Laughter: Why tickling your funny bone is good for you.     “ Laughter is to life what shock absorbers are to automobiles. It won’t take the potholes out of the road, but it sure makes the ride smoother.” (Anonymous)   I love a good laugh and enjoy being around humorous people. My dad was always making wisecracks, which never failed to make people smile. Laughter works wonders to uplift my mood and helps me forget my woes for a while. I often return to comedy when I’m feeling low and out of sorts.    Laughter is the best medicine. Be it a spontaneous outburst, girlish giggle, or loud guffaw, laughter transcends cultural boundaries and social strata. Laughter isn’t just a reaction to something funny; it has the power to heal, transform, and connect.  How laughter works:  When we laugh, our bodies undergo a series of positive changes. As it releases feel-good chemicals called endorphins, stress hormones like cortisol decrease. Laug...

The show is titled Everybody Loves Raymond because Robert, Ray's brother, thinks that he is the favored one at home and in life .        Everybody Loves Raymond is a show I keep returning to when I’m feeling down and need a good laugh.  The sitcom is an American comedy that ran from 1996 to 2005 and can currently be watched on Amazon Prime Video. The show is centered around the dysfunctional Barone family. How the Barones take on life and one another provides for the comedy.      Ray Barone   Sportswriter Ray Barone, who works for Newsday, lives with his long-suffering wife, Debra, daughter Ally, and twin sons, Michael and Geoffrey. His intrusive parents, Marie and Frank, along with his jealous brother, Robert, live across the street. Ray, a beleaguered and shy person, often finds himself delicately poised in the middle of a confrontation between his wife and mother or a family, sometimes having to make peace and sometimes havin...

  Laugh your blues away... And so it is said that laughter is the best medicine. At the end of a day filled with routine and mundane tasks, I simply put my feet up and tune into my favourite comedy shows. Mundane day or no, I enjoy a good laugh, giggle or guffaw. Good humour lifts my spirits and puts me in a good mood. I like being around people with a good sense of humour.  So what is it about laughter that makes it the best medicine? Lord Byron said,   "Always laugh when you can, It is cheap medicine." Laughter may not cure your ailments, as the medication will but it is a great stress buster, improving your cardiovascular health, releasing endorphins and lowering blood pressure. "Laughter is the tonic, the release, the surcease for pain," says Charli Chaplin,  the man who has made generations laugh. Renowned author and political journalist Norman Cousins, who was afflicted with a dreadful disease used laughter to combat the sickness and Chronicled the jo...