Laughter and Resilience Part 2a

Some tidbits about laughter.

This section has been slow to emerge.

There is so much out there about laughter that I’m still sorting through the literature.

Laughter impacts our brains and bodies at a primary, physical and chemical level.

Laughing, lowers cortisol, the stress hormone. At the same time laughing produces dopamine and endorphins. Laughing feels good. On a chemical level? Laughing makes us feel great.

Why do we laugh to begin with?

Typically we think that laughter emerges because we find something funny. In truth? We find things funny because we’re laughing. Robert Provine in his book: Laughter - a Scientific Study uncovered that in conversation, the person speaking laughs more than the person listening. This seems to suggest that laughter has little to do with humour. When we hear laughter somewhere else, it’s a signal to our brains to join in.

Laughter then, is a kind of preverbal confluence. It’s a way we attune our brains, nerves, muscles and bones to another person. When we laugh, all of these system…