Embracing Humour to Increase Well-being

When was the last time you had a belly laugh?  I have a partner that makes me laugh on a continual basis.  He is zany and silly and can make me laugh until I am crying.  I am fortunate. There’s an old saying that “laughter is the best medicine”.  There is truth to that.  Laughter reduce stress, physically relaxes the body (like how you feel after a good work-out), boosts the immune system, releases endorphins (the body’s “feel-good” chemicals), increase blood flow to the heart, and burns calories.  Laughing with others enhances connection and creativity, while minimizing feelings of resentment, rumination, and fixation on life’s stressors.  Pretty awesome, right?

How can you increase laughter and humour into your life?

• Stop taking yourself so seriously. Our mishaps offer us much in the way of comic relief, providing we are willing to view them as such.  Laugh at yourself and your life circumstances.  One particularly challenging year of my life coincided with a particularly challenging year for my friend Marty.  We jokingly engaged in a “competition” over whose year had the most setbacks.  That December my house burned down.  As the flames engulfed my home and all my worldly possessions were being incinerated, I called Marty and through tears, declared, “I win”.  Dark humour? Certainly.  Did it help diffuse my overwhelming sense of loss? Yep.
• Smile. When you are out in the world, look up from your phone, and make an effort to genuinely connect with others.  We humans are hard-wired for connection.  Our techno-obsessed society is increasing social dis-connection, contributing to debilitating anxiety and depression.  You possess the power to make yourself – and others – feel better simply through eye contact and a smile.
• Spend time with children. If anyone holds the secret to manifesting delight and awe from the simplest of things, it is children.  Follow their lead – they are masters at joy.
• Practice Gratitude. Gratitude affects your brain at a biological level by boosting the neurotransmitter dopamine.  Dopamine is your body’s natural antidepressant (this is what the pharmaceutical drug Wellbutrin is artificially designed to mimic).  Gratitude towards others increases activity in dopamine circuits making social interactions more enjoyable.  Gratitude also boosts the neurotransmitter serotonin (this is what the drug Prozac is artificially designed to do).  Practicing gratitude increases optimism by boosting serotonin production in the anterior cingulate cortex.  Gratitude increases Emotional Intelligence (for more on EQ, check out: https://blacksheepcounselling.com/2017/07/emotional-intelligence/).  Neuron density in both the ventromedial and lateral prefrontal cortex is affected by the practice of gratitude, increasing efficiency in brain neurons in these areas and strengthening emotional intelligence.
• Seek out playful people. Variety is the spice of life – If your job has you surrounded by more serious folks, find time to spend with some light-hearted folks (inviting your child or teen’s friends over can help with this).
• Don’t disregard all those funny memes you see on Facebook or get sent around in office emails. Chose to “take in” humour when it is presented.
• Attend a comedy club, watch funny movies, try laughing Yoga.  Shake up your boring old routine. I tried laughing Yoga when visiting Vietnam and it was ah-mazingly fun – pictures don’t lie 😉