By Dr. Joseph Mercola
     with Rachael Droege

Want a totally free, simple way to boost your spirits and your health with no prescription needed? Then you want to laugh and smile as much as possible. As simple as it sounds, laughing and smiling, in other words allowing yourself to get swept away with overall good humor, is beneficial to the cardiovascular system, respiratory system, muscular system, central nervous system and endocrine system.

Yes! I want to smile right now!

So laugh ... smile ... go check out a funny movie or learn a new joke. Whatever it takes to put a smile on your face is what you should be doing. If you want to start smiling right now click on the smiley face to the right.

Research also shows that laughing can boost the immune system, helping the body to stay disease free and fight colds and the flu, and can help people with type 2 diabetes process sugar after meals.

If you are facing an illness, having a positive outlook and a sense of humor will keep your body open to healing. If you are healthy, laughing will help to make sure you stay that way, and can add enjoyment to your work and home life and reduce your daily stress.

Of course, it can be hard to keep a positive outlook all the time. Simply taking the time to focus on the positive and be thankful for the good things in your life can help, but if you are struggling with negative emotions that you just can’t seem to overcome there are tools that can help. My favorite here is the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), which I commonly use in my practice to help patients deal with all kinds of negative emotions.

Another exceptional tool to help you dramatically reduce the stress that is a prime contributor to all forms of disease while maximizing your awareness and potential for growth is the Insight audio CD, which I personally listen to and now recommend to my patients. Layered beneath the soothing sounds of natural rain, this audio CD will help you achieve dramatically powerful states of consciousness.

But a little laughing and smiling will also go a long way toward improving your health, so try it--you have nothing to lose!There are so many things out there to smile about and all you have to do is find one. Try something out of the ordinary like walking barefoot through the grass, taking time to watch the sunrise or going to a comedy club, and don’t overlook the joy in everyday things like talking to your kids and walking the dog. You’ll be amazed at how much brighter things can become when you look at them through smiling eyes.

And again, if you want to smile right now, you can start with this great bit of humor and pick-me-up.

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