Do you remember the last time you laughed out loud?
Laughter is a powerful antidote to aid in the management of stress, pain, and conflict.
There is nothing that works faster, or can lighten your burden better than laughter. It is one of the most powerful tools you have to support your emotional health, and your daily mood.
Physical benefits
A hearty laugh relaxes the entire body, relieving physical tension and stress, and it leaves your muscles relaxed for almost an hour after.
Laughter releases endorphins, the body’s natural feel-good chemicals. These endorphins promote a sense of wellbeing, and can even help to relieve pain.
Your resistance to disease will increase as you incorporate into your life. It decreases stress hormones and actually increases immune cells and infection-fighting antibodies.
Laughter even protects the heart! It actually improves the function of blood vessels and increases blood flow, which can help protect you against a heart attack and cardiovascular problems.
Humor is really infectious. When you hear the sound of roaring laughter, even if you are not aware of the scenario, you will most certainly smile! The domino effect of laughter triggering laughter triggers those physical changes in the body.
Remember hearing a child laugh wildly as he or she is being tickled….just the sound makes anyone within hearing distance enjoy their day just a little more.
When laughter is shared it always increases happiness. It binds people together is a shared joy. Laughter simply makes you feel good, and the feeling stays with you long after the sound subsides.
Laughter helps you keep a positive and optimistic outlook. It is rather a “mini-vacation” from sadness and pain, and even in very difficult times, laughter can surely help in making you feel better. It stimulates the brain and makes you ready for more fun and relaxation. It stays in the memory and can cause you to smile hours afterwards.
Benefits for optimum mental health
You simply CANNOT feel angry, sad, or anxious when you are honestly laughing. Not the kind of “laughter” you may feel required to do when you are trying to be courteous or join the group. The kind of laughter that comes from your heart is irreplaceable.
You will reduce stress and increase your energy because you are more relaxed. Humor allows you to shift your perspective to see situations in a more realistic way, a less threatening light. This type perspective creates psychological distance, which can help you avoid feeling overwhelmed about the circumstances.
Laughter is innate and it is your right. Though often you may feel there is nothing to laugh about, you can always find humor in life – if you just try! The absurdity of stoic behavior abounds in life. If you focus and allow yourself to picture things in a different way, you will really find there is so much to laugh about; you will want to weave laughter into every day of your life once you feel it’s benefits!
Read a joke book. Go to a comedy club. Rent a movie. Get together with friends. Start laughing today! Practice a positive attitude change through the use of positive humor. Begin to see humor all around you in puns, irony and oxymora.
Remember – “cutting” humor is not really funny. If your words pierce someone’s heart, or if you have to say “Oh, I was just kidding” – it’s probably not humorous, but more in the line of ridicule or words that are harming someone else. Condition your mind to find positive humor and it will surely help manage your stress.
