Transcript of Episode 572: Behind The Science of Therapeutic Laughter

Hi guys, it's Tony Robbins. You're listening to Habits and Hustle.

Crush it! Before we get into today's episode, I want to take a moment to talk about something that changed how I think about skincare, and that's Peak. Because here's what nobody tells you: you can spend a fortune on serums and creams and still look tired. And then you start to actually wonder, maybe your skin is just done. But the real reason is that your cells are dehydrated and inflamed underneath, so nothing you put on top is actually going to fix it. You're just treating the surface when the problem is way deeper. And that's why I love Peak's Radiant Skin Duo. You take the Sun Goddess Matcha in the morning to detox, calm inflammation, and turn your glow back on from the inside. And then their BT Fountain Beauty Electrolytes throughout the day. This is a luxury hydration with ceramides and hyaluronic acid that actually repairs your skin barrier at the cellular level, so your skin just drinks it up. They both come in these sachets, making it super simple to add into your daily routine and just add it into your water. They taste great, and you know exactly the right amount every time. There's no measuring, no thinking about it.

And for someone who's running around all the time, that's a lot. So I'm telling you, it is fantastic. Right now, Peak is offering 20% off for life plus free gifts. So you have to go to www.peaklife.com/jennifersd to grab the Radiant Skin Duo. The link is in the show notes, but once again, to get 20% off, you must go to www.peaklife.com/jennifersd. SD to grab the Radio Skin Duo now. Hello and welcome back to Habits and Hustle Solo Edition, where we talk and explore a variety of different topics that are in the zeitgeist that are of interest to me and to hopefully you guys as well. And Today's topic is the science of laughter, why we laugh and how it affects our brains and our physical and mental health. I don't know about you, Shani, but I'm like a huge fan of comedy, of laughing. It's like literally my favorite thing in the world to do.

I love a good laugh.

I love a belly laugh, right?

Yeah.

And there's a, I think there is a reason why they say like laughter is the best medicine because it really, like, it really is. I mean, like, Nothing changes a mood or changes your emotional state better than like a good hearty laugh.

Absolutely.

Right?

Oh my God. Yeah.

I just love it. So that's why I love standup. So let's go into this a little bit more, you know, like there is a lot of research backing how laughter really does like change, not just the neuroplasticity in our brains, but our overall physical and emotional wellbeing. That's why there's like laughter therapy. There's like laughing yoga or whatever they call it.

Yeah, laughing yoga.

Laughing yoga.

It's my favorite thing.

Have you actually done it?

Yeah. I can't believe you've never done it. It's like so much fun.

Yeah, I've never done laughing yoga.

It's so much fun.

I just like going, I, that's why, like, you know, I'm like hugely obsessed with standup comedians and like watching standup. I can do that every single night of the week. It's just, to me, I just love it.

Yeah. Good comedians are great.

Comedians, like, you know, I, every night I fall asleep to like watching some kind of Netflix comedy special.

But even the recent ones—

listen, the recent ones haven't been so great, I gotta be honest with you. But like, it automatically changes my— if I'm like in a shitty mood, a sad mood, an angry mood, watching 5 minutes of comedy just shifts everything.

Yeah.

So this is why I think this is like a really good topic to really get into, because there's like— they can say gratitude, they could say meditation, they can say out of every other thing helps you with your mental health and, like, well-being, I believe laughter is number one.

Well, laughing yoga is so interesting because it's not actual— like, you're not laughing because you're watching, like, a really hilarious stand-up bit. It's a forced laughter at first. You're all, like— I did this at the beach in Laguna Beach. Like, my whole family was there on vacation, and this circle of what looked like a cult just pulled us into their little laughing circle. And you just laugh, and instinctually, like, Once everyone else starts laughing, you start laughing, and then everyone's just laughing a lot, and then you're just like laughing nonstop. And then it's just this crazy like bout of laughter that is just so uncontrollable. And it's so, it's one of my favorite things. It's so much fun.

You know what reminds me of like yawning? You know, like when someone else starts, someone starts to laugh.

Yes.

I end up laughing because they're laughing and then I can't control my laughter and it goes back and forth.

Yeah.

And it's like usually the best belly laugh, the best uncontrollable laugh is like the best feeling ever.

100%.

Right? And this is what they say. So it actually does reduce stress hormones. When we laugh, our bodies release endorphins, which are natural chemicals that make us feel good. These endorphins can help reduce the levels of stress in our body, such as cortisol, which is like obviously the stress hormone that, which has negative effects on our immune system. It also increases our immune system function. So laughter has been shown to increase the production of immune cells and antibodies, which help fight infections and illness. It also increases the activity of natural killer cells, which are white blood cells that it can attack cancer cells and viruses.

So there's, it's so interesting.

Yeah. So there's a lot of like, and that's what I'm saying, there's like a lot of like backed science what laughter does to our bodies in a positive way, physically and mentally.

Well, I mean, cortisol is like my arch nemesis. So anything to reduce cortisol, by the way, it's everybody's arch nemesis. It's my freaking arch nemesis.

It's everybody's. I mean, is who, who likes cortisol? Yeah. Like, I don't, I kind of, you know what I mean?

It's not something that people like, Oh, I love having my stress hormone, you know, if there was like a villain in my life, like in my story arc, my existence, like cortisol would be like the villain, like the ultimate villain. Like he would just be like the, the Mufasa or whatever of like my, my story.

I think it's everybody's. I, I really believe that. So we talked about like the power of humor, laughter therapy. What are the other types of forms of therapy besides yoga? Art therapy? People could, no, like in laughter. Oh, there's like a lot of ways that you can use laughter to like help your physical and mental conditions. I mean, it also It also helps with chronic pain because I guess you're forgetting about the pain that you have because you're focusing on like your—

that's true—

your endorphins are also— I guess your endorphins are releasing and you're just like distracted.

Do you talk about microdosing on this podcast at all? Is that allowed? We've never talked about it because mushrooms will make you laugh like crazy and that can be like a really good form of therapy.

But you know, that's a whole other topic and a whole other podcast. But any type of psychedelic can have different effects on different people.

Sure.

So like it can make you laugh, but a lot of people I know have had like horrible things where they've cried the whole time, you know, or they've had anxiety the whole time.

It's quite sad.

It's not just laughing, right? It's like maybe that's been your experience, or maybe if you microdose, you can get a different thing.

But, well, microdosing is not gonna give you any impact.

It's not gonna, it's, it's a, like, it's a long-term, like, thing.

It's not something that gives you like a, a high.

And also I would say that laughter is like a universal language, right?

Like every, that's very true.

Everybody likes to laugh. And if you're laughing, I mean, It's a great bonding thing for people, like for personal bonding. Like, you know, if you're laughing and I'm laughing right away, we're like bonded because we had a shared experience that was so positive and happy and fun.

What's that Mean Girls quote that's like, "Math is the same in every language"? Like, laughing is the same in every language. It really is.

It is. Laughing is the same.

Literally the same.

There's no language. It's just ha ha ha ha ha. You know, like—

Unless you're typing in Spanish, it's ja ja ja ja ja, because the J is ha, so it's ha ha ha. Oh, right, right. Yeah, it's so funny. If I'm talking to my Spanish friends, I go ja ja ja.

Yeah, that's amaz— that's actually true. But I think it's like a universal language, right? And it's like, it's, it's bonding, it releases tension. I mean, there's so much, like, I think that we should— people should explore the science of laughter as truly like a, like, it's free medicine, literally free medicine. Just as they would say, like, we talk so much on this podcast about all these ways to like optimize your health and your life, right? Like from you know, the saunas to the cold plunges to, to all sorts of like red light therapy, like all sorts of different modalities. I said earlier, gratitude, journaling, all these things. But like at the end of the day, if you can just have a good laugh or like you and, and like laugh for like 5 minutes a day, so many of these like negative things that like are keeping you held back or down or, you know, So much of it just goes away if you can just find, find something to laugh about.

100%.

Right. I think it should be the number one health modality and it's free. It should be up there with walking. I think walking and laughter are the two best and biggest ways to change your mood and to elevate your health. To me, those are the two and they're free. Anybody can do it. Everybody can do it. And you don't need to have anything but yourself. You can laugh at yourself if you want.

You know what I mean?

They do it every day. They do it every day. Exactly.

Free 99. Yeah, it's so, it's so interesting because laughing is also like when they say humor as a coping mechanism for kids who go through a lot when they're younger and they just become really funny in the end. Like, it's, it's, it's interesting because it's literally like one of the best coping mechanisms and it makes so much sense that some people would naturally go that route because of what it does to your body physically.

So I also believe it's the best way to kind of like a lot of like the world's like people like political problems, everything. Like it's like you, if you can like find humor in certain things that are like terrible, it's a great way to cope with anything, right?

Like, absolutely.

It's just, I just think it's to be up there between that and walking. I'm not joking. Are the two, in my opinion, that those are the two best ways to impact and increase your health in a positive way.

What are your— who are your favorite comedians to watch?

Oh my gosh, so curious. Now, now you're talking my language. I'm— I used to be obsessed with Sebastian Maniscalco. Do you know who he is? He's an Italian guy. He used to be hilarious, and then like as he got more— like, now he's so successful. He's like one of the biggest stand-ups of all time. He can like sell out the Madison Square Garden for like 3 nights in a row. He like lost a little bit of his edge, in my opinion.

That happens.

Right? Because like now, like his perspective, like, you know, when you're down and you're— when you're in the trenches and like, you know what I mean? Like, you're funny as hell. But as like you're now, you're living a bougie life, it's not so funny. But his kids in private school or like his life is very different.

His kids in private school.

Like, that's his last special. Just wasn't that funny to me. Sorry, Sebastian. I still like you, but I'm obsessed. My favorite of all time is Chris Rock.

Really?

Chris Rock, to me, never lost his edge. He was hilarious 20 years ago. He still is hilarious. Every special I've seen on him, he's brilliant. He's so smart. He has pers— his perspective, his thought process, his delivery, his voice. He, to me, is the, bar none, the best stand-up comedian of all time. Second closest is Bill Burr. I love Bill Burr.

Mm-hmm.

So you got Chris Rock, you got Bill Burr. I do like Sebastian, but not as much as those guys. I mean, people love Dave Chappelle.

I think it's good, but I think he's lost his— his last couple specials, I just wasn't really— I don't know, they just— like, I wasn't getting like a belly laugh out of them, do you know what I mean? I need like real— it's nice when it's thought-provoking too, don't get me wrong, I like that, but I'm not— I don't really care.

I don't really want to laugh. I'm not trying to think.

Yeah, I'm trying to just like die laughing, fall off my seat.

Like, you know, did you listen to Chris Rock's recent one, recent Netflix special. No, but you know what, have to listen.

My dad told me also to watch it, and that's kind of what put me off from watching it because I was like, ah, he always tells me like—

no, no, he's right. And I'm not joking. He to me is, I think, the best of all time. Oh, another one I love who's clean, like who doesn't really swear, he's super clean, he's really clever, is Jim Gaffigan. Jim Gaffigan is amazing too. I like him. There's so many. I really love Ali Wong. She's really good too. Hysterical. She's amazing.

I don't want to lean in, I want to, I want to lie down. Yeah, she's one of my favorite lines ever.

She's so good.

So good.

Another one, we had him on actually, and Sam Morell is very good too.

Oh, you know when I'm like, when I'm scrolling on social but I don't want to scroll on social, like I think that it's an unproductive waste of my time, but I still don't want to do anything else, right? I'll go to someone like Sam's profile and just scroll through reels because I feel like it's productive. Like I'm laughing and so I'm feeling really 100%. And his reels are really funny. He's funny.

He's great. Like, he's great in the moment. Like, Sam can— like, that's why his whole page is basically like him picking people out of the crowd. The crowd. And— but they're really great, and that's great content. He's actually on tour right now.

Yeah.

So if you guys check him out, he's really good. There's a— and again, it's also his delivery. His voice. Voice has a lot to do with these comics, I find.

Like, definitely does.

There's a bunch of people I like. This other girl, she was used— she actually used to date Sam Morell. She's really funny. Like, She's young and she's like super, super, super talented. And her and Sam Morell used to go out and— what is her name? She's really funny.

Taylor Tomlinson.

Yeah, Taylor Tomlinson. You like her? I think she's really good.

I don't think she's that funny.

Oh my God. She's— again, I think she's so clever. Like how she like sequences words together. I think she's amazing. I think she's great. Brian Regan is another one I really like. There's so many.

But do you know Anthony Jeselnik?

Yeah, I do. I know him. He's good. I like him. Not as good as the other ones. I, I think people love him.

I think he has, in terms of the economy of words, like, he's one of the best.

That he's good. He's very good.

Literally crafting jokes. Like, I don't find Taylor to be a joke crafter. I think she's kind of got something, but she's not crafting jokes. Really? I think she's—

I think that she tells a great story. I think—

but I don't like story comedy.

Yeah, but I mean, I know what you stand up She's great. I think she's an excellent stand-up. She has like 3 specials, and each one of them I think were amazing.

I could never get into any of them. I even started all of them. Really? Yeah, I just didn't like, like them.

See, I, I actually do like— and I like Andy Jesselnik. He wasn't my— one of my favorite favorites. Oh, do you know who I love? And I think you put me on to him, is Elon Gold.

I love Elon.

He's hilarious.

Elon Gold is so freaking funny.

Oh my God, so funny. And the other guy that sidekick at that moment. Yeah, I like him. I think he's very funny.

Someone I love also on the British side of the pond is Michael McIntyre. I think you would really like him. He's very family friendly too.

I don't know that guy. You know what I do like?

So funny.

He's funny. I like Ricky Gervais.

Yeah, he's great. Yeah, Ricky Gervais. Yeah, but Michael McIntyre is like a little bit more— like, Michael McIntyre is— yeah, I guess he is like family friendly. The guy literally sells out like arenas non-stop. He's, he's fun for everyone. He's like, he's so good.

You know who I used to love actually is Russell Peters. Do you know who he is?

Yeah, of course.

Yeah, yeah.

Russell Peters is so good.

He was so good. This is the point, right? There's a comedian for everybody. Everyone has different tastes and everything else, but the bottom line is if you can find 5 minutes to laugh every day, your health will be so improved. That's a great way to naturally just release endorphins and and really just increase your overall physical and mental health. And like I said, this podcast is all about actionable ways to optimize your life and your health. And so today we bring you the science of laughter and, uh, let us know some comedians that you guys like. I'd love, I mean, seriously, like I'm always looking for someone to, to laugh to. So please share.

Yes. Go have a chuckle.

Yes. And let me know some other ones if I haven't mentioned them already on the podcast. Bye!