Laughter

I love to laugh. Sometimes I’m criticized for my loud guffaws. But more often people tell me they love my laugh. They say it’s infectious.

Remember that Mary Poppins song, “I love to laugh,” that’s could be my anthem. And I love to hear other people laughing. But whether we are giggling or cackling, it turns out that we laugh for all sorts of reasons, some of them quite odd.

Laughter is infectious. That’s why laugh tracks exist. And it’s why when one person laughs at a joke, other people will end up laughing too. According to Robert Provine, a neuroscientist and Professor of Psychology at the University of Maryland, laughter is a social structure that connects us with each another. He says that people are 30% more likely to laugh in a social setting than watching something funny on our own.

Laughter can be uncontrollable. When we’re in stressful situations, sometimes our brains turn on the laughter switch as a way of reducing our stress and calming us down. Termed “nervous laughter,” it often makes us feel awkward, but it still lets us blow off steam.

Belly laughs are the most honest. Have you ever laughed so hard your tummy hurts? I laugh like this all the time. When they were living at home, my children would run into the room to watch me gasping for breath, tears streaming down my face.

It’s a good idea to figure out what makes you giggle and snort since laughter can have an analgesic affect. After being told he had an illness that wasn’t curable, Norman Cousins put himself on a belly laugh routine and said, in his book, Anatomy of an Illness, that 10 minutes of genuine belly laughter would give him at least two hours of pain-free sleep.

While I can’t imagine laughing quietly, it’s a skill worth developing. Sometimes I try to hold my laughter in, and end up sounding like a cross between a bunch of bees and a cow mooing. Not pretty. But pretty funny.

Have you heard of laughter yoga? If you don’t think you laugh enough, you might want to take up the practice… there are now thousands of places to join this unique form of exercise. Turns out laughter stimulates blood circulation and improves lung capacity. And if you belly laugh, it’s great for your abs.

So I’m not giving up my laugh, no matter how some people may respond. It’s a part of me, one of the very best parts, and I love it.