27 Jul Four Funny Ways Laughter Is Good for You
Life can be serious.
Even happiness can be serious, if or when we’re talking about meaning and purpose and more.
But life can (and should) also be fun. And fun and laughter can create more happiness and more so, energy and inspiration to achieve more of whatever’s important in your life …
via the Greater Good by Jill Suttie
My husband, Don, likes to say that he needs to laugh every day (but only cry once or twice a year). I appreciate and admire his good nature, and I’m sure his ability to see the humor in life helps him stay even-keeled.
Now, recent research on laughter suggests that it has even more benefits than Don could imagine—and they’re no joke.
One recent review of several well-run studies found that laughter helps people improve their mood, well-being, and quality of life, while reducing their anxiety, depression, stress, pain, and fatigue. Laughter, when shared, can also bring people closer together and defuse tension in relationships. And, as any student can tell you, it’s probably easier to pay attention and retain information in the classroom if a teacher infuses lessons with humor.
While it may not be possible to laugh in every situation, there are many ways you can infuse your days with more laughter—from watching comedy shows to scrolling through funny cat videos to reading the daily comics to participating in “laughter yoga” (a deliberate practice of laughing, often in groups). Here are some of the many reasons why you might want to laugh more in your everyday life.
Laughter reduces stress and improves your mood
It makes intuitive sense that laughter makes us feel better when we’re in distress. It’s the reason why clowns are sometimes brought into hospitals to cheer up patients or why we often turn to watching short, funny cat videos when we feel stressed out. Laughter and humor help us to process difficult situations, perhaps by decreasing stress hormones in our bodies and encouraging the release of endorphins and dopamine—feel-good neurotransmitters associated with experiencing pleasurable events, like listening to music, having sex, or eating delicious food.
Laughter yoga was found to reduce stress, anxiety, and burnout in nurses during the pandemic (a super stressful time). Two recent reviews of research found that laughter decreases anxiety and can also reduce depression and improve sleep. In fact, even the anticipation of laughter may reduce stress hormones, suggesting that it’s a good idea to infuse more of it into your life.
Perhaps that’s why a recent review of many studies concluded that “laughter therapy is effective and scientifically supported as a single or [complementary] therapy” for people suffering from stress and depression…
… keep reading the full & original article HERE