The sense of humour facilitates us to live existence positively and assists us to surround ourselves with those who feel very good by our side. The taste of fun and laughter is one of the funniest things we can enjoy, and they are also free. Actually, there are few healthful things to laugh at- as it improves our overall and emotional health.
According to a survey, stress will be the primary cause of most deaths by 2022. Therefore, you should spread happiness around you in any possible way. Today, every person needs it very much.
Did you know that laughter is used in psychological therapy? This is what is known as laughter therapy. I am going to tell you more about the benefits of humour in the following 10 points.
01. Strengthen Social Interaction & Bonding
Laughter and humour enhance mood and help us feel better. When this happens to us, we have the ability to extend it towards others. People are attracted to people who smile and make people laugh. In two experiments done in Sweden, the relationship between attractiveness and smiles was studied. They discovered that the more reliable and more frequent a smile was, the more attractive the person was considered, and the more beautiful the face was valued.
And why are we losing this capacity over the years? One of the latest studies on the sense of humour considered that adults usually laugh between 15 and 100 times a day, compared to an average of 300 times a day for children.
Children are more spontaneous and analyze less the consequences that an event can have in the long term in their lives. Maybe the secret is to laugh without shame and enjoy a good laugh without hesitation.
02. Benefits in Our Cognitive Abilities
Laughter captures our attention so that someone who makes us laugh becomes an attractive person. Therefore, the sense of humour also favours the retention of information.
A study carried out by Melisa B. Wanzer, published in the scientific journal Communication Education, states that humour catches the attention of the people surrounding the humorist – whether person or circumstance -, facilitates the understanding of what happens or of the facts presented and energizes the content processing. In other words, the sense of humour paddles in favour of learning.
Understanding jokes also requires creativity, speed, ease, in addition to other resources that are rationally more difficult to acquire. Bringing a positive vision of the problems, a way out of reality, and a moment of fun only improves cognitive functions, the immune system, and our social relationships.
03. Benefits in Our Overall Health
A sense of humour increases blood pressure and reduces anxiety. Psychoneuroimmunology is based on the discovery of many connections between the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord), endocrine system (responsible for hormone secretion), and the immune system (responsible for producing antibodies against disease).
One of the conclusions drawn from studies conducted in this area is that a positive mood protects us from diseases and improves the prognosis of others, such as cancer, diabetes, and asthma… and the sense of humour is precisely a great pillar of that positive mood.
When we laugh, our body releases endorphins, serotonin, and dopamine, which improves the feeling of calm and reduces the perception of pain. With this, we also managed to improve the current vision of the problems, reducing in many cases, the concern to ridicule them.
The sense of humour allows us to relax the muscles and lower blood pressure, so it is a great way to keep the heart healthy and reduce the chances of having a heart attack or stroke.
04. Increase self-esteem
Laughter allows us to separate the sense of ridicule and take our lives in a good mood and with more relaxation, which can lead to an improvement in our self-esteem. In fact, if we laugh at ourselves, we will be more relaxed than if we are waiting for the negative assessment that others can make of us.
Sometimes we need to disconnect from things that stress us, and humour is an excellent way to do it. Laughter gives us a positive mood in general.
When we are in a good mood, we usually generate more positive thoughts. Laughter can help us relativize difficulties and begin to create a good state of mind that leads us to optimism and greater well-being.
And, as Charlie Chaplin said, a day without laughing is a lost day.
05. Humour Boosts Productivity
An employee who laughs continuously with his office colleagues has a greater willingness to perform their tasks, which has an impact on obtaining quality and effective results. Also, it increases overall productivity.
A stimulating, creative and fun work environment enhances individual energy and job satisfaction. People who have more fun at work usually work more and get better results. –Peter Lewis.
06. Humour Reduces Stress
The brain is connected to the endocrine system that is responsible for the segregation of hormones. When laughing, one of the effects that occur is the reduction of the hormone called cortisol, known as “stress hormone.” This hormone, in fact, is used as an indicator in the tests to see the degree of stress to which a person is exposed.
Logically, many variables cause stress, but we have the possibility that the situation does not end with us. Taking life with humour helps to adapt better to hostile environments. Humour secrets pleasure and happiness hormones, and in fact, laughter activates the dopamine hormone, associated with various hedonic pleasures.
07. Improves Breathing
When we are laughing, the amount of air pumped by the lungs triples; by expanding the pulmonary alveoli three times more than during normal breathing. Hence, when we are drinking or eating something, and suddenly we start laughing, we get choked. Since the airflow increases in a matter of seconds and everything comes in faster than we calculated. Also, this makes the skin more oxygenated, so they say that laughing has a rejuvenating effect.
08. Substitute For Meditation
Laughter, by reducing stress, has been linked to a discharge of energy that produces relaxing results, helping to fall asleep better and making it more restful. Even 1 minute of laughter has been equated with 45 minutes of meditation, not only for its immediate relaxing effects but for the wide variety of long-term beneficial effects.
09. Reduce the Sensation of Pain
When laughing, we secrete endorphins, substances that are related to a feeling of well-being, and the consequences of which are matched to those of morphine. One of its properties is its analgesic effect, reducing the sensation of pain, with implications even 20 times more effective than some medications.
10. It Has Similar Effects to Orgasm
Laughing produces in our body a series of changes. For example, our body temperature rises, our skin becomes red, a large number of muscles in our body contract intermittently, our breathing accelerates, our eyes get wet when we finish laughing there is a feeling of unease… So What, what are you waiting for to start laughing?
I also personally say –
“Laughter is contagious, like yawning. So, spread this virus for good.”
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