Humour that stress
Interestingly, in the era in which we are talking a lot about stress, we are also seeing a rise in the need for comedy around the world. It’s not a coincidence. It’s our instinct that is drawing us towards humour. As nature has designed each species to protect itself with the best option it has from what it perceives as danger, we are turning to humour to protect ourselves from stress.
How a bit of humour reduces stress?
You feel light after a hearty laugh, and you know it. Many use humour as a coping mechanism to handle stress. It is a healthy and effective habit. For centuries, it has been known that laughter can heal. In fact, even a simple smile helps. Studies show that a smile without any reason still results in the same chemical response in the brain as the one with reason, as your brain receives a message that you are happy. If you can achieve that with a smile, imagine what laughter could do. Humour and laughter play an important role in keeping your physiological and psychological health in check.
Enjoy the time you have on this planet. You are only here to distract yourself till you die. – Loretta Laroche, Humourist, Stress management expert.
A lot of us don’t think we are funny, and life keeps us quite serious. It is necessary to find a way into humour as it makes you feel good, distracts you from issues at hand and revives you. Consciously bringing laughter into your life can help reduce anxiety and anger. Humour is an important character strength. It helps you add a positive outlook to a situation and approach problems with a better frame of mind. Being humorous makes you more resilient and overcome insecurities as it can help you experience positive emotions even in a highly stressful situation and handle the situation better. Further, laughing together with people around you helps in bonding and seeking common ground even among your rivals.
Bringing humour into life
There is no need to stress about something that hasn’t happened. The constant expectation of mishaps can lead to living in stress perpetually. For instance, you wake up and the first thought you have is today is going to be hectic and tiring. You pre-stress and prepare to get tired. Instead, if you used humour as your coping mechanism and say Well, I’ll be cabbage today, not a chance of potato, and laughed a little, you won’t start your day anticipating or feeling stress.
If you are humorous, you already know it, embrace it. If you aren’t, then try to find humour. You have one life. Laugh at yourself now and then, look at yourself in the mirror and laugh at you. Every time you find yourself in a difficult situation, find things to laugh at. It helps in finding a new perspective. Humour doesn’t mean you aren’t serious about something. It is a way to reset your frame of mind or mood and then face the battle. If you enjoy dark comedy and being sarcastic, that’s, okay too, as long as it leans towards a positive impact and does not spew hate.
If being funny is not your trait then find people who can make you laugh. Watch comedies that make you laugh and lighten you up. Play a laughing contest with your friends and family, laughter is contagious and can spread joy and affection.
Embrace funny
Remember, find bizarre reasons to laugh. It does not have to have any meaning or logical reasoning. Try this: tell yourself, you are a happy puppy for the next one hour, and assess everything around you as one, or if you like to go a little dark, then think you are a ghost. How would it be now if you were dead and could haunt people? See, how it feels.
Humour has a lot of benefits. It does not solve your problems, but it does help you cope better. It helps you look at your battles of the past, present and future with positivity, maintain health and improve your overall quality of life.