Most of us have laughed watching funny sitcom’s or situation comedies on television or reading cartoons in newspapers and magazines. In fact, laughing is a great way to relieve stress. Moreover, there is mounting evidence that laughing has many positive effects on your body.
Laughing Helps Your Body
Above all, laughing not only lightens your mental load, laughing also causes physical changes in your body. For example, laughing increases the amount of oxygen-rich air you inhale. Consequently, your heart, lungs, and muscles are stimulated by the extra oxygen. In addition, laughing causes your brain to release endorphins. Indeed, high levels of endorphins makes us feel less pain and reduces the negative effects of stress.
Next, laughing first increases and then decreases your stress response. Similarly, laughing first increases and then decreases your heart rate and blood pressure. As a result, you feel relaxed.
Also, laughing stimulates blood circulation and releases your muscles. As a result, some of the physical symptoms of stress decrease.
Meanwhile, by improving your immune system, laughing helps you in the long run. By the way, your brain’s negative thoughts manifest themselves as chemical reactions which, in turn, can create more stress in your body and decrease your immunity. On the other hand, positive thoughts release neuropeptides that help fight stress and possibly other serious illnesses
Next, laughing can help reduce pain by making the body produce its own natural pain killers. In addition, laughing can make it easier to deal with difficult situations. Meanwhile, laughing also helps you connect with other people. Finally, laughing can help lessen depression and anxiety from chronic illnesses, which, in turn, makes you feel happy.
Sense of Humor
Regrettably, some of us may have lost or never had or have an underdeveloped sense of humor. Thankfully, developing or refining your sense of humor may be easier than you think.
Inventory of Things That Make You Laugh
First, find a few simple items, such as greeting cards, photos, or comic strips that make you laugh. Next, hang them up in your office or in your home. Also, keep books, funny movies, magazines or comedy videos easily accessible for those times when you need a boost of humor. In addition, look online at joke websites for those jokes that make you laugh. Furthermore, go to a comedy club to get a dose of laughter. Finally, browse through your local bookstore or library’s selection of joke books and add a few jokes to your list that you can share with others.
Laugh at Your Situation
Next, find a way to laugh about your own situations and watch your stress begin to fade away. Most of all, even if it feels forced at first, practice laughing because laughing helps your body.
Yoga
Also, consider trying laughter yoga. In fact, in laughter yoga, people practice laughing as a group. While, laughing may be forced at first, laughing can soon turn into spontaneous laughter.
Share Laughter
Incidentally, share a laugh with those you know. Also, make it a habit to spend time with friends who make you laugh. And then return the good turn by sharing funny stories or jokes with those around you.
Only Appropriate Jokes
However, know what isn’t funny. Above all, don’t laugh at the expense of others. In fact, some forms of humor aren’t appropriate. So, use your best judgment to discern a good joke from a bad or hurtful one.
Conclusion
So, give it a try. As you start practicing it and you start to get better at it, your muscles get a little less tense. Above all, you feel more relaxed and buoyant. Finally, take a look at other popular methods to relieve stress.