Yesterday, I talked about the emotional benefits of crying.
It got me thinking about the emotional benefits of laughing.
Have you ever heard the phrase, “Laughter is the best
medicine?” It’s pretty amazing what a good, heart-felt belly laugh can do to
you. Laughter is another emotional pressure release. It decreases stress
hormones and releases endorphins, those chemicals that help you feel good and
relieve pain.
Another major benefit of laughing is that it helps improve
your immunity-- it builds immune cells and infection-fighting antibodies.
So if it’s been a while since you’ve let go and crack
up—then it’s high time you have a good laugh.
My advice for you today: Find something to make you laugh-- every
day.
Whether it’s joking around with friends, a funny movie,
watching kittens play or reading Moliere, go to it. Spend a few minutes every
day just letting yourself laugh your head off.
Turn it into an experiment: for the next few days, write
down your mood on a scale of 1 to 100. The worse your mood (anger, depression,
boredom, etc.), the lower the number. The better your mood (happy, playful,
joyful, peaceful, etc.), the higher the number. Do this periodically throughout
the day (every four hours, for example).
After a few days, begin introducing more laughter into your
life by doing things or looking at things that really make you laugh. Continue
rating your mood at intervals throughout the day and see if there is any
changes in the overall mood scores after a month.
You might be surprised at the results if you are not used to
laughing a lot. If you do laugh a lot anyway, they probably won’t change.
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