Laugh your ass off
Disclaimer: I’m not positive it’s possible to actually reduce your ass size by laughing. But still, laughing—often, and in quantity—is good for whatever ails you. Including anxiety.
Laughter is a full-body exercise in many ways. All that tightening and relaxing of muscles (in waves, when laughing) works out a bunch of muscles and also massages internal organs, releasing endorphins that make you feel better. And all that gasping for breath boosts your oxygen levels, too.
Heck, just anticipating laughter can raise your beta-endorphins, which combat depression and anxiety, and lower three different stress hormones: cortisol, epinephrine and dopac. The end result of laughing (or anticipating laughter) is a reduction of stress hormones and an increase in good endorphins, all of which works together to boost your mood and your immune system.
Laughter has been shown to benefit various forms of diagnosable anxiety, including social anxiety and PTSD, so it stands to reason that if you are feeling stressed or anxious, it can help you, too.
Turns out that when it comes to stress relief, your body doesn’t care if your laughter is real, or fake. Which is how Yoga Laughter came into being. It starts with fake laughter, and often ends up real. You might try this session with Bianca Spears (free on YouTube) if you it interests you.
Here are some additional concrete suggestions to make you laugh:
Head to YouTube or Google and search for videos of laughing babies. Because it’s really hard not to laugh along with laughing babies.
Make a list of favorite comedians and watch their specials. My husband and I have been watching Ellen Degeneres, Trevor Noah and Tom Papa on Netflix, but you can find bits from LOTS of comedians online as well. Which is great, if you really want to watch someone like George Carlin or Robin Williams, who are no longer here with us. Or if you want to catch Eddie Murphy’s Delirious, which never fails to make me laugh.
Listen to a comedy album. Some of my favorites are quite old, such as Let’s Talk Dirty to the Animals by Gilda Radner or Let’s Get Small by Steve Martin.
Find a funny podcast to listen to. Or if funny songs are your thing, check out The Lonely Island’s albums.
Watch a sitcom that you find funny. It could be an oldie, like WKRP in Cincinnati or Golden Girls, or a newer one, like Big Bang Theory, Modern Family, Parks & Rec, or something else.
Grab a funny book. It could be a novel that makes you laugh (though they are for teens, the Confessions of Georgia Nicholson series, starting with Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging by Louise Rennison makes me howl). Or try The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett (or some of his other Discworld novels). Or short stories, such as an Erma Bombeck collection, or Nora Ephron’s I Feel Bad About My Neck.
Read a collection of comic strips. Calvin & Hobbes are still good for a laugh, so maybe get your hands on a Bill Waterson book. Or find a different comic strip that makes you laugh and read it (or a whole book full of it).
Phone a friend whom you can count on to make you laugh, or a relative who’s willing to relive a funny memory with you. (Let them know that you are feeling anxious, and in need of a laugh, so they can be on board with this task.)
Search YouTube or Google for things you find funny. Maybe it’s people falling, which often gets pride of place on America’s Funniest Home Videos. Maybe it’s the show Jackass, which never did much for me, but your mileage may vary. Maybe it’s old episodes of Hee Haw or Laugh-In.
Watch a funny movie. I happen to like the offbeat humor of A Mighty Wind, Waiting for Guffman, and Best In Show, starring Eugene Levy, Catherine O’Hara, Christopher Guest, and more. Or try the Monty Python movies, if you’re a Python fan. Or try Bridesmaids, or any of the Ghostbusters films (I am in love with the one with the female cast), or the Pitch Perfect movies. I liked The Hustle, a gender-flipped remake of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, starring Anne Hathaway and Rebel Wilson as con artists taking on the roles of Steve Martin and Michael Caine (why not watch both?). And speaking of Steve Martin, one of the funniest movies I’ve ever seen is his foray with Lily Tomlin, All of Me, though scanning through his filmography, Bowfinger, Roxane, and The Man With Two Brains are right up there. Or grab a classic, like Danny Kaye’s The Court Jester, or some other classic. Some Like It Hot comes to mind, though a particular family favorite is The Great Race with Tony Curtis, Natalie Wood, and Jack Lemmon in it. Or try The In-Laws, or perhaps the Grumpy Old Men movies. Or My Big Fat Greek Wedding.
Obviously, I could keep going (and going, and going) when it comes to funny films. I’m just hoping to have started you thinking so you can find something to laugh at. Because when you are laughing, you are releasing stress and tension. And that means you are reducing anxiety.
So laugh your ass off.
Image by Gabrielle Henderson on Unsplash
Lower Your Anxiety
This 54-page books full of practical ways to help you lower your levels of anxiousness and to manage anxiety you might be feeling due to COVID or other stresses. Listed at $30, it is half off at present to make it as available as possible.
