As May marks Mental Health Awareness Month and stress is the number one reason for the reduction in life expectancy. Founder of Aware Meditation Inc. & Rise Up Comedy, Paula Jane Newman, stopped by Loving Living Local to share the benefits of meditation and comedy on our lives.

Newman says, meditation reduces stress, therefore increases life expectancy. She went on to explain that when we laugh, we not only breath deeply, activating the respiratory system to exhale stress, but the vibrational movement in our cells initiates a natural detoxification and release from any anxiety. She also said that when we are anxious or stressed, we hold tension in our bodies. Laughter, however, immediately releases this.