Laughter spreads happiness. Laughter and health are like salt and pepper on the table. Couples who share a good laugh together have a strong bond in the relationship. Did you know laughter is good for the soul? A good laugh is like sunshine in the house. Laughter not only brightens your face and makes you look beautiful but also rejuvenates your inner soul. It is always the best medicine and the most powerful weapon to heal your broken heart. By now you must have an idea why laughter is good for you. Well, there are several other social and mental benefits of laughter that helps us in our everyday lives.
“If we couldn’t laugh, we would all go insane.” ― Robert Frost.
Reasons You Must Know Why Laughter Is Good For You!
Here are a few reasons why laughter is good for the soul, and why you should laugh out loud!
1. Laughter Eliminates Stress
Laughing out loud is the best de-stressing tool. Laughter boosts the production of serotonin in the brain, a natural anti-depressant hormone. It can help you to recharge your body and relax your mind.
Studies have shown that compared to other activities, the simple act of laughing or smiling can improve your mood and happiness levels significantly. It can also help you to fight depression and anxiety.
When you laugh, it activates the frontal lobe of your brain and makes you happy by forgetting bad memories.
2. Laughter Helps You Burn Calories
You heard it right! Laughter is one of the best exercises one can do. It can be included in several forms of exercise. Laughter yoga workshops are already popular nowadays.
In these yoga sessions, laughter is initiated as a body exercise, and it gets contagious making the entire group laugh out loud without any jokes. After practicing these yoga sessions, people noticed reduced decreased levels of cortisol, a stress hormone.
It can help you lose weight without hitting the gym. A study estimates that everyday laughter for approximately 10 to 15 minutes can burn up to 40 calories.
3. Humor Therapy Is Effective For Blood Pressure
Blood pressure could rise as a result of stress and can lead to chronic heart diseases.
Laughter can reduce blood pressure. A study conducted on patients undergoing hemodialysis suggested that the group that watched comedy shows for a consecutive 8 weeks had a significant drop in blood pressure.
4. Laughter Promotes Better Immunity
It is the immune system that helps us to fight against diseases and illnesses. It is proven that laughter can boost our body’s immunity significantly.
Individuals who participated in a laughter session or therapy showed an increased number of antibodies that play an important role in immune function.
Laughter can also help to tackle asthma. It also increases the number of beneficial hormones like endorphins and neurotransmitters in the body. Endorphins help to deal with stress, while neurotransmitters like dopamine and endorphins reduce the feeling of pain.
5. It Makes You More Creative
An interesting mental health benefit of laughter is that it makes you get creative.
Laughter can clear your mind from unnecessary worries and helps to enhance the creative side of yours. When you smile the front cortex of the brain gets stimulated, which is also responsible for creativity.
6. Laugh To Sleep Better
Similar brainwave patterns are found while we meditate, relax, and laugh. Studies also found that a good laugh can help you deal with sleep deprivation or insomnia. Thus, laughter promotes a night of quality sleep and is indeed good for the soul and body.
7. It Is Good For Your Heart
Research also found that laughing has an anti-inflammatory effect and can be good for your heart health. Laughter stimulates heart and blood circulation and causes an effect similar to that of aerobic exercise. The muscles of your body also get a good workout by laughing out loud.
The American Laughter Association recommends laughter as it promotes good cholesterol or HDL. Indeed, laughter has some essential health benefits.
8. Laughter Slows Aging
It works on up to 400 muscles in your body, including the face, abdomen, and stomach. When we laugh, the facial muscles stretch, exercise, and relax, thus preventing aging.
It also cleans your eyes when you cry out tears laughing out loud.
9. Laughter Helps In Connecting People
Laughter out loud does have mental health benefits. It is also a social mechanism by which we make friends and connect with others. There is nothing in the world that is as contagious as laughter.
It not only connects with friends but strangers too. Sharing a genuine laugh with a friend or co-worker can help build a better bond with the person.
10. Laughing Is Good For Couples
Men and women prefer their partners with a good sense of humor. Sharing laugher is one of the key aspects of well-being in relationships.
A study found out that women rated a sense of humor as one of the top traits they look in their potential partners. Meanwhile, men were naturally attracted to women who laugh at their jokes.
Tips To Bring Laughter In Your Life
- Learn to laugh at yourselves.
- Be silly. Do not over pressurize yourselves or be serious all the time.
- Have a pet. A pet can welcome lots of opportunities to play, relax, and laugh out loud.
- Find a soulmate or friend with a good sense of humor.
- Remember an embarrassing situation from your past.
- Avoid toxic people from your life.
- Follow a comedian or watch funny movies or Netflix shows.
- Subscribe to fun YouTube accounts.
- Follow a funny sitcom.
- Stay young from your heart.
- Follow funny Instagram accounts.
- Do fun things with friends.
- Practice gratitude and be positive.
- Last but not least, practice laughter yoga.
Concluding thoughts,
Do not take yourself too seriously. Practice laughing your heart out and being happy from within. Stay positive and enjoy your life as much as possible. So stop frowning or spreading negativity. Make a pledge to Laugh Out Loud (LOL) at least twice every day.
What are your thoughts on laughter and its health benefits? Share them in the comments section below!
