Top 6 Benefits of Laughter

Posted by Freeyourmind on Friday, June 13, 2014 · Leave a Comment

Think about the last time you had a good ol’ fashion belly laugh. Didn’t it feel amazing? Laughing is known to be the best medicine for making you feel better instantly. So go ahead and take a couple spoonfuls of laugher when you are feeling down. Find something funny about a usually not-so-funny situation and have yourself a giggle. Why? Because laughter decreases stress and increases your overall well-being and here’s how:

1. Laughter helps make your immune system stronger by decreasing stress hormones and increasing antibodies that fight disease.

Feel less stressed and not get sick?! Yes, please!

2. Laughter releases endorphins in the brain that make you feel good and can even decrease pain.

Have you ever injured yourself, like bumping into a wall that has been in the same spot for 10 years, and then started laughing at how dumb that was? The laughter helps relieve the physical (and emotional) pain.

3. Laughter massages your organs, releases tension, and therefore relaxes you.

Did someone say free massage?!

4. Laughter helps control blood pressure and blood flow, which helps keep your heart healthy.

Pump, pump it up!

5. Laughter increases mental alertness and memory.

Have you ever been really tired, but then something or someone makes your laugh and it wakes you right up? Hmm, maybe an alarm clock that tells me jokes in the morning will get me out of bed…

6. Laughter in the workplace increases job satisfaction.

Isn’t it more fun when you can have a few laughs with your coworkers while you’re working than to be all serious for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week?

Can’t think of anything to laugh about?

Watch some stand-up comedy or a funny movie. Try doing some fake laughing in the mirror (yes, really….it works) or go to a laughter yoga class. I bet you will be cracking up in no time. Research states that having a real laugh the actually tickles your insides, like when a friend cracks a funny joke, has the same exact benefit as fake laughing (which usually ends up in you actually laughing for real anyway). Your body doesn’t know the difference and responds positively to just the act of laughing.

And let’s not forget…

Laughing at ourselves is crucial to our well-being. It boosts your self-esteem because you don’t end up doing the negative self-talk that our minds so easily fall into when we say or do something dumb. Remember, we are all human and we all do and say stupid things, so why not just have a good laugh about it?!