Laughter Helps You Live Longer
Humor Makes Everything Better
The other day, a member of our team and I somehow landed on the topic of bird group names. (These things tend to happen for some reason).
We discovered that a group of parrots is called a pandemonium, and a group of crows, a murder. Somewhere in the mix there is a parliament of owls and a flamboyance of flamingos. It keeps going if you can believe it. Apparently Ornithologists have a sense of humor.
By the time we got through the list, we were crying laughing. It turns out, apropos to our programs, laughing helps you live longer.
A new study featured in Scientific American followed thousands of people for years and found that those with a strong sense of humor had a lower risk of death from major causes.
For women, laughing lowered infection risk up to 83% and heart disease risk by 73%. For men, laughing reduced risk of death by infection by 74% reduction.
The takeaway is simple and powerful: people who laugh more, live better.
Why Humor Heals
Resets Your Body’s Chemistry
Laughter flips your stress response, lowers cortisol, and fills your body with feel-good neurochemicals.
Shifts your Perspective
It shifts perspective.
Humor is a kind of resilience training. It teaches you to see challenge through a softer lens.
Strengthens Connection
Shared laughter builds trust and belonging, two of the strongest predictors of longevity.
Make Time for Fun
Humor is one of the most accessible, evidence-based ways to support both lifespan and healthspan, and it’s one of the fastest ways to feel better about your day.
Life is filled with absurdity if you look for it, and bad things are happening whether or not you choose to laugh or cry about it.
Sometimes we have to remind ourselves and our members to balance the serious with the silly.
You can still be grounded, purposeful, and visionary, just with a lighter touch.
