We all know laughing feels good, but did you know it has some incredible health benefits, too? Laughter releases endorphins, which are your body’s favorite natural ‘feel-good’ drug, and can help to beat stress, improve your immune system, and combat mood disorders. Laughter is also linked to processes affecting cellular repair and other vital physical effects, and so it is clear that it is something your body is designed to do as much as possible!
So, how can you make sure you are getting a healthy shot of laughter as frequently as possible throughout the day?
- Laugh Socially
An interesting point is that while we have more access to funny content than ever before thanks to the internet, we often now bypass the physical act of laughing when we are alone. We may find something someone sends us or that we find online on a joke site like lolhit.com very amusing, but while we may share it or reply to it with a ‘lol’ response, we tend not to actually laugh as much when we are on our own.
This is not to say that we never laugh out loud when we aren’t with someone else, but the threshold of how funny something needs to be to get that response is much higher when the laughs aren’t shared. You can boost your laughter by, for example, showing your friend a funny video on your phone in person when you are together, rather than sending it to them when you are both alone, or by watching a comedy movie with other people or in a theater rather than at home by yourself.
- Seek Out Funny Things As A Priority
Many of us look for certain things when we take breaks and browse the internet or flick through the TV or Netflix shows we could be watching, and sometimes we look for things that will be informative or which will help us achieve certain goals – for example, reading about current affairs, or reading information about something relevant to our careers or hobbies. For the best health benefits, it is actually a good idea to treat actively seeking out things that will make us laugh as just as much of a priority as seeking out things that will educate us.
Make sure you are following some comedy blogs you like, and that you have some funny books, TV shows and movies in the mix of things you consume from the media.
- Be Funny!
Another way to improve how much laughter you enjoy day-to-day, is to simply tell more jokes, or share more funny things you have found. Being a source of laughter benefits the people around you, but laughter is contagious, so it is actually fine to laugh at your own story or joke when someone else is doing it!
Laughter really is a good medicine and making time to laugh every day can offer you lots of health advantages!