Benefits of Laughter (stress management)

Introduction
Laughter is a good form of stress relief as it has many positive benefits.
Its initial impact if it makes you feel good.
Short-term benefits
In addition to lightening your mental load, laughter can induce physical changes in your body:
- stimulates many organs (it
"...enhances your intake of oxygen-rich air, stimulates your heart, lungs and muscles and increases the endorphins that are released by your brain..."
Mayo Clinic, 2023
It is like doing light cardio exercise
"...10 minutes of joyous sustained belly laughter was the cardio equivalent of 30 minutes on a rowing machine..."
Stanford University as quoted by The Happydemic, 2024
It promotes circulation by expanding in aligning of blood vessels (the endothelium).
Lungs get a great workout.
"...compared to normal exhalation, we push our 20% more sale of air, flushing our body with more oxygen-rich air. More oxygen can improve our concentration and attention (boosting productivity)...."
The Happydemic, 2024)
- activate and relieve your stress response (it is good for relaxing as it initially
"...fires up and then cools down your stress response, and it can increase and then decrease your heart rate and blood pressure..."
Mayo Clinic, 2023
"...winds back key stress hormones adrenaline and cortisol by engaging the parasympathetic nervous system, ie , providing cues to the body to slow down and relax..."
The Happydemic, 2024)
- soothe tension (it can reduce some physical symptoms of stress by stimulating circulation and helps with muscle relaxation)
- short-term memory improves (it reduces the stress hormones that can negatively impact our ability to learn and remember).
Long-term benefits
- improve your immune system (boost the body's natural defence mechanism by increasing the bod's T cells and immunoglobulinin; furthermore,
"...negative thoughts manifests into chemical reactions that can affect your body by bringing more stress into your system and decreasing your immunity. By contrast, positive thoughts can release neuropeptides that help fight stress and potentially more serious illnesses..."
Mayo Clinic, 2023)
- relieve pain (it encourages the body to produce its own natural painkillers)
- increases personal satisfaction (it helps you cope with difficult situations and connect with other people; reduces depression, worry, fears, anxiety, etc; increases resilience, self-confidence, etc )
- improve your mood (it can lessen your stress, depression and anxiety plus make you feel happier; improve your self-esteem; improves social well being)
- activates trunk muscles (especially internal oblique muscles; it is thought to improve your muscular pattern of spinal stability, especially those with limited movement)
- helps control diabetes (some research shows that it lowers blood glucose in people with type II diabetes)
- some other benefits include helps with sleep sleep, helps handle cancer, tones facial muscles, improves oral motor function, help overcome cultural and language barriers; encourages collaboration, creativity, etc; dissolve loneliness and social isolation.)
Ways to improve your sense of humour, ie laugh more
- put humour on your horizon (find a few items, such as photos, greeting cards or comic strips, etc that make you laugh and put them on display; keep funny movies, TV shows, books, magazines, etc handy to watch or read; look online at joke websites, silly videos, etc; listen to humorous podcasts; go to a comedy club, etc)
- laugh and the world laughs with you (by seeing the funny side to your situations, your stress will disappear; practice laughing so that it becomes spontaneous as it is good for your body.)
- share a laugh (maximise your time with people who make you laugh; share funny stories or jokes with others)
- knock, knock (visit your local bookstore or library to search for new jokes)
- know what is funny (don't laugh at the expense of others; don't use inappropriate material; don't offend others; understand the difference between a good joke and a bad or hurtful one)
- practice laughing yoga (this is based on the premise that the brain doesn't differentiate whether a laugh is intentional or response to something funny
Summary
"...turn the corners of your mouth up into a smile and then give a laugh, even it feels a little forced. Once you had your chuckle, take stock of how you're feeling. Are muscle is a little less tense? Do you feel more relaxed or buoyant? That's the natural wonder of laughter at work..."
Mayo Clinic, 2023
Laughter is good medicine.