Do you laugh every day? Is that something you even ask yourself? I remember the first time I contemplated that question – I was attending mindbodygreen’s wellness retreat Revitalize. At my assigned dinner table, we were discussing the power of laughter. When I learned that everyone else at my table laughed every day, I immediately felt very sorry for myself. It was then that I realized that I don’t think that I did. Not only was I overly focused on building a business, but I simply took life too seriously. Additionally, being a “solo-preneur,” I was alone a lot during the day, and therefore wasn’t around others or presented with many opportunities to laugh. I returned home from the retreat with the intention to change that. One of the first things I did was replace some of my go-to educational podcasts with humorous ones (Wine and Crime anyone??), and this is still a strategy I turn to if I need a good giggle.
Fast forward to present day, and thankfully, I do laugh every day. My husband has always been very funny, and my toddler has helped reinstall a child-like sense of silliness. But we all have our days, and on a recent drive back from the beach, my husband and I were discussing how much we want to prioritize laughing in our daily lives. As a lawyer, he is in a major state of seriousness when at work, so he expressed a desire to keep content and conversation light at home and on the weekends. I couldn’t agree more. One thing my husband noted was our television choices. We are both big movie buffs, but tend to select films that fall within the drama category. Even the T.V. shows we watch are more thriller and suspense (speaking of, we are loving Presumed Innocent – case and point). But after our conversation, we did something different and turned on an episode of Saturday Night Live instead. It only took two minutes of to improve my mood. We have all heard laughter is the best medicine, and science supports this saying. Here are six ways laughter benefits your health.
Laughing reduces stress
Experiencing chronic stress is very common in our modern day society, which has major implications for human health. Stress reduction practices have become synonymous with self-care, but if you are like me, sometimes you are left wondering what that even means. It will be different for everyone, but consider adding laughter to your toolkit. Studies show that one instance of laughter reduces cortisol by almost 37%. Whether that means watching a comedy, or engaging in laughter therapy in a more controlled setting, it doesn’t matter. As long as you are laughing, you could feel less stressed almost immediately.
Laughing helps your heart
I am a big believer in the mind-body connection, and remain fascinated by how our emotions affect us physically. With a history of trauma, anxiety, and what I now know is a dysregulated nervous system, I have primarily looked through the lens of how negative emotions may be hurting my physiological health. It is therefore a welcome change to tap into how I can harness positive emotions to optimize my well-being. Research clearly shows the cardioprotective properties of laughing. One study in particular demonstrated that when participants watched a comedy movie, their cardiovascular function improved across a variety of metrics. The participants asked to watch a non-humorous documentary showed no such improvements. Another study looked at an index of heart function and compared the results after laughing at a funny movie versus watching one that induced mental stress. The differences were very apparent. The stressful movie experience resulted in an impairment of heart function, whereas laughing during the funny movie improved it.
Laughing boosts your immune system
Immune function plays an important role in overall health, and now you can add laughing to your immune-boosting protocol. While laughing’s immunoprotective properties is also tied to its tendency to reduce stress hormones, studies do show that having humorous experiences increases salivary immunoglobulin concentrations, which is indicative of immune system enhancement.
Laughing balances blood sugar
Blood sugar balance is not only about what you eat and how you exercise – emotions play a role as well. Negative emotions – especially stress – have shown to increase blood glucose levels while impairing insulin sensitivity. In contrast, studies show that laughter improves postprandial glucose levels in participants with type 2 diabetes. In other words, a glucose spike after eating can be lessened with laughter. Researchers conclude that the connection has to do with laughter’s positive effects on the neuroendocrine system, which helps to mitigate a glucose spike after eating.
Laughing enhances mood and mental health
Over the past ten years, laughter has increasingly become considered as a therapeutic tool for stress, anxiety, and depression. Similar to other practices such as deep breathing, yoga, and music therapy, laughter therapy is another example of a non-pharmacological intervention to improve mood and mental health. Whether simulated (induced laughter in a controlled setting) or spontaneous (laughing while watching a funny movie or chatting with a funny friend for example), studies show that it is effective in reducing stress and anxiety while improving symptoms of depression.
Laughing improves sleep quality
While research on sleep and laughter is limited, some studies have shown certain therapeutic interventions have a positive effect on sleep quality. If someone is struggling with sleep, it can be so tied into other issues having to do with mood and mental health (for example increased stress and anxiety). As mentioned above, laughter has been shown to ameliorate symptoms of depression and anxiety, and this has the added effect of improving sleep quality. With the connection between cortisol and circadian rhythm, it is also important to consider laughter’s beneficial effects on stress when it comes to sleep. There is one study currently being conducted that is working to isolate laughter specifically as a prescriptive tool for sleep issues and insomnia, and results remain to be seen.
What your sense of humor has to do with it
I have always prided myself on having an “easy” sense of humor. Growing up, and well into my teens and twenties, it didn’t take much to make me laugh. In fact, the cornier the better. I even got voted “Funniest (thinks she is)” in my high school senior year superlatives because I was constantly making myself laugh even if no one else around me found it funny. When it came to dating, having a sense of humor has always been at the top of my list, and I still remember my dad’s advice to marry someone who makes me laugh (check!). But after that aforementioned dinner at the wellness retreat, I realized I lost something along the way. While I don’t think I ever lost my sense of humor per se, it simply became overshadowed by the seriousness of adulthood, business building, and the pushing, proving, and pressure I put upon myself. In other words, I needed to let go and lighten up a little.
One aspect of my mental health I have been working on over the past decade is becoming a more optimistic person. Research shows that optimism is associated with longevity and better health, and I imagine that being able to see the brighter and lighter side of life influences how much you are laughing on a daily basis. There is a whole side of science that studies humor, both from a psychology perspective, as well as looking at individual humor styles. Having a “sense of humor” isn’t so straightforward, but rather a multi-faceted phenomenon of expression, enjoyment, creativity, coping, and how one relates with others.
To oversimplify, there is adaptive and maladaptive humor. Adaptive humor includes both affiliative and self-enhancing – it is the funny jokes told to others, benign banter meant to ease social tension, or using comedy to cope with stress. It is the style tied to increased psychological well-being. Maladaptive on the other hand encompasses an aggressive and self-defeating style of humor – teasing or sarcasm which creates interpersonal chasms, or making fun of yourself to cope with a challenging time. Studies show maladaptive humor styles – even if laughter is involved – have detrimental effects on health and happiness.
The bottom line
There is a reason people scroll through memes on social media, or watch funny cat videos for comic relief. It feels good to laugh. Also know that every time you do laugh, you are supporting your health in multiple ways. There is a caveat however – if your humor is either self-deprecating, or at the expense of others in a hurtful way, the benefits not only don’t apply, but could actually have the opposite effect on your health and happiness. So keep your laughing experiences positive and supportive of yourself and others. Lastly, whether you choose to partake in more formal laughter therapy (like going to laughter yoga), or simply set an intention to turn on a funny film, it doesn’t matter. As long as you are laughing, you will be reaping the benefits. More may be better when it comes to laughing, but it only takes one instance to be a positive experience, so seek them out more often.
