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Entertainment and pleasant surprises, and the laughter they provoke, add texture to the fabric of everyday life.
Those giggles and big laughs can seem silly and throwaway. But laughing at funny events actually takes a lot of work. many areas of the brain: those that control movement, emotion, cognition, and social processing.
What I learned by writing “”Introduction to the psychology of humor‘, researchers are now appreciating the power of laughter to improve physical and mental health.
A person begins to laugh in infancy, which helps in the development of muscles and muscles. upper body strengthLaughter is more than breathing. It relies on a complex combination of facial muscles and often involves movement of the eyes, head and shoulders.
Laughing, or watching it, activates multiple areas of the brain. The frontal lobe that helps us understand context. The limbic system that regulates positive emotions. Turning on all these circuits strengthens neural connections and helps a healthy brain coordinate its activity.
By activating neural pathways for emotions such as joy and laughter, laughter improves mood and reduces physical and emotional responses to stress. For example, laughing can help control brain levels of the neurotransmitter serotonin. Similar to any antidepressant do. By minimizing the brain’s response to threat, it limits the release of neurotransmitters and hormones such as cortisol. cardiovascular system, metabolic system, immune system over time.the way you smile is similar antidote to stressweakens these systems and increases vulnerability to disease.
read more: Was the joke funny or offensive? Who says it matters
A good sense of humor and subsequent laughter depends on adequate measures of social intelligence and working memory resources.
Laughter, like humor, usually sparks from recognition absurdity or absurdity of the situation. It is necessary to mentally resolve surprising actions and events. If you don’t, you can’t laugh. You might get confused instead. infer the intentions of others, take their point of view It can increase the intensity of laughter and entertainment you feel.
To “get” a joke or humorous situation, you need to be able to see the bright side of things.You have to believe that non-literal possibilities exist — think about it It is interesting to see cartoons in which animals talk“far side”
read more: Joy is Good for Your Body and Mind — 3 Ways to Feel Joy More Often
Many cognitive and social skills work together to help us monitor when and why laughter occurs during conversations. You don’t even have to hear laughter to laugh. Deaf signers punctuate sign sentences Laughing, like a letter emoji.
Laughter creates bonds and increases intimacy with others.Linguist Don Nilsen points out giggles and stomach laughs rarely happens when alone, supporting their strong social role. From an early age, an infant’s laughter is an external sign of joy that helps strengthen their bond with their parents.
Later, it is an external sign that shares appreciation for the situation.For example, speakers comedian To make the audience feel closer psychologically and create intimacy, try to make them laugh.
By practicing a little laughter every day, you can improve social skills that you can’t acquire naturally. When you laugh in response to humor, you share your feelings with others and know that your reactions will not be accepted, shared, enjoyed, rejected, ignored, or disliked by others. Learn from risks.
In studies, psychologists found that Type A personality traitsWomen with these traits, including competitiveness and time urgency, tend to laugh more, whereas women with these traits laugh less. You laugh better.
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Positive psychology researchers study how people live meaningful lives and thrive. Laughter creates positive emotions that lead to this kind of prosperity. These emotions such as entertainment, happiness, conviviality, and joy are built up. Improved resilience and creative thinkingThey enhance subjective well-being and satisfaction in lifeResearchers believe that these positive emotions experienced by humor and laughter are understand the meaning of life Help older people to have a conscientious view of the challenges they have faced in their lives.
Laughter for entertainment is a healthy coping mechanism.When we laugh, we take ourselves and situations less seriously, and we may feel: empowered to solve problemsFor example, psychologists measured the frequency and intensity of laughter in 41 people over a two-week period, along with assessments of physical and mental stress. They are, experience more laughter, the lower the reported stress. It didn’t matter if the intensity of the laughter was strong, moderate, or weak.
Maybe you’re looking to get some of these benefits for yourself.Can laughter work for you?
Use humor and laughter to help clients build trust and Improving the working environmenta review of five different studies found that Happiness measure increased After the laughter intervention. sometimes called home play Instead of homework, these interventions take the form of daily humorous activities. Watch funny comedies with funny people, or write down three funny things that happened to her today.
You can practice laughing by yourself. Deliberately introduce perspectives that appreciate the interesting aspects of the event. laughter yoga It is a technique that uses the respiratory muscles to achieve the positive physical responses of natural laughter and forced laughter (hahahihihoho).
Researchers today certainly aren’t laughing off its value, but much of the research into the effects of laughter on mental and physical health is based on self-reported measures. Further psychological experiments on the situation may support the importance of laughing throughout the day and suggest further ways to intentionally exploit its benefits.
Read more: How to Find Joy Through Play as an Adult
