Their eyes narrow a little, their mouths form into a smile and they may make noises of pure joy. Children and babies laugh about 300 to 400 times a day, reports the Arbounie. Why have we forgotten that much laughter as adults?
Why do we laugh less than children?
Of course we laugh when someone makes a joke or when we see something funny, but there are plenty of other things we can find joy in. Yet, as we get older, we get swallowed up by the issues of the day, and we learn to take life very seriously. And admittedly, as a child you probably had less worries on your mind than when you were older.
Yet there are other reasons why we laugh less than children, such as:
- We have (or make) less free time. In a time when we have to plan a coffee date weeks in advance, it’s not surprising that we hardly have time to reflect on all the beautiful things in life. And that in contrast to children, who (if they go to school at all) otherwise have all the time in the world to run around carefree in the playground.
- Children have no filter. Have you ever received a shameless question from a child? Or have you experienced a child snatching the last cookie from the tin just like that? That is not surprising, because many children do not yet have a filter when it comes to acceptable and unacceptable behaviour. So hitting your leg and then bursting out laughing is the most normal thing in the world for them, while we wouldn’t do that so quickly.
- Our humor changes as we get older. As we get older, we mainly want our stories to make sense and we don’t like it when our jokes seem to go nowhere, reports Psychology Today. A different, more thought-out sense of humor therefore leads to fewer silly jokes and less laughter.
Why is laughter so healthy?
Laughter is healthy, is a commonly heard claim. And that’s right. As you may experience after a big laugh, all kinds of fine fabrics rush through your body. This includes the happiness hormone endorphins, which lower the level of cortisol (stress) in your body. Laughter also influences the amount of dopamine and serotonin in your body, substances that also positively influence your mood. And laughter has many more benefits:
- A good breathing. Who laughs, breathes deeper, which means your blood pressure lowers and your blood circulation is improved.
- You use with laughter no less than 15 facial muscleswhich also improves blood circulation. And that has the same effects as a facial massage!
- Positive emotions come with more confidence in better communication ability, which helps break that daily grind. It also makes you more open to social relationships.
- Laughter improves you heart health.
- Laugh reduces your pain in improves your immune system.
That way we can laugh more
It should be clear: laughing more benefits us in many ways. How do we laugh more in everyday life? It’s mainly in the little things, for example by getting out of your head and being more connected to your body. More inner peace leads to feelings of joy, contentment and cheerfulness. In addition, embrace your childish energy. Dare to make silly jokes and don’t take yourself and life too seriously. Push your limits and face new challenges with curiosity.
Do you need external resources for this? Then put on a playlist with cheerful music, walk to clear your head and surround yourself with like-minded people with the same humor and life energy. Guaranteed to have tears rolling down your cheeks from laughter in no time.
Recently the last episode of Coffee time aired, but Loretta Schrijver still remembers the last time she cried with laughter. You can see why in the video below.
Bron: Arbounie.nl, Gezondleven.be, Ruudmeulenberg.nl, Psychologietoday.com, Petecann.com
2023-06-11 12:14:50
#children #laugh #times #laugh #times #day
Laughter even in depression is a ray of sunshine in the middle of a storm. As a kid we would laugh untill are stomachs hurt and the tears roll down our cheeks, where as an adult we really need to get in touch with ourselves to laugh this deeply.