As the old adage goes, is laughter the best medicine? While it’s not a panacea, turns out, it’s pretty darn good. The Mayo Clinic explains why laughter may be just what the doctor ordered for stress relief. A host of research data is illustrating all the positive benefits of laughter.

In the short-term

When you start to laugh, physical changes occur in the body. Laughter has multiple positive short-term effects:

• It stimulates your organs. Laughter causes you to take in more oxygen, which flows to your heart, lungs, and muscles. It also causes your brain to release more endorphins or “feel-good” chemicals.
• It activates and then relieves your body’s stress response. It genuinely feels good to laugh. Laughing hard first ramps up and then cools down your stress response, first increasing and then decreasing your blood pressure. It leaves you with a pleasant, relaxed feeling afterward.
• It soothes tension. Laughter can alleviate stress by stimulating circulation and helping your muscles relax.

In the long-term

• It improves your immune system. Negative thoughts can physically drag you down, manifesting “into chemical reactions that can affect your body by bringing more stress into your system and decreasing your immunity.” Positive thoughts, in contrast, “can actually release neuropeptides that help fight stress and potentially more-serious illnesses.”
• It relieves pain. Laughter may alleviate pain by causing the body to produce more of its own natural painkillers.
• It increases personal satisfaction. Laughter connects you with others and can provide a wonderful coping mechanism in difficult situations.
• It lifts your mood. Laughter can help decrease stress, alleviate the symptoms of depression and anxiety, and make you feel happier. It even boosts self-esteem.

What if you’re not funny?

If you haven’t got a great sense of humor, don’t despair. You don’t have to be personally funny to experience laughter’s positive effects. Besides, humor can be learned.

• Find the funny around you. Surround yourself with photos, comics, or cards that make you chuckle. Watch funny movies, TV shows, or comedy routines. Search for humorous podcasts or videos online for a daily pick-me-up.
• Learn to laugh at yourself. Try not to take your mistakes so seriously. Find a way to laugh at your own difficult situations, and you’ll discover it alleviates stress. Even if it feels forced at first, genuine laughter often follows. It truly does your body good to laugh.
• Share a laugh. Spend time with friends or family who make you laugh. Play silly games or share jokes or funny stories with those around you. You can even try “laughter yoga,” where people practice laughter as a group. What starts out as forced laughter soon turns into spontaneous outbursts. Laughter can be contagious.

Not convinced? Why not give it try? Think of something funny. Allow yourself to smile. Let yourself laugh out loud.Then see how you feel. A giggle may or may not give way to an outright guffaw, but chances are, you’ll feel tension subsiding. That’s the power of laughter at work.

Learn more from the Mayo Clinic here.

Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash