see a full genuine Italian cuz, before heading over to NYU later in the morning! So I didn’t flinch or show any fear, and slowly made a couple of sign type hand movements and reached into my jacket up toward my armpit like a shoulder holster was there, or maybe a switch I pressed, which there wasn’t, and then I bought enough time doing that Fake Out to be near a stairwell to the street and went right up and walked over to a “Taxi Driver.” I then walked over to an all-night coffee shop and sat sipping coffee till the sun came up; part of the time talking with this local dude about the nightlife in the City, he was the real deal and a character to write about, then with the sun blazing I proceeded on my trek! I can’t be sure if those four were getting my vibe that I’m some kind of overly confident agent or cop undercover, or maybe from one of the “Mob Families,” you pick, but they weren’t interested anymore, go figure! I guess that was a kinda last laugh being the loudest kinda thing; “Fake Out” a “Stake Out” or Hit and all; then again maybe I’m not all Fake either! So lookie here talking about me getting people rolling on the floor and then in a train station almost getting rolled, to now you getting me on a Roll!!! See that; you did better than the 4 wise guys, OK you got me; well, not really wise guys to be clear here, just Ricans; real Wise Guys aren’t like that! That would have been a very different outcome!
So check this out what came up on the Pacino thing, it blows me away; didn’t expect or even think of this!
Oh there was a surprise though I don’t care about likes and stated that in recent months but most if not all of my essays back then had quite a few from only my general follow list which is short because I like it that way, so maybe they disappeared because I said that and some clown in Word Press is trying to get a rise, soft cancel culture and that kinda shit! Unless, when it’s a certain age posting that happens; but either way who cares!
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I’m glad you didn’t get rolled and were able to fake them out. And yes, nobody but Anthony Perkins could have played Psycho. And I always feel like Al Pacino is just playing himself!
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Touché you hit all three spot-on! Pacino admitted as a kid he was a wise guy or bit of a rabble-rouse instigator, so I think the mean streets of the Big City gave him a leg up and an edge, to just like you say, play himself feeling so natural doing it in any given situation! A bit of arrogance and overly confident smart ass can go a long way! Did for him!
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Oh BTW! Most of my cousins all British Isles ancestral lines mix with us Italians, we love our Irish Scottish and English cousins, have them all over the place! Years back the weddings were a blast!!!
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I’ve seen a lot of Irish and Italians get together! And the fireworks! LOL!
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Jumping Jack Flash its a gas!!! Hey party time comes and they can all hold their own and then some! Lite em up! LOL!
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Watch that snake in the grass!!!
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Yes, yes, yes, Dawn, I agree 100% about the power of humor and laughter!
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This has been known since ancient times, as Plato mentioned it, and the creeks were already put that into form through their comedies. But in our “sophisticated” days everything has to be given the stamp of scientific research in order to make sense.
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Yes, that’s true, and since “science” can no longer be trusted, we humans will have to trust to our own instincts. I think people already know this and naturally gravitate to humor and entertainment.
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Good reminder! Humor is needed to get through such bizarre times.
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[…] Laughter is the Best Medicine — Dawn Pisturino’s Blog […]
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Thank you!
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