You are listening to the Overthinkers Guide to Joy episode 37. This is the one
where I'm going to talk about why laughter is the best medicine. Let's dive in.
This is a podcast for overthinkers, overdoers and overachievers who are tired of
feeling over anxious and just want to feel better. I'm your host, certified life
coach, Jackie de Crinis.
Hi there and welcome back. So today I want to talk about laughter. Now you may not
know this about me but I love to laugh and in the same breath that I say that I
have to admit it's incredibly hard to make me laugh. Most of the time when I think
something's funny I will smile and say that's funny. Kind of deadpan, kind of not
laughing but I really love laughing and I love humor and I love people who are
funny or great storytellers. I particularly love people who are clever at turning a
phrase. Now, like so many things, humor is incredibly subjective.
I worked in the world of comedy. I worked on sitcoms for many years before I
became a drama television executive. So I spent a lot of time with comedy writers
and comedy actors. And I worked with live audiences and also just on sound stages.
And I can tell you that there is so much interpretation of what is funny,
what's funny on the page, what's funny when an actor says it, what's funny when
it's in front of a live audience. And it varies drastically. Most people seem to
love slapstick or physical comedy. That's always kind of a low hanging fruit form of
comedy. It's just not my jam. People falling downstairs, slipping on banana peels,
pies in the face, fart jokes, bathroom humor, just not my thing. My favorite happens
to be a good observational comedian. Someone who can talk about everyday life and
human dynamics and just make you laugh. My family, on the other hand, loves good
physical comedy. My husband adores old fashioned slapstick and pratfalls and everything
from old Bob Hope movies to just like crazy, silly physical comedies.
My kids are the same way. But I also love just great tellers.
My middle daughter got the gift of storytelling. But ironically, her boyfriend and
his family don't think she's funny at all. And she'll often say, "Do you know how
funny I am?" I think personally, she's hilarious. And she would often call me on
her way home from work from a job she used to hate. It was a sales job. And she
would tell me once a week, twice a week, the worst thing that happened to her that
day. Now, a lot of times she would call me like in tears because she was so
frustrated with her job. It was not what she had studied in college. She didn't
really want to be in sales. She hated commuting an hour each way, barely earning
minimum wage. She had a lazy manager and she said her clients would just be so
rude. But by the time she got halfway through her story of the day, I would be
doubled over in laughter. Now, if I was driving the car, and this has happened
multiple times, I literally had to pull over my car from laughing so hard. So my
laughter at the recap of her bad day would then make her anger dissipate. Her tears
would turn into laughter too, and I would tell her that this would be a great
chapter in a book, or a great short story if she could just write it down. And
just even one of her stories would immediately change my mood for the better for
the rest of my day. And just telling her stories and hearing my laughter would make
her feel better. So recently I've been listening to experts talk about the role
laughter plays in our everyday lives. And it turns out that we are 30 times more
likely to laugh when we're with someone else. This is why comedy movies play so
well in theaters, this is why stand -up shows play so well with a big live
audience, this is why when we're with a friend we tend to laugh more than when
we're by ourselves, there is a strong connection between laughter and social
interactions. and laughter itself is contagious. Laughter also creates curiosity.
And when people hear other people laughing, they want to know why something is
funny. Laughter is also a form of intimacy. So the more you laugh in a
relationship, the stronger the bond is between people. And this is true of romantic
and non -romantic relationships. Laughter actually regulates your emotions and it helps
you reconnect to others. Laughter has a biological release built into our brains.
It creates a flood of chemicals that makes you feel happy, kind of like an opiate
without any side effects. This is why they say laughter is the best medicine.
So here's some physical benefits to laughing. Laughter sends a wave of electricity to
your cerebral cortex. So it literally lights up your brain and stimulates it.
There is some theory that the more you laugh, the smarter you become. Now a really
good laugh can sometimes make you cry, which is even a better release than crying
the way you might at like the end of a sad movie because you're releasing happy
chemicals while getting the benefit of a good cry. And when you laugh, you relax.
You give a break to your central nervous system. Your tight muscles start to melt
and your overthinking brain gets a break because it's really hard to worry about
something else when you're laughing your butt off. So laughter boosts your immune
system. It increases your body's production of antibodies and T cells, and those are
the things that help you fight off disease. When we laugh, we release a cocktail of
neurotransmitters. The first is endorphins. This is what makes people feel high on
life. The second is reduction in cortisol, which reduces your stress.
And the third is dopamine, which is the same chemical that is released when we're
having sex. This is why laughter makes us feel more bonded with others. So here's
another thing. Humor is one of the most important leadership skills in business.
Behavioral scientists Jennifer Aker and corporate strategist Naomi Bigdonus teach a
course at Stanford Business School, where they talk about the surprising power of
humor in leadership. It turns out most people don't laugh at work.
Studies show that we laugh a lot as children, and then when we enter the workforce,
humor or laughter falls off a cliff. They say in their TED Talk,
the good news is we start laughing again around the age of 80. But the bad news
is that the average life expectancy is 78. So at the risk of a bad pun,
this is no laughing matter. It turns out that leaders with a good sense of humor
see 27 % more productivity in the workplace. And those leaders with a sense of humor
have a more bonded and creative team underneath them. And in advertising or
marketing, humor always sells. Sales increase 20 % by adding one line of levity to a
sales pitch. Apparently, humor makes people sound more human.
And that is the most important thing in terms of making people feel like they can
trust you. Even a bad joke or sharing a funny personal story has more impact than
no joke or no humor at all. Now I can say from personal experience my happiest
memories of my career in television were working with colleagues and bosses that made
me laugh. They were my best mentors, they were my best executives, and they were my
favorite people. Knowing that under extreme stress that I had friends and colleagues
who could make me laugh, would just make everything better. And I relied on it.
I had teams for most of my career who had wicked senses of humor,
and we would just close the door after a stressful, big corporate meeting,
and we would just laugh. So finding humor, whether it's in reading,
sharing a story, watching TV, going to the movies, going to a comedy club, or just
connecting with people who make you laugh will have so many benefits. It will make
you feel more relaxed. It'll make you smarter. It'll make you feel more connected.
And most of all, it'll just make everything seem more fun, even the hard stuff.
So laughter is not only the best medicine, it may just be the best way to manage
a team, have a successful relationship, and even raise your kids.
If you can find the humor in the absurdity, the difficulty, or even just the
mundanity of life, you are likely to reduce your anxiety and feel better emotionally
and physically. So your assignment for today is to go find a good laugh whether
it's on YouTube or Netflix or the movies or just calling a friend see if today
doesn't just get a little bit brighter after you have a great laugh all right
friends that's what I have for you today it's short and sweet but I hope you have
a good laugh somewhere in your day and I hope it's a great week. I'll talk to you
soon. Bye for now. Thank you for listening to this episode of The Overthinker's
Guide to Joy. If you're enjoying these episodes, please subscribe or follow this
podcast so you can always be in the know when the next episode drops. If you would
like to learn more about working with me as a coach, you can connect with me
through my website at jackiedecrinis.com. That's J -A -C -K -I -E -D -E -C -R -I -N -I -S
dot com.
