A popular phrase states, "Laughter is the best medicine," but you may not know that many medical professionals are now including humor as part of therapy for arthritis, cancer, and various illnesses in children. Laughter has actual physical benefits because it stimulates the circulatory system and immune system. A good hearty laugh will increase breathing, oxygen use and get your blood pumping. Stress-related hormones are reduced, while helpful endorphins are released, assisting in pain management. You should also know that the positive physical and mental effects of humor therapy work just as well for any stresses in your life, like difficulties with family, struggles at your job, or the pressures of school. Whether your troubles are small or large, humor can help ease the burden. Read on to learn use humor therapy for stress management and give you a better quality of life.
Instructions
1. Passive humor therapy. This form of humor therapy involves the use of humorous TV, movies, or books. If you feel overwhelmed by pressures in your life, taking some time alone to have a good laugh can be very beneficial. Curl up in a quiet room with a funny book or lie on the couch watching stand-up comedy on TV. Books are also great for stressful situations like airplane delays and waiting for a doctor's appointment. Dave Barry books are good examples. You can open his book to any page and in a few seconds you'll be laughing like crazy and forgetting completely about where you are.
2. Active humor therapy. Active therapy is more spontaneous, arising out of every day life and interactions with others. While having time to yourself is beneficial, it's also healthy to maintain relationships with others. Going to see a comedy with friends generally makes everything ten times funnier, greatly increasing the benefits of humor for both you and them. Having a laugh with a friend strengthens social and emotional connections that can carry you through difficult times.
3. Interact with children. Children are the essence of spontaneity. You're never sure what they're going to say or do and looking at the world through their eyes can give you a completely different and more positive perspective on life. Kids are also eager to test out their humor and are happy to make you laugh--not to mention the times when they say or do something unintentionally hilarious that will have you in stitches.
4. Play with pets. Pets are often used as calming influences for people in the hospital or with social anxiety. Active animals like cats and dogs can also be therapeutic by bringing humor into your day. Watch your cat attack a toy mouse and bat it enthusiastically around the room, then climb curiously inside a paper bag on the floor. Our dog constantly makes us laugh by carrying around her stuffed pink flamingo toy with the long striped legs dangling out of one side of her mouth--then she'll drop it and start biting it as if it had attacked her. Animals can bring more spontaneous laughter (and active humor therapy) into your life as well as positive feelings and interactions.
5. Laugh at your situation. Roosevelt said the only thing we have to fear is fear itself. Laughing at a person or difficult event in your life removes its power over you. Much like the practice of a "good cry," a good laugh at your circumstances can help release pent-up emotions that are causing you pain. It can also temporarily distract you from your troubles, and more importantly, it breaks the cycle of negative thinking and emotions. If you can find the humor in even the most dire of circumstances, you can regain power over your life and reduce your stress.
6. Laugh at your situation with friends. Everyone has that one friend that has a knack for saying the most inappropriate things with no editing filter--and we all have that friend because we need them. Sometimes you need others to point out the humor in your own situations, and give you some much needed perspective. This also takes the burden off, when you can share your troubles and poke fun at them together. Going out for lunch with coworkers and laughing at Bob's over-the-top impression of your domineering boss can quickly lighten the mood and make going back to your desk that much easier.
7. Try some creative venting. Just like kids drawing a mustache on a hated teacher in the school yearbook, you can find creative ways to have a laugh over stressful situations. Paint outrageous self-portraits. Start an online blog or comic to portray your life in a humorous way. Be as outlandish as you like. Make your mother-in-law into a wildebeest or your gossipy coworker into a purple hyena. Like the Patronus charm in the Harry Potter books, taking something you fear and making it ridiculous removes its power. Creative outlets also give you an ongoing way to deal with your stress and help you look at life with more humor.
8. Make your laughs hearty. A smirk or giggle can give your mood a lift, but a good belly laugh is what really gets your system going. A good laugh has the same physical and mood elevating effects as exercise. It works the lungs, heart, diaphragm, abs, and even shoulders if you really get into it. If you've never gotten to the point of being too tired to laugh another second, you aren't doing it right. Laugh hard and get all the stress-busting benefits that you can.
9. Laugh whether you want to or not. Being amused causes you to laugh, but it can work in reverse--forcing yourself to laugh at nothing can actually make you amused. Experts now advise courses of laughter exercises and practice makes perfect. Start out with the laugh and eventually the good feelings will follow.
Tags: your life, humor therapy, good laugh, your troubles, humor therapy