How many years will this mark for you in the field of education? Are you a first year teacher nervously awaiting the first day, hoping your jitters do not surpass those of your students? Or perhaps you are a veteran teacher counting the years to retirement? And then there are those of us in between, perhaps switching grade levels or assignments within our field of early childhood development or elementary education.

Whatever the case may be it is always a big day when you welcome a new group of students. They lose sleep, we lose sleep and parents rejoice that a routine will soon enter their lives once again! How can we as the educators capture that feeling of rejoicing? I suggest one simple word my friends, and that is laugh!

Yes, you read correctly. Laugh! Did you know that laughing protects your heart? The increase of blood flow that takes place as a result of laughing will help the blood flow which in turn helps to protect your heart. Not enough you might say to convince you? How about the fact that laughing increases your tolerance of pain and boosts the production of infection-fighting antibodies? Now that is really something.

Bottom line is you can stay healthier and happier by simply adding laughter back into your day. And as a teacher, I know there are many opportunities to laugh no matter what grade level you are teaching. Whether it is the preschool aged child who is quick to let the entire group know about the cockroach in his bathroom this morning or the elementary school child who innocently relays information about the teeth he found in a glass that belong to his Grandma! There is always something that we can laugh at; sometimes we just get so darn busy we forget to seize those moments.

And just in case you are still not convinced that you need to lighten up and laugh more, I will be quick to point out that one minute of hearty laughter is equal to the same heart rate after ten minutes on the rowing machine. I am talking that deep belly laugh that children are so great at before society keeps their silliness in check. The laugh that starts at your toes and works its way around your body, making everyone stop and enjoy this deep laughter. I am not one for the gym, so any way I can find a substitute for working out, I am all over it!

These first weeks of school can be stressful, on us as educators and on the children. Try to lighten up the mood of the classroom or your own homeschooling environment and make time for laughing. Make a real effort to set aside time to just enjoy a funny story together or share a few minutes of a silly music video that gets you up moving and laughing together. You will find that everyone benefits from the moments spent laughing and stressing less.

Stress decreases your immune system. Humor boosts the levels of immune cells in your body. This is an easy choice my friends. Choose laughter to live longer and enjoy life more. You will be glad you did!