Five Benefits from Laughing Until Your Cheeks Hurt

Last weekend we had friends over to celebrate an old friend moving to town. The kids were laughing while chasing one another through the house until they settled on Mario Kart, never to be seen again…until we announced they could have dessert :)

The adults were listening to music, eating good food, telling stories, and laughing…a lot! It was the kind of laughter that makes your cheeks hurt the next day. The kind of laughter that makes you smile just remembering it. Laughter feels good in your body, and science supports its positive benefits.

Laughter is good medicine. Laughter has many benefits including:
1. Decreases stress hormones like cortisol
2. Increases natural feel-food chemicals like endorphins
3. Boosts your immune system
4. Lowers blood pressure
5. Produces a general sense of well-being

In addition to laughing with friends or at a funny movie, it’s also important to be able to laugh at ourselves. Taking ourselves too seriously and being too hard on ourselves sends us down an unnecessary negative thought spiral. Once there, we tend to see the world with that negative perspective.

Be gentle with yourself. You are learning and figuring it out. Try making intentional and spontaneous laughter a part of your day!