Laughter is the best medicine
Charlie Chaplin once said, “A day without laughter is a day wasted.”
When was the last time you had one of those awesome laughing fits where your stomach hurt afterwards? I can seriously only think of one time in the last year, and it was with friends at an outdoor meal, laughing over something so silly I’d be embarrassed to mention it here.
According to Dr. Jennifer Aaker and Naomi Bagdonas, authors of Humor, Seriously, we could all use more levity in our lives, and it doesn’t have to be limited to our personal relationships.
Laughter releases the connection-creating hormone oxytocin (the hormone that helps with creating connection), and decreases the stress and flight hormones cortisol (the stress hormone linked to anxiety) and epinephrine (our flight hormone) by 39% and 70% respectively.
Curious about how to include more humor into your day? Start by discovering your humor style.–magnet, sniper, stand-up or sweetheart. Take this scientifically- based quiz to find out yours!
Turns out I’m a sweetheart :-) Which means I prefer to plan out my humor in advance versus make it up on the fly. I can get behind a good-natured prank, as long as it doesn't hurt anyone's feelings, and I . I prefer my humor to fly under the radar, not needing the spotlight.
Here's to not wasting another day and, as the author Naomi says, “Living your life on the precipice of a smile!”
If you take the humor quiz, let me know which humor style you are!
In levity,
Bijal
P.S. Giveaway alert! Order a copy of Humor Seriously then fill out this form and Jennifer and Naomi will give you the Humor Seriously Bootcamp, a 21-day coaching experience via audio and text-based prompts on your phone, at 50% off. Let me know if you sign up for the bootcamp – we can test out our humor on each other!
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Bijal Choksi, MA, CHPC, ACC