So how are your endorphins
today? If you’re smiling and
in somewhat of a good mood,
I suspect your endorphins are fine.
Our body naturally produces these
“feel good” chemicals. It’s another
way of saying we have an internal
production plant of mood boosters.
That’s a mouthful.
I don’t know. If I’m feeling down,
I’m not thinking I need anything
more than a delicious piece of
cheesecake or chocolate to elevate
my mood. However, by now you
know my biggest mood booster is
cheesecake. Cheesecake is always
first and in my particular case, as
a back-up, probably chocolate. In
truth, either one makes me light
up. I’ve discovered there’s a lot we
do unconsciously that makes us
happy and if done often enough
becomes a habit. I’m positive I’m
not alone in my passion for cheesecake.
Many consumers must have
my passion and are crying out
because now there’s cheesecake
ice-cream, cheesecake yogurt,
cheesecake M&M’s, cheesecake
Kit Kat’s, cheesecake cotton candy
and cheesecake Cool Whip. To have
an extra dose of endorphins, there’s
even chocolate chip cheesecake. Oy!
What a pleasure! How can you go
wrong?
Happiness and laughter definitely
go hand in hand. Plenty of research
has been written about the health
benefits of laughter and studies suggest
that laughing definitely increases
endorphins. Watching others laugh
can be beneficial as well, as additional
studies have revealed social
laughter also releases endorphins
in the brain. I recently looked at a
picture of the human brain and that
of a mouse. The human brain is very
wrinkled. The mouse brain didn’t
have one wrinkle. I haven’t spoken
to a mouse lately, so I guess it doesn’t
laugh as much as we humans do.
Scientifically, I really do know
why the brain is so wrinkled but I
don’t have the time or vernacular
to explain why, but for my story, a
simple answer is, maybe our brains
are wrinkled from sharing our happiness
and laughter with us. It’s
called nachas! Wait! I just thought
of something. Could it be that those
wrinkles on my brow are from my
smiling brain? Oy vey! Okay! Okay!
I’m not going to give up my happiness
for a few wrinkles on my brow,
but I definitely will find a plastic
surgeon this week. How about this
for information? Do you know that
every time you laugh you burn 3.5
calories? I’m not sure about that
statistic. I love to watch the Comedy
TV channel and if that was true I’d
be as thin as a rail. Maybe not a very
thin rail.
I understand yoga and meditation
likewise help produce endorphins
and therefore assist in the slowing
of the aging process. In my case I
must need new brakes to slow down
my aging process. From what I see
this is not working--the sagging, the
fine lines, crow’s feet, etc.--some say
that’s also due to gravity. “I guess I’ll
have to add the force of gravity to my
list of enemies”--either that or I need
a new prescription for my eyeglasses.
They say to help your skin, massaging
your face, arms and legs with
natural moisturizer made from mud
and honey does wonders. Really!
I’ve reduced the height of one of the
back-nine on the golf course here by
removing the dirt and making mud.
The downside to that is that now,
every time I hear the word “four” or
“fore,” my body instinctively ducks
for cover and the bees think I’m an
overgrown drone.
Wait, did I write about yoga and
meditation? Sorry. I was thinking
yogurt. You know the kind that you
can put whipped cream and different
toppings like hot fudge and sprinkles
on? OMG! I have a freezer full. I’m
probably the Vienna Mocha Swirl
Queen. I’ll really have to work on
that endorphin to make me yoga
happy instead of yogurt happy.
As I previously mentioned, chocolate
is a known endorphin producer
as well. The darker and more
cocoa, the better. Many chocolates
have small amounts of real cocoa
and too much sugar and fat. That’s
a no-no. I say test before you buy.
Yesterday, I probably ate a pound
of chocolate for my research on this
story. Moderation is key to successfully
using chocolate as part of your
endorphin enhancement project.
Unfortunately, I overlooked the
word moderation. I really feel moderation
is relative. Would ¼ pound of
chocolate have been better? Would
other words instead of moderation,
like restraint or self-control, have
made a difference? Maybe if I had
been eating beef jerky instead of
chocolate? Nah! Not even beef
jerky dipped in chocolate would
have stopped me. Yuck!
In case you think you don’t smile
or laugh enough to stimulate your
endorphins, don’t be disheartened,
here is an article about the language
of laughter from the Journal
of Nursing Jocularity, which shows
how sometimes we are truly happy
and don’t realize it. I’m sure we all
have experienced some of these
remarkable endorphin producing
behaviors at some point in our lives.
KNOW THE LINGO
1. SMIRK: Slight, often fleeting
upturning of the corners of the
mouth, completely voluntary and
controllable.
2. SMILE: Silent, voluntary and
controllable, more perceptible than a
smirk, begins to release endorphins.
3. GRIN: Silent, controllable, but
uses more facial muscles (e.g., eyes
begin to narrow.)
4. SNICKER: First emergence of
sound with facial muscles, but still
controllable. (However, if you hold
a snicker, it builds up gas.)
5. GIGGLE: Has a 50 percent
chance of reversal to avoid a full
laugh; sound of giggling is amusing;
efforts to suppress it tend to increase
its strength.
6. CHUCKLE: Involves chest
muscles with deeper pitch.
7. CHORTLE: Originates even
deeper in the chest and involves
muscles of torso, usually provokes
laughter in others.
8. LAUGH: Involves facial and
thoracic muscles as well as abdomen
and extremities, sound of barking
or snorting.
9. CACKLE: First involuntary
stage; pitch is higher and body begins
to rock, spine extends and flexes,
with an upturning head.
10. GUFFAW: Full body response;
feet stomp, arms wave thighs
slapped, torso rocks, sound is deep
and loud; may result in free flowing
of tears, increased heart rate, and
breathlessness; strongest solitary
laughter experience.
11. HOWL: Volume and pitch rise
higher and higher and body becomes
more animated.
12. SHRIEK: Greater intensity
than howl; sense of helplessness
and vulnerability.
13. ROAR: Lose individuality; i.e.,
the audience roars.
14. CONVULSE: Body is completely
out of control in a fit of laughter
resembling a seizure; extremities
flail aimlessly, balance is lost. Gasp
for breath, collapse or fall off the
chair.
15. DIE LAUGHING: Instant of
total helplessness, a brief, physically
intense, transcendent experience;
having died, we thereafter report a
refreshing moment of breathlessness
and exhaustion with colors more
vivid and everything sparkling and
everything is renewed. (Eh! I’d like
to skip this one.)
These are descriptions of what we
do. Now the job is to find something
that prompts all these responses
(except the last one). Being with
family and friends, hugging and
kissing the grandchildren, funny
stories and doing and eating things
we enjoy, all make us happy. My
solution: If you’re happy and you
know it, clap your hands, stamp your
feet, turn around, wiggle your hips,
stretch your arms, touch your nose
and shout hello – all while you’re
eating a delicious piece of cheesecake
or chocolate. This will keep you
busy until the ambulance arrives to
straighten you out.
Happy days are here again!
Love ya,
Gloria
“IF YOU’RE HAPPY
AND YOU KNOW IT……………..”
August 2021 ¢ NORTH SHORE TOWERS COURIER 27