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Happy Friday to you! It's

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the weekend then. Hope you're up to something

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good if you've got a couple of days

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off. Hopefully something to make you

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smile, or maybe even laugh,

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which is more important than you might think.

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It's certainly an interesting subject, laughter,

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because like crying, laughter

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is something that predates what we think

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of as language. It's a way

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of communicating without words.

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It sends a signal. That says,

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everything's okay, to the tribe.

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Two early human apes

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with their arms around each other, laughing,

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means something different to the two

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early human apes with their arms around each other screaming,

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even if they're both bearing their teeth. The

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diaphragmatic differences, the breathing

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differences, are noticeable. The sounds

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are so different that once you hear it and you notice

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the laughing, Our ancestors would

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be drawn in to that

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situation rather than feel the urge

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to move away from it. And that's why,

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even after all these years, we

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see big, big differences

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in laughter in groups compared

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to laughing alone. People are far

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less likely to laugh at something if they're

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on their own than if shown the same

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funny footage when in a group.

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In fact, you are 30. times

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more likely to laugh with someone

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else than when you're on your own. And

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sometimes it's just because other

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people are laughing. That's why

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the the old Skype laughter chain

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was so funny. It's contagious

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because we can catch. A laugh.

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Laughter creates a bonding experience,

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which triggers the safety systems in the

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brain, helping to dilute down

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any anxiety. And although it

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makes absolute sense that if we

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have anxiety or stress

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that we should spend more time watching

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funny stuff than watching true

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crime, I don't think we

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always put that into practice. And

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research has shown that laughing every

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day reduces the likelihood

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of having a heart attack or a stroke by

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40 percent and

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live on average over four and a half years

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longer from laughing every day.

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This was researched in quite a strange experiment.

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It involved monitoring blood flow

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whilst watching Either stressful

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scenes from a film, which was the first

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half an hour of saving Private Ryan, don't

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know whether you remember that, not funny at all,

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or funny scenes, which was

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the restaurant scene in When Harry Met

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Sally, still funny all these years later.

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Both of those situations improved the function

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of blood vessels and increased blood

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flow, because watching stressful things makes

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your heart rate go up as well, but watching

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comedy trumps it every

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single time. Turns

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out one minute of laughter

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is as good for our body as 10

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minutes on a rowing machine or 15

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minutes on an exercise bike. Now,

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I don't know about you, but I

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don't seem to laugh as much as an adult

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as I did when I was a kid. When

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I was young, laughing was Literally

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every day, there'd be something

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to pretty much prop a belly

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laugh about at school, and

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for lots of different reasons. It was

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just easier to find things

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funny. And if it's going to protect

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us from the effects of stress,

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it's going to strengthen our immune system, numb

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pain, improve our mood, as

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all of these studies from all over these

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years have suggested, oh, I think

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we need to encourage laughter. Especially

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as its influence on our mind and body continues

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after the laughing stop. So

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it's not just in the moment. And

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neurologically Anything you repeat

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becomes second nature. That's no

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secret. Get

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good at finding things funny,

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and you'll find the funny side of things everywhere

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else. Creating a psychological

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distance between you and something

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that could have been potentially overwhelming

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or upsetting. I was in a nightclub once,

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and one of the blokes I was with started an argument

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with somebody. And me, and

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the other people in our group, we just didn't

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know quite what to do, because it, it kind

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of came out of nowhere. And

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there was a young woman who knew the man that he was

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arguing with, and she was defending

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him, and she clearly wanted to get involved

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and have an argument, and she points at me,

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and she says, And you can

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pack it in, you and your face. And

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I just burst out laughing. I

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said to her, sorry, that's

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just my face. I wasn't

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even thinking about anything. I've just got a funny

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looking face. And she

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just blinked at me, uh, and

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she didn't know what to say. We

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just laughed, because you gotta laugh sometimes

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at things, haven't you? Otherwise, you

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get upset, and there's no need for that. Anyway,

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that's your five minute bonus

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episode for another week. I'm back

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on Patreon on Monday with a full episode,

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as usual, where this week I'm talking

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about whether complaining

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and venting about your problems is

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good for our mental health or not. Look

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me up if you're interested. You take

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care, everybody. Bye for now!