Celebrating World Laughter Day

Spending some time laughing today could be just what the doctor ordered!

Laughter is something that is good for each one of us; it's something that we can all do and it's something that we all like to do.

We might only laugh at certain things or we might find ourselves laughing more or less than the people around us and it's true, that some of us possibly laugh at the wrong occasion but, laughter is something that joins us all together, it's something that we all do and it's something that we can all relate to.

Some of us might laugh at cartoons, some of us might giggle at YouTube or Tik Tok clips and some of us might find amusement in TV comedies or sitcoms, but all of us have something that makes us laugh.

As today, we celebrate and remember laughter on this world laughter day, we can think about the joy that comes from laughter but also we can reflect on the reality of laughter being a great source of stress relief.

Probably more than any other time in human history, people are reflecting on their mental health. There is an openness to talk about it and to acknowledge that it exists, there is also an understanding that many people are struggling with their mental health.

There is much discussion about what we can do, what we should start doing and what we should stop doing, in order to  maintain and improve our mental health.

Although we may not be able to agree on what is funny and what is not funny,  something that we can certainly agree on, is that laughter does not hurt us and does not harm us. 

We also need to see that laughter can be useful in relieving stress, minimizing the impact of stress and possibly even stopping stress happening in the first place.

Laughter and a sense of humour can be a useful tool in maintaining good mental health.

How laughter helps us

Different studies have shown that laughter can have both short term and long-term positive affects on us and on our mental health:

Laughter creates positive thoughts which help us to produce and release neuropeptides that help to protect us from more serious conditions such as anxiety.

Laughter can make it easy, or easier, to cope with difficult situations as it increases our hopefulness.

Laughter in a group situation can help you connect with other people; making someone laugh, or sharing laughter, is a great way of breaking down barriers and becoming closer to someone.

Laughter acts as a natural painkiller helping the body to find release and relief from pain.

Laughter helps to improve your self-esteem,  to have more positive thoughts and increase our own self-satisfaction.

Celebrate this day!

So, there are a number of things that we could do today and on other days that can help to increase the laughter in our lives and the positive impact that it can have on us and other people.

• You could create your own “laughter library” or “laughter collection”. If there are pictures, video clips,  movies, TV shows or books that make you laugh, keep them somewhere for easy access and for continued use. 
• You could even spend time today adding to that collection, we spend so much time on the Internet looking at things and researching things why not spend some time today looking for and gathering some more items for your laughter library?
• You could spend some time today going to watch a comedy movie at the cinema or go to a comedy club, this night not be for everyone as humour is quite personal, so if seeing something new is not for you spend some time watching your favourite comedy movie or TV show.  If there is a podcast that you like that makes you giggle listen to that today.
• You could  also increase the laughter at your workplace, you could spend time making a list or discussing what your favourite comedy movies are or what are your favourite sitcoms.
• At coffee time or lunchtime or even at a staff meeting, you could get people to share their favourite joke or favourite cartoon. Not everybody's workplace or routines make it easy for laughter or humour to be shared, but occasionally all of us need to spend some time with our work colleagues just laughing and especially experiencing a laughter that is shared rather than at someone else’s expense.
• We can spend some time today making other people laugh, we could share a joke, we could post a cartoon, or we could forward a video clip to other people.  We could even use our WhatsApp or Facebook statuses to make people laugh today. 

If it can be believed that as we laugh the world laughs with us, then laughing and making others laugh will do the world some good.

So please give us a big smile and give us an even bigger laugh and celebrate the gift of laughter and of humour.