How To Break Down Stress And Build Up Resilience One Laugh At A Time
- Aug 3, 2021
- 4 min read
Updated: Feb 6, 2022
Written by: Tim Nash, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
“First the doctor told me the good news: I was going to have a disease named after me.” ― Steve Martin.
Have you ever been in a really stressful situation and all you could do was laugh?
Hopefully it didn’t include having a disease named after you.
I’m fairly sure this joke doesn’t involve a real person. It is a bit dark – as was Martin in his early days.
However, it illustrates how humor can alleviate even the direst of situations.
Not only has laughter been scientifically proven to improve your physical and mental state, it’s also a valuable resource in times of stress or struggle.
There’s a reason it’s called “the best medicine”!
Any health or medical journal written in the last 20 years will confirm this.
Laughing also helps to build up personal resilience – an invaluable skill in times of crisis, chaos or unexpected change.
In addition to stress reduction and increased resilience, it leaves you more open to events and people around you.
It’s also contagious. Give someone a big smile and see what comes back.
DailyOM founder Madisyn Taylor encourages us to share it:
“Laughter is good medicine, and we all have this medicine available to us…We magnify the effects of this medicine when we share it with the people in our lives.”
The COVID-19 restrictions have made things very hard for many people. No doubt you or someone who know has a lot more sadness right now than fun. It’s important we are sensitive to them.
But, there are moments when you can laugh. Despite the cloud hanging over you.
Even just one hearty laugh can change your perspective on just about anything.
“During our journey, we can become very serious – it’s important to remember to have fun along the way”, Ms. Taylor reminds us.
A few years ago I was taking part in an intensive certification course in Zurich, Switzerland. I knew only one other participant. The topic was therapy-based, not business. The language was German.
As an American expat working primarily in English, I was out of my comfort zone. BIG TIME.
During a group discussion on the afternoon of day 2, the course leadertold a story about once going out of his way to help extract a woman from an abusive relationship. She quit therapy soon after. Indeed, no good deed goes unpunished.
I don’t know if it was the way he told the story or the fact that his patient’s actions were absurd, but I began to laugh. And couldn’t stop. Didn’t want to, either. It was like getting reacquainted with a good friend.
I didn’t realize it at the time but I was letting off stream. Decompressing. From the travel effort to get there to exerting myself to understand and be understood, the previous day and a half had been highly stressful.
My laughter broke down my stress and more importantly, opened me up to profound learning for the rest of the course.
That afternoon in Zurich I made two big realizations:
Humor is a must-have for my learning.
Humor builds up my resilience so that I can handle stressful situations.
The good news is that humor is not a secret or hidden resource. Or something that takes years to develop. It’s readily available and each and every one of us has access to it.
After that experience I made the decision that if what I was doing didn’t cause some element of joy or give me the ability to occasionally laugh, it simply wasn’t worth it.
In doing extensive research for High Performance Habits, best-selling author Brendon
Burchard found a direct correlation between joy and performance:
“It turns out that joy, more than anything else, is what gives them capital “E” Energy. If you feel joy, your mind, body and emotional reality all get a lift.”
Incidentally, Energy is one of his top 6 Habits.
To my knowledge, there’s no better way to embrace joy than to allow yourself a big, long, healthy laugh.
In our culture, we tend to value hard work and seriousness. In all the busyness and serious business, we forget to pay attention to the equally important light side of joy and laughter.
To stay balanced in your busy world, it’s critical that you recognize that “Busyness Is a Choice.”
As any health or medical journal will confirm – a little laughter can help you through tough times. So don’t suppress a laugh when you feel it coming.
Beyond laughter and joy, a key to building resilience is the ability to learn from your mistakes. If you don’t learn from your mistakes, you’ll keep repeating them.
It also ensures that you continue to improve – your performance and bottom-line results!
To help you “bounce back from your setbacks and unleash your Peak Performance” I’ve created a FREE GUIDE with practical tips and strategies that work:
For regular tips and closer interaction, connect with me on LinkedIn and Facebook. Reach out and let me know you’ve read this article.
I look forward to interacting with you!
With gratitude,
Tim
Tim Nash, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Tim Nash is on a mission to help senior professionals escape their energy-zapping maze, focus on what matters and pave the way for success. Via the empowering principles of Gestalt, he guides his clients below the surface to overcome what is preventing them from performing at their best.
For over two decades, Tim has helped young professionals to C-level executives lead and collaborate across cultures. He is also the founder of The Path To Peak Performance which includes his dynamic coaching practice and American Transplant web series.
