Learning to Relax
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Laugh at yourself. Learning to laugh at yourself is one of the biggest differences between happy people and depressed people. If you can turn awkward moments, mistakes, and shortcomings as opportunities for a good laugh at your own expense, those things will hold less sway over you.
Laughing at yourself helps to distinguish between "who you are" and "what you do." Everyone mucks up at some point, and it doesn't have to define you as a person. Laughing at yourself communicates to both you and the people around you that it's no big deal.
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Don't worry about the sound of your laugh. Everyone's laugh is unique, so as long as yours is polite and the source of legitimate joy, you don't need to worry about having an "ugly" laugh. There's no such thing.
If you're uptight about laughing and constantly worried what people will think of you, it's hard to really let go and have fun. If you're hanging out with the kind of people who make fun of someone for laughing, find new friends.
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Take your time. You're probably a busy person, but learning to take time out for yourself and spend time just being yourself will lighten your mood significantly and keep you calm and ready to laugh. Ambition and work are good things, but in moderation, so learn to temper your goal-making and your competitiveness with a willingness to laugh at yourself and enjoy your life.
Make sure you do something you enjoy each day. Unwind by playing a record and smiling to yourself, having your favorite drink. Keep control of your mood.
Practicing Laughter
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Force a few chuckles. When you're alone at your house, or when you're driving to work, try laughing a few times as realistically as you can. Often, your body needs a kind of jump start to get in the mood for laughter. Even if you don't find something particularly funny to laugh at, just making yourself laugh can get you started on a healthy giggling fit.
Start with three short "ha" sounds and do several sets of forced laughs to get started with. You'll be surprised at how quickly forced laughs can turn into legitimate ones.
Think of something you found funny in the past and laughed at. Recall it during your laugh session to help stimulate the laughs.
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Pay attention to the physical sensations of laughter. Regular laughing may boost your immune system, oxygenate your blood, tighten your stomach muscles, and release healthy chemicals in your brain that boost your mood. When you laugh, put your hand on your diaphragm and feel it. When you practice laughter in the future, make sure you can feel it deep in your body.
Treating laughter as an exercise will keep your funny muscles strong. Practice laughing with a wide grin and a deep belly chuckle. You'll feel better afterward.
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Commit to laughter. If you decide that you're going to laugh more, make yourself laugh at least once every day. Practice sets of laughing on your way to work, or after you get home and you want to unwind a bit.
At work, schedule regular laugh breaks. Better than a cigarette, take fifteen minutes to cue up a funny YouTube video and have a healthy chuckle to keep yourself productive and relaxed.[3]
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Try laughter yoga. If you find it hard to stimulate laughter when you're all alone, many cities have "laughter yoga" groups, with a guided laughter practice. Like regular yoga, laughter yoga is guided by trained professionals who can help get you chuckling as if it were an exercise routine. While it may seem silly to laugh in a big group of strangers, many people attest to its health benefits and the effect of laughter yoga on mood.[4]
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