Laughter: Definition, Benefits, & Exercises

Keep reading to gain a better understanding of this complex human emotion including physical and mental benefits, laughter exercises, and laughter quotes. 

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Hopefully, laughter is an emotion you experience and express daily. It is usually a spontaneous vocalization in response to something humorous. Laughter is a social expression of emotion–we are more than 30 times more likely to laugh when we are with another person than if we are alone (Provine, 2004). That’s because laughter is a way that we communicate with other people.

Laughter is:

• An emotion
• A form of communication
• A form of self-expression

I always feel more light-hearted and relaxed after a good laugh and there is evidence to show that laughing can improve your mental health. This happens because the positive emotion of laughter can override other negative emotions you may be experiencing (Saper, 1990). Practicing laughter yoga specifically (explained further below) has been shown to have the following benefits.  

​Positive effects on mental health due to laughter yoga:

• Increased life satisfaction
• Increased quality of life
• Increased cognitive function
• Improved mood and happiness
• Decreased loneliness
• Decreased depression (Kuru Alici & Arikan Dönmez, 2020)

Do you feel like you need a mental health boost? Laughing just might be the answer. You can try calling up a friend to talk about old funny stories or looking up your favorite funny movie moments on YouTube. It might be uncomfortable at first, but replacing negative emotions with happy ones can have a positive effect on your life.

Incorporating a regular laughter yoga practice into your life can have even further physical health benefits.

Positive effects on physical health due to laughter yoga:

• Lower blood pressure
• Lower stress hormones
• Increased sleep quality (Kuru Alici & Arikan Dönmez, 2020)

You may experience all of the mental and physical health benefits of laughter yoga listed above with regular practice. Luckily, the brain is not able to distinguish between spontaneous laughter (occurring randomly between two people) and self-induced laughter (making yourself laugh) (Mora-Ripoll, 2010). This means that you can experience all the benefits of laughter by simply practicing it, even if you might not feel like laughing at the moment.

Yoga is an ancient practice that has been modified for various uses. For example, yoga Nidra aids with deep relaxation, and vinyasa yoga is faster-paced and is better for cardiovascular exercise. Laughter yoga is a practice that incorporates breathing exercises, humor, and expression of joy as a way to relieve stress (Stean, 2009). 

What is laughter yoga?
​“Laughter is simulated by starting as a physical exercise, providing eye contact with other members in the group, and playing games with them. The body cannot distinguish between real and unreal laughter, and laughter begins” (Kuru Alici & Arikan Dönmez, 2020). Laughter yoga is the practice of making yourself laugh, even when you might not feel like it, and can be done either alone or in a group.

The following video explains and demonstrates laughter yoga.

There are many types of therapy like mindfulness-based or cognitive behavioral therapy. Laughter therapy, or humor therapy, can be used to enhance other treatment modalities. 
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The National Cancer Institute defines humor therapy as “a type of therapy that uses humor to help relieve pain and stress and improve a person’s sense of well-being. It may be used to help people cope with a serious disease, such as cancer. Laughter therapy may include laughter exercises, clowns, and comedy movies, books, games, and puzzles.” (n.d.). 

There have been numerous studies that have found laughter therapy improves symptoms of anxiety, depression, and general health (Demir Doğan, 2020). If you are currently working with a therapist, consider asking them about adding humor therapy to your current treatment plan–it can be especially helpful in alleviating negative symptoms of anxiety and depression (Kuru Alici & Arikan Dönmez, 2020).

The main goal of most meditation practices is to be fully in the moment. This can be accomplished through various types of practice from guided mindfulness meditation to transcendental meditation. Laughter meditation brings you fully into the moment by focusing on experiencing joy. This is a bit different from laughter yoga which incorporates breathing and body exercises.
 
A session of laughter meditation can leave you feeling more relaxed and joyful.

Have you ever seen someone laughing and then started laughing yourself, even though you had no idea what was originally so funny? 

You are probably familiar with the concept of a cold being contagious–meaning you can catch it from another person. The same thing can happen with laughter (although you aren’t contracting any germs or viruses). You start laughing because the other person is laughing, not because you think something is funny. The reason behind this is evolutionary; laughter developed as a call-and-response interpersonal communication method (Provine, 2004). Therefore, contagious laughter can be seen as an attempt for deeper communication between people.

Scientists have found that spontaneous human laughter is similar acoustically to known play vocalizations in great apes (Winkler & Bryant, 2021). Hyenas are known for their distinctive call that sounds like a laugh and some dogs look like they are smiling. Since laughter is an emotion, do we know if animals experience it? 

While it is impossible to ask an animal if they are laughing, there has been some research into this. It has been found that rats emit high-pitched chirps when playing and they prefer spending time with animals who chirp a lot vs. animals who chirp very little (Panksepp & Burgdorf, 2003). This indicates the chirps may serve the same social communication function that laughter does in humans. 

The science behind animal laughter and humor can be found in the following video.

I often hear quotes that make me laugh but I rarely hear quotes about laughter itself. This universal human emotion has inspired artists from poets to musicians. Often they write about how laughter builds a connection between people that couldn’t exist without it.
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• “A good laugh heals a lot of hurts.” — Madeleine L’Engle
• “Always laugh when you can. It is cheap medicine.” — Lord Byron
• “At the height of laughter, the universe is flung into a kaleidoscope of new possibilities.” — Jean Houston
• “Laughter is the shortest distance between two people.” — Victor Borge
• “Laughter connects you with people. It’s almost impossible to maintain any kind of distance or any sense of social hierarchy when you’re just howling with laughter. Laughter is a force for democracy.” — John Cleese
• “A smile starts on the lips, a grin spreads to the eyes, a chuckle comes from the belly; but a good laugh bursts forth from the soul, overflows, and bubbles all around.” — Carolyn Birmingham
• “I have always felt that laughter in the face of reality is probably the finest sound there is and will last until the day when the game is called on account of darkness. In this world, a good time to laugh is any time you can.” — Linda Ellerbee

Do you feel more connected to others after you share a laugh with them? Laughing can create a more genuine connection between yourself and the people you share your life with, all the way from co-workers to friends to spouses.

Do you feel like you need more joy in your life? It can be easy to get overwhelmed by events on the news and around the world. Making an effort to incorporate more laughter into your life can help alleviate stress. Consider trying the following activities.

1. Make a YouTube playlist of all your favorite funny TV or movie moments. You don’t have to watch an entire show or movie to get your laughs, which can take a lot of time. Just search for the movie or TV show + funny moments (e.g., Elf funny moments, Mean Girls funny moments, Simpsons funny moments, etc.). From there, you can make a playlist you can quickly view if you need some humor. 
2. Call up a friend or family member to talk about funny stories. Connecting with loved ones is important for our health. Connection through laughter can be even more beneficial. The next time you remember a funny story, call or text someone to reminisce about it. 
3. Have a silly game night with loved ones. You can play classics like charades or Pictionary or try a new game such as Pie Face. Consider playing games that don’t emphasize competition and rather focus on having fun.
4. Incorporate laughter exercises, like yoga and meditation. Since your brain cannot tell the difference between spontaneous and self-simulated laughter, you can experience benefits by practicing laughter exercises.

Want to learn more? Check out these articles:​​​

• Buchowski, M. S., Majchrzak, K. M., Blomquist, K., Chen, K. Y., Byrne, D. W., & Bachorowski, J.-A. (2006). Energy expenditure of genuine laughter. International Journal of Obesity, 31(1), 131–137.
• Demir Doğan, M. (2020). The effect of laughter therapy on anxiety. Holistic Nursing Practice, 34(1), 35–39.
• Kuru Alici, N., & Arikan Dönmez, A. (2020). A systematic review of the effect of laughter yoga on physical function and psychosocial outcomes in older adults. Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice, 41, 101252. 
• Levine, J., Melanson, E. L., Westerterp, K. R., & Hill, J. O. (2003). Tracmor system for Measuring Walking Energy Expenditure. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 57(9), 1176–1180.
• Mora-Ripoll, R. (2010). The Therapeutic Value of Laughter in Medicine. Alternative Therapies in Health & Medicine, 16(6), 56–64.
• NCI Dictionary of Cancer terms. National Cancer Institute. (n.d.). Retrieved August 24, 2022.
• Panksepp, J., & Burgdorf, J. (2003). “Laughing” rats and the evolutionary antecedents of human joy? Physiology & Behavior, 79(3), 533–547. 
• Provine, R. R. (2004). Laughing, tickling, and the evolution of speech and self. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 13(6), 215–218. 
• Saper, B. (1990). The therapeutic use of humor for psychiatric disturbances of adolescents and adults. Psychiatric Quarterly, 61(4), 261–272. 
• Stean, William B. (2009). Laughter prescription. Canadian Family Physician, 55 (10) 965-967
• Winkler, S. L., & Bryant, G. A. (2021). Play vocalisations and human laughter: A comparative review. Bioacoustics, 30(5), 499–526. ​