Infusing Laughter Into Each Day For Better Health And A Happy Life
“Laughter is the best medicine.”
This is a common saying, but is there any truth to it?
I know I feel better, at least in the moment, when I’m laughing with friends/family or watching a television series or movie that causes me to laugh.
And, I’m a sucker for a good dad joke, as those always seem to lighten my burdens and uplift my spirit on both good and bad days.
I’d even venture to say that every person on this planet, young and old, at some point in their life, has enjoyed and even benefited from moments of laughter.
But, medicine?
Medicines are meant to both treat and prevent illness and/or disease, so surely something as simple and common as laughter can’t be described as medicinal…or can it?
Today we’re going to explore what happens when “two priests, a rabbi, and a duck walk into a bar…”
Sorry, I kid…actually, today we’re going to do a deep dive into laughter, looking at all the ways your health can benefit from this jovial expression!
The Medicinal Benefits Of Laughter
This world can be a stressful place.
Responsibilities, politics, work, relationships, and life in general…honestly, it’s just hard to avoid chaos some days.
In fact, there’s mounting research that shows Americans, in particular, are living in a perpetual state of stress, or more specifically, many of us are stuck in fight or flight mode.
Our bodies need to be able to break free from this dangerous state, as “long term activation of your stress system has serious health implications, like an increased risk for obesity, heart disease, cancer, and a variety of other illnesses.”
And, this is why it’s important to make a conscious effort to find or engage in a bit of light-hearted humor on a regular basis.
Puns and wit, sarcasm and satire, cheesy and corny jokes, humor comes in a wide variety of forms, and almost any humor is beneficial as each of these can bring a number of healthy rewards.
Laughter has both short- and long-term benefits including physical, mental, emotional, and even social impacts.
So, let’s explore these boosts categorically to keep it simple…
Physical Benefits Of Laughter
We often think of exercise and diet when it comes to improving our physical health, and certainly these are important, but laughter can benefit you physically as well.
…except for fish…I mean, did you hear about the fish who stopped lifting weights? Poor guy, he pulled a mussel.
Ah, but for humans, the short term benefits of laughter can benefit you physically by stimulating your organs.
When you laugh, this improves your ability to breathe in oxygen-rich air which stimulates your heart, lungs, and muscles.
Then, this surge in oxygen also increases the amount of endorphins released in your brain, boosting brain activity and functioning. (In the long run, this increase in endorphins can also reduce inflammation which may help to prevent disease.)
We mentioned above that most Americans are tragically stuck in fight or flight mode, with their body’s natural stress response remaining on high alert.
Laughter serves as an antidote to this conundrum as it both initiates and relieves this response, allowing your heart rate and blood pressure to increase, then decrease, mimicking the correct and normal initiation and release that should occur in response to stress.
So, if your body has long been stuck in fight or flight mode, regular laughter essentially re-trains your body to respond to stress correctly.
Laughter also stimulates circulation, and it aids in muscle relaxation which can reduce the “in the moment” symptoms related to stress and anxiety.
But, laughter can also provide long term benefits.
First, laughter gives a helpful boost to your immune system as it increases antibody producing cells.
Then, laughter also improves the effectiveness of your T cells, the part of your body’s immune response designed to protect against infection.
At the same time, regular cheerful laugh sessions also prompt the release of neuropeptides which aid your immune system in fighting against stress responses and inflammation.
Laughter can even improve pain levels, a phenomenon well documented by journalist Norman Cousins in the 1970’s.
Cousins suffered painful symptoms related to ankylosing spondylitis, and he found that regularly watching comedic acts (inducing laughter) vastly improved his pain levels.
Scientists have since confirmed this benefit, noting this as another positive effect stemming from an increase in endorphin production and release initiated through laughter.
Beyond your immune system, laughter can also improve the health of your heart.
Studies have shown those folks who laugh each and every day can reduce their risk of cardiovascular disease, as researchers have noted a reduction in conditions precursing heart disease in such individuals.
The simple benefit of stress relief alone serves to improve the health of your heart, but other improvements such as increased blood flow, less blood vessel restriction, a reduction in arterial inflammation, and an increase in good cholesterol, all of which stem from laughter, also keep your heart healthy.
Even metabolic syndrome, a condition which can increase your risk of diabetes, stroke, and heart disease, can be avoided with regular laughter.
Researchers have found that daily laughter was capable of significantly decreasing body weight, body mass index, and stress, each of which contribute to the development of metabolic syndrome.
When you engage in a good round of belly laughter, this can give your abs a better workout than a typical gym session, strengthening your abdominal muscles, internal obliques, and beyond (engaging the diaphragm and shoulders as well).
And, some experts have even found laughter to reduce all causes of death, suggesting that this happy expression can enhance longevity.
Mental And Emotional Benefits Of Laughter
Mental health is a serious issue, but many of us fail to realize that mental health can be improved when we don’t take things too seriously.
Take this encounter, for instance: A man, who believed himself to be invisible, walked into a clinic and asked the receptionist for an appointment with the doctor.
“Doctor,” said the receptionist, “there’s a patient here who thinks he’s invisible.” To which the busy doc replied, “Well, tell him I can’t see him right now.”
Sure, I know you could protest, stating that mental health is no joking matter, and I’d fully agree with you, but humor can indeed improve your mental health as a whole!
Laughter can improve your ability to cope with a variety of distressing situations as it essentially stops distressing emotions.
When you’re laughing, emotions such as anger and sadness dissipate, instead allowing you to feel unburdened, even relaxed.
Laughter can reduce your risk of, as well as symptoms of, depression and anxiety, as laughter alters serotonin and dopamine levels.
And, the endorphin release which accompanies laughter can help to boost your mood, which also serves to improve your self-esteem.
The stress relieving benefit of laughter lowers cortisol levels to reduce the mental and emotional harm this can cause to your mind and body.
Then, in perhaps a less clinical look at laughter, this medicine can also serve as a needed distraction from those things which may be burdening our hearts and minds, keeping us from fully enjoying and appreciating life.
Some studies have found that even severe or tragic events can be made less traumatic with tasteful humor, as laughter can cause us to put things into perspective, reducing the negative impact such events can have on our mental and emotional wellbeing.
Social Benefits Of Laughter
Lastly, laughter can even improve social connections or bonds.
Socially speaking, laughter can be a medium through which we can not only meet others but experience a connection with individuals as well.
While we can certainly laugh alone while watching television, reading, scrolling through our phones, or thinking of something humorous, laughter is best enjoyed with others.
When you gather with friends, family, coworkers, or even strangers, as folks erupt in laughter, barriers are broken and bonds are formed.
When you laugh with someone, typically this means the chuckle session will continue for longer periods of time (compared to laughing alone), and not only does this amplify the physical and mental health benefits associated with laughter, this also serves to strengthen any new or existing social bonds.
This is precisely the premise behind dad jokes, whether we realize it or not.
Think about it, dads certainly don’t crack jokes to elicit eye rolls…no, the benefit of a dad joke is evidenced in the shy grins and all-out side-splitting laughter that ensues from a well-timed quip that serves to further the bond a father has with his family members.
Speaking of dad jokes, do you know which days are the strongest? Saturdays and Sundays. The rest are weekdays.
How To Bring More Laughter Into Your Daily Life
So then, with all of these powerful benefits to be gained from daily or regular laughter, how can you bring more giggles, chuckles, and belly laughs into your life?
1- I’ll Allow It
Sometimes it seems that we walk through this life with a tight lip. We have things to do, places to go, and serious items to plan and execute.
And, these are all good things. These are all needed things, but so is laughter (good and needed).
If you don’t find that you regularly have a reason to laugh, could it be that you simply need to give yourself permission to do so?
Allow yourself to find humor in life.
Allow yourself to relax and laugh.
Allow yourself to laugh at…well, yourself.
Seek to find humor in everyday things, even the difficult stuff.
I mean, sure, give yourself time to process your emotions, and don’t use laughter to hide how you’re truly feeling. But, also grant yourself the gift of both distraction and perspective, each of which can come through laughter.
2- Find Humor In The Mundane And The Magnificent
For some folks, humor doesn’t come easy. So, you may perhaps find that you need to train your mind to see the humor in life.
If you’re in the midst of a situation where you feel like pulling your hair out, stop for a moment and first realize that this just might be a situation that you’ll later look back on in laughter.
And obviously, this can help to lighten the current stressful situation.
Then, simply look for opportunities to engage in laughter.
Some may not prefer television, but as an unwinding activity most evenings, my teens and I generally watch an episode or two of a series we’ve previously watched.
Right now we’re re-watching The Big Bang Theory, and there’s not a single evening that we don’t, at least once, but likely multiple times, erupt in laughter as we view the antics and dynamics on display.
Personally, I’m a huge fan of all things cheese…cheesy jokes that is…and sometimes I’ll even search these jokes out, inevitably cracking up at what I find.
So, should humor allude you, intentionally look for it.
And, don’t forget, we can each regularly be a source of humor should we allow it.
Instead of allowing your blood pressure to rise every time your shirt catches on a kitchen drawer handle (surely this doesn’t only happen to me), find a way to laugh or joke about it.
I know some folks can be sensitive to teasing, but if you can allow such humor, I can personally attest that this can be a happy cause for laughter.
My family and I recently went on vacation. And, as I’m a planner, this almost always gives my teens ample fodder for joke fire.
So, on the day we were leaving to come home, we had planned to hit up a pizza joint for lunch that we’d thoroughly enjoyed earlier in the week, and this meant we’d be dining a little earlier than we usually do.
Well, as I witnessed my kids eating a large breakfast only a few hours prior to our planned pizza place visit, I reminded them we’d be eating lunch soon.
They assured me all would be well, then, playing on my slightly neurotic over-planning tendencies, they joked all through lunch, “oh, I don’t know if I can even eat this, I mean, I just ate 2 hours ago. Can you believe we ate breakfast, and now we’re eating lunch!”
Of course, we all, myself included, erupted in laughter each time one would poke fun at this…through lunch, dinner, on the way home, even days later.
Moral of the story, life’s too short to take everything so seriously. I’m not referring to being cruel to others, not at all, but when you can laugh at yourself and allow light-hearted jokes amongst friends/family/coworkers, this can truly be wonderful!
Think about it, had I chosen to be offended at their jesting, we’d have missed out on many innocent laughs over the last several days, and who benefits from that?
3- Share The Gift Of Laughter
If you’re someone who enjoys humor, be sure to share that with others.
When I read or see something humorous, I almost always share that with those nearby.
And, I absolutely love it when someone shares laugh-worthy commentary with me!
Believe it or not, this truly makes a difference.
So, make it a point to share laughs with others, and make it a point to enjoy the company of those who enjoy laughing with you!
Now, with that thought in mind, I want to leave you with a few of my favorites I’ve newly found…
- How do lumberjacks know how many trees they’ve cut down?
They keep a log.
- I was going to tell you a joke about sodium.
But, then I thought ‘Na’.
- What’s worse than raining cats and dogs?
Hailing taxis.
- Have you seen the dog bowl?
I didn’t know he could.
- Someone broke into my house last night. The odd thing was, the only thing the thief stole was my fruit bowl on the kitchen table.
The whole thing just left me peachless.
Have a wonderful day, friends!
And, laugh on, your health depends on it!
Check out Lifeboost Coffee Espresso.
References:
- https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/stress-management/in-depth/stress-relief/art-20044456
- https://www.verywellmind.com/the-stress-management-and-health-benefits-of-laughter-3145084
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6125057/
- https://health.clevelandclinic.org/is-laughing-good-for-you
- https://www.purecutsupps.com/blogs/news/workout-jokes
- https://www.va.gov/WHOLEHEALTHLIBRARY/tools/healing-benefits-humor-laughter.asp
- https://karger.com/nen/article/94/2/89/226330/Neuropeptides-as-Pleiotropic-Modulators-of-the
- https://www.unthsc.edu/school-of-public-health/why-laughter-is-the-best-medicine-for-your-whole-health/#
- https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/hide-and-seek/201303/top-10-psychology-jokes
- https://www.helpguide.org/articles/mental-health/laughter-is-the-best-medicine.htm
- https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/entertainment/a41779929/corny-jokes/
- https://www.today.com/life/inspiration/funny-jokes-rcna138371