You know what they say, a laugh a day will keep the doctor away… or was that apples?
Nope definitely laughter it makes way more sense…
I think.
Well anyway after thoroughly screwing up that intro I say it’s time to get into the video.
So, is laughter the best medicine?
It’s free, so you know, it’s got that going for it.
But does it really help us as much as people say?
Well after doing a fair bit of research and experimentation I’ve come to the conclusion
that laughter can have a far more powerful positive effect on us than most of us realize.
And today I’m going to talk about the most interesting benefits of laughter and why we
should probably be doing it more.
So every morning it’s the same routine, you wake up to an alarm blaring, you roll
over and groggily smash the snooze button 2 or 3 times because when you’re half asleep
you can never seem to actually hit the right spot the first time.
Then you get up, exhausted, and stumble into the bathroom to get ready for the day… or
fall right back to sleep… or maybe that’s just me I’m not really a morning person.
But would you believe me if I told you that laughter can actually help fix this entire
problem?
Well I hope so because as it turns out it does.
This is because laughing boosts your oxygen intake and releases endorphins, which are
the feel-good hormones that make you feel happy.
These natural reactions to laughing means that a good laugh can provide you with a full-body
wake-up call and make you feel more energized and refreshed.
And I don’t know about you but being the night-owl that I am, I was determined to put
this theory to the test and to my pleasant surprise it worked…
I mean on the days that I managed to stay awake long enough to find the remote and turn
on the TV to something funny.
Oh well, something’s better than nothing.
Moving along, a second benefit of laughter is that it makes you feel better.
Have you ever been stressed at work or school, maybe because somebody is being mean to you
that day, but then a friend says something hilarious and you start laughing so hard that
for a brief moment there you seem to forget your troubles.
It’s amazing how much better a good laugh can make us feel in just about any situation.
A third interesting benefit to laughing more is that it can actually increase your immunity.
Did you know that our own negative thoughts can manifest themselves into chemical reactions
in your body?
I didn’t either, but according to the Mayo Clinic they can.
This is because negative thoughts can bring more stress into your system which in turn
lowers your immunity.
On the bright side, laughter can help fix this.
Because a fourth benefit of laughter is that it reduces stress in the body by initially
firing up and then cooling down our body’s stress response resulting in that good, relaxed
feeling that we all know so well.
Which again in turn helps to increase our immunity.
And that’s really good because after being practically knocked out by the flu last week,
I’m sure I could do with a couple extra points to add to my immunity skill if you
know what I mean.
Interestingly laughter can also relieve some amount of physical tension by stimulating
greater circulation throughout our body.
A fifth benefit of laughter is purely physiological because in addition to releasing endorphins
and increasing your oxygen intake in the morning laughter also promotes heart health by reducing
blood pressure and improving blood flow.
And speaking of health, a sixth benefit of laughter is that it actually works your abs.
While it won’t give you rock hard abs by itself it can help tone them a little.
When you laugh, the muscles in your stomach expand and contract, similar to when you intentionally
exercise your abs.
And staying on the health theme, a seventh benefit of laughter is that it has actually
been shown to burn calories.
It may not be enough to replace your regular workouts but it could give you a little extra
boost as well as make the workout a little more fun.
In a study done by the International Journal of Obesity laughing raises your heart rate
resulting in about 10-40 calories burned over 15 minutes of laughter.
So the next time you see that old guy laughing hysterically while running on the treadmill
you’ll know why.
Because with great age comes great wisdom.
Yeah…
I’m just kidding don’t laugh hysterically while you're sprinting on a treadmill it’s
incredibly hard to run while laughing like that.
And you wind up lying on the floor staring at the ceiling while everyone around you burns
an extra 10-40 calories every 15 minutes for the rest of the night at your expense…
Not-not-that-that ever happened to me.
I’ve just heard stories.
Anyway-an eighth benefit of laughter is that it boosts your mood and confidence.
In addition to reducing stress and releasing endorphins to make yourself feel better like
I’ve already mentioned having the ability to laugh at yourself when you make a mistake
can help you handle a mistake as if it’s no big deal.
This is because the laughter gives you a moment or two to step back and analyze the situation
before dealing with it or even improvising your way through it.
It also helps that you’re reducing your stress levels.
The two really go hand in hand.
A ninth benefit of laughter is that it increases our social connection with other people.
It’s hard not to think of someone fondly when a good portion of your time with them
is spent laughing.
And as we’ve already covered laughter reduces stress and can calm your nerves so finding
something to do that will make you laugh can be a great thing to focus on when trying to
decide what to do with someone when you’re just getting to know them.
And finally to close out the video, a tenth benefit of laughter is that it can help you
get through difficult times.
This is one benefit we’ve all experienced at one point or another.
Whether it was a break-up, a car accident, family or relationship drama, or just bad
days in general they all seem worse at the time that they’re happening.
But sometimes you look back at it and find yourself laughing a little and suddenly it
doesn’t seem all that bad.
So those are ten benefits of laughter that you might not have known before watching this
video.
I hope you guys enjoyed it and maybe laughed a little yourself.
I had a lot of fun testing out some of these assertions as well as making the video.
I think the most interesting one for me was that laughing could actually help you wake
up in the morning.
And I did test it for this video and it did help.
But there were still days where I was really tired and just couldn’t really laugh and
when those days came around I found that standing up really helped.
I suppose that’s because standing and walking around promotes better circulation so it helps
you get up and stay up.
So I’d say that the laughing to wake up thing helps but it definitely works much better
if you’re standing or walking around as well.
But anyway, let me know what you thought of this video in the comments section below and
if you’re new and you liked the video be sure to subscribe for future updates.
I upload videos on a variety of topics including productivity, career tips, personal finance,
book summaries, and health related videos like this one.
But that’ll do it for me today.
Thanks for watching and have a great day!