“Humor is a sacred attribute. Treat it as such, and understand that it is necessary for your inner peace. Inner peace is the energy that will totally replace inner conflict… Let go of the things that your intellect cherishes, such as self-pity and self-criticism. Honor who you are, and start laughing more.” – Kryon
You have probably heard the saying “Laughter is the best medicine.” Well, it’s true! Not only does laughter help to heal your body, it also raises your vibration and is a fun way to be more magnetic to your best life.
Here are 14 reasons to laugh more:
1. Laughter Raises Your Vibration
When you laugh, your body changes its chemical composition and brings you in harmony with the Universe. This is important because your vibrational frequency decides what kind of energies or vibration you attract. Laughing enhances your overall vibration and creates situations that reflects more positive experiences in your life. Laughter adds joy and zest to your life and is true alignment.
2. Laughter Boosts Your Immune System
Studies have revealed that laughing activates your body’s T cells (or immune system cells) to help your body ward off germs, flues, and illness, and the more you laugh and approach life positively, the fewer chronic diseases will develop.
3. Laughter is a Natural Pain Killer
You probably already know that the act of laughing produces endorphins, known as a “happy” brain chemical that acts as a natural pain killer—soothing stress, reducing anxiety, easing chronic pain, and just making you feel better.
4. Laughter Strengthens Your Heart
You could go for a walk or you could laugh – or maybe connect with a friend and do both! Either way, you’re getting a great cardiovascular workout. Like walking, running, and cycling, laughing strengthens the heart muscle by accelerating your heart rate and increasing the amount of oxygen in your blood. It also decreases arterial wall stiffness–a link to cardiovascular disease and helps to decrease and maintain healthy blood pressure levels. According to long-term studies, laughter has been linked to lowering the risk of heart attack and stroke. This gives the saying “Laugh your heart out” a whole new meaning. 🙂
5. Laughter Tones Your Abs
Have you ever laughed so hard that it made your stomach muscles hurt? When you have a good laugh, when you really give it all you’ve got, you can feel that sensation in your abdominal muscles. That’s because the act of laughing causes those muscles to contract (or flex) and relax, kind of like when you’re doing ab crunches. That means when you have a good round of belly laughter, you can count that towards your tummy toning exercises.
6. Laughter Stops Distressing Emotions
You can’t feel anxious, angry, or sad when you’re laughing. And this positive feeling can stay with you even after the laughter subsides. Humor helps you keep a positive, optimistic outlook through difficult situations, disappointments, and loss. It’s more than just a break from sadness and pain, laughter gives you the strength and courage to find new sources of meaning and hope. Even in the most difficult of times, laughing, or even simply a smile, can go a long way toward making you feel better. And laughter really is contagious – just hearing laughter primes your brain and can inspire you to smile and join in the fun.
7. Laughter Banishes Stress
A few moments of laughter will greatly reduce the level of stress hormones (i.e., cortisol) coursing around in your body. Laughter is one of the ways your body can help regulate cortisol. Laughing increases your oxygen intake, which stimulates body circulation and decreases your cortisol levels. Some studies show that just the act of laughing—without having humor in it—can have positive stress-relieving effects.
8. Laughter Helps Ease Depression
When it comes to mood, whether it’s a mild case of the blues or chronic depression, laughter can improve your overall outlook on life. Laughing helps lighten your mood and can lessen chronic depression and anxiety as well as make it easier to cope with challenging situations.
9. Laughter Shifts Perspective
Laughing allows you to see situations in a less threatening light. A humorous perspective creates psychological distance, which can help you avoid feeling overwhelmed and diffuse conflict.
10. Laughter Helps You to Relax
Laughing can help you to relax and recharge. Taking a self-care break and finding things that entertain you can feel like a luxury, but for the sake of your health, it’s essential. Even 15 minutes a day to do something that makes you laugh could help you ease tension and can even contribute to living a longer life. If something strikes you as funny, allow yourself to laugh. Force a fake laugh if you have to and just see what happens.
11. Laughter Brings People Together
Since laughter is contagious you’re much more likely to laugh around other people than when you’re alone. And the more laughter you bring into your own life, the happier you and those around you will feel. Most laughter doesn’t even come from hearing jokes, but rather simply from spending time with friends and family and sharing humor. This is a social aspect that plays such an important role in the health benefits of laughter. To enjoy a good laugh with other people you’ve got to take the time to really engage with them. When you care enough to switch off your phone and really connect face to face, you’re rebalancing the nervous system and stopping defensive stress responses like “fight or flight.” And as you laugh, you’ll both feel happier, more positive, and more relaxed—even if you’re unable to alter a stressful situation.
12. Laughter Strengthens Relationships
Laughing together is one of the most effective tools for keeping relationships fresh and exciting. All emotional sharing builds strong and lasting relationship bonds, but sharing laughter also adds joy and vitality. Humor is a powerful and effective way to heal resentments, disagreements, and hurts, and unites people during difficult times. Humor and playful communication strengthens relationships by fostering emotional connection and triggering positive feelings. When you laugh with someone, a positive bond is created. This bond acts as a strong buffer against disagreements, disappointment, and stress.
13. Laughter Helps Defuse Conflict
Humor is a powerful tool for managing conflict and reducing tension when emotions are running high. Whether with a romantic partner, a friend, a family member, or co-worker, you can learn to use humor to smooth over disagreements, lower everyone’s stress level, and communicate in a way that builds up your relationships rather than breaking them down.
14. Laughter Contributes to a Longer Life
With all the above benefits to your health and well-being, having a sense of humor and laughing on a regular basis will add years to your life.
I invite you to make a commitment to laugh every day. As a conscious creator and an evolving being, it is critical to your physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health. Set time aside in your daily schedule to do something that will make you laugh. To get you started, here’s a couple of fun videos to tickle your funny bone. Enjoy!
