Being More Deliberate About Laughing

As winter approaches and less daylight threatens to dampen our spirits we can do something deliberate to bring joy and optimism into our lives. We can choose to laugh more. Being deliberate about laughing will mean different things to different people. Some people love Mr. Bean, others not so much. Slapstick makes some smile and others cringe. We have individual tastes in humour and exploring what makes us laugh in a positive feel-good way is a great way to invest in ourselves and improve wellbeing over the winter.

A study (Tan et al., 2007) on people who had suffered heart attacks looked at the effect of watching 30 minutes of self-selected comedy daily over the year following heart attack. Compared with another group who had suffered heart attacks but did not watch daily comedy, the comedy-watching group demonstrated lower blood pressure and fewer recurrences of heart attacks. In this group comedy seemed to enhance recovery.

There are many ways that we can bring laughter into our lives deliberately. In fact, it could be said that laughter is potentially such an important and widely available contributor to improved health and wellbeing that it should not be left to chance. The Greater Good Science Center at the University of California, Berkeley was started in 2001 to explore the science of a meaningful life and what lies at the roots of happy and compassionate individuals. The Center not only conducts research into well-being, it also offers many courses and resources to put the research into action to improve people’s social and emotional well-being, both at home and at work. 

It is not surprising to see in one of the latest communications from The Greater Good Center that they recommend laughing deliberately as a way to boost mood. The Share a Laugh practice, only takes 5 minutes and will put a smile on your face.

The idea of being deliberate about bringing more laughter into daily life may seem a little strange and somewhat contrived. We know that the vast majority of laughter occurs in social interactions with others (not watching comedy alone), so why not try approaching one day with a smile on your face every time you look at another person. Smiling invites connection. Connection leads to laughter.