Among all the religions globally, Christianity is known to not just be a ‘singing’ faith, adherents also accompany singing with thunderous claps.
Indeed, Psalms 47:1 admonishes: “O clap your hands, all ye people; shout unto God with the voice of triumph.”
Again, we clap at sporting events to cheer on our team, and at several other situations to signify acceptamce and celebrate.
And, according to a Pinterest video, there are different types of clapping, such as fireworks clap, money clap, coffee clap, DJ clap, rodeo clap, and roller coaster clap, among others.
The act of clapping is cross-cultural, such that the meaning of clapping is recognized through every culture in the world, and is one of the most universal means of communication.
Speaking on the amazing impacts of clapping on human health, Dr. Priti Srivastava, a psychologist with 35 years on-the-job-experience, says people usually think of clapping as a way to applaud somebody for a job well done in sports, award shows, theater or movies; whereas there are a number of hidden benefits that clapping has been proven to have.
stimulating the nerves and blood vessels in your palms through clapping helps improve the health of organs like kidney, digestive tract, and lower back
Dr. Srivastava notes that our body is a bundle of nerves and blood vessels spread all through the body and is one of the most complex networks we will ever know.
Each organ is linked to the other and a bad effect on one organ can put the other in danger, he stated.
He explained that the palms contain nerve and blood vessel endings and that stimulating them through clapping helps improve the health of organs like kidney, digestive tract, and lower back.
According to Dr. Srivastava, there are at least 30 acupressure points in the palms, which are activated when you clap. “These connect various organs, including low back, neck, kidneys, lungs, stomach, etc. and have indirect benefits,” Dr. Srivastava says.
What are these indirect benefits? Read on!
Heart health
- Clapping improves the overall heart health and maintains the blood pressure level.
- Blood circulation to various organs is also improved by regular clapping.
- Clapping also helps improve asthma-related problems by promoting the function of nerve endings that connect these organs.
Reduced occurrence of infections. Clapping helps immunity by boosting white cells, which are essential for fighting germs and therefore reduces the occurrence of frequent infections. Regular clapping is also shown to have benefits on improved bone health in cases of arthritis and associated pains.
Beneficial for children. In children especially, clapping is known to:
- improve the brain function
- contribute to better handwriting
- reduce spelling mistakes
- improve concentration.
For the back. Be it middle or low back pains, there is an immense benefit from clapping. The severity of the pain can be reduced significantly.
Insomnia: Strange as it may seem, clapping is also shown to reduce instances of insomnia and improve hair health.
Depression and anxiety: For mental illnesses like depression and anxiety, clapping can be very easy-to-do exercise that costs actually nothing. If you think the kidneys and palms are very distant from each other, think again. For gout, which affects the kidneys, clapping is shown to be immensely useful. Both the severity of gout and the progression of the disease can be halted.
A word of caution
For better results, clapping is to be done after applying an oil like mustard oil or coconut oil, Dr. Srivastava says.
Meanwhile, should you have a concern or query, talk to your doctor!
