Is Laughter Really the Best Medicine?
Laughter is one of the great gifts of being human - people in all cultures laugh, babies laugh before they learn language, and what is more fun than laughing together with a group of people we care about? Laughter also is coming to be recognized as an important health-promoting habit, right along with exercise, healthy eating, and good social relationships.
In 1979, a revolutionary book called Anatomy of an Illness came out. In it, journalist Norman Cousins describes his experience using laughter as one of his primary tools to recover from a debilitating degenerative disease for which few treatment options were available and the prognosis wasn’t good.
With the support of his doctor, Cousins checked himself out of the hospital and into a hotel. There he embarked on a regimen involving lots of laughter. He found laughter particularly helpful for relieving his crippling pain, saying that ten minutes of belly rippling laughter would give him two hours of pain-free sleep, when nothing else, even morphine, could alleviate the pain.
In the forty years since Anatomy of an Illness was released, there have been many studies of the benefits of laughter on our physical, mental, emotional, and social health. A quick Google search on ‘benefits of laughter’ yields millions of articles. A few of the many documented benefits on physical health include boosting our immune system, lowering blood pressure, and reducing inflammation.
From a brain perspective, important benefits of laughter include:
Laughter calms the survival brain. Laughter shifts us out of the fight/flight/freeze response - we can’t laugh and be in fear mode at the same time.
Laughter enhances social bonding. Our brains are hard-wired for social connection and shared laughter is a great way to connect with other people.
Laughter releases serotonin. One of the best known feel-good hormones, serotonin is a natural antidepressant and mood elevator.
Laughter releases endorphins. Laughing, especially with other people, releases endorphins that activate our brain’s opioid receptors, reducing pain and increasing a sense of well-being.
It’s a great idea to look for ways to incorporate more laughter into our daily lives - there is a reason why funny cat videos are the most shared content on social media! Brainstorm with your family and friends ways to add laughter and humor into your lives together, since shared laughter is the best kind.
But don’t feel that you always have to look outside yourself for funny things to create laughter. Our bodies actually don’t distinguish between ‘real’ laughter and ‘fake’ laughter. If you begin laughing, even fake laughter for no reason at all, your brain will produce all the same positive neurotransmitters and other healthy benefits. And usually fake laughter turns into real laughter!
Where in your day could you add a few minutes of laughter for no reason at all? Maybe in the shower? Driving? When you get home from work?
Another great option is Laughter Yoga, a wonderful program developed by a physician in India to help his patients. Laughter Yoga groups meet in person around the world and there also increasingly are options to laugh with people online.
The Laughter Yoga website is www.laughteryoga.org
The following short Ted Talks about Laughter Yoga include demonstrations so you can laugh along:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4p4dZ0afivk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HJG63EXCmw
Consider making laughter part of your daily routine just like other things you do for optimal physical, mental, and emotional health - your body and brain will thank you, plus it’s easy and fun!
What will you do today to add more laughter to your life? Send a quick email to let me know :)
I’d love to hear from you! Please send your comments, questions, and suggestions to liz@happybrainlife.com.
