Habits and Hustle - Episode 572: Behind The Science of Therapeutic Laughter

Episode Date: July 17, 2026

What if laughing every day is less of a personality trait and more of a health strategy? We spend so much time chasing the perfect wellness routine. The supplements, the trackers, the saunas, the cold plunges, the red light, the protocols. And yet one of the simplest tools for changing your brain, your mood, your stress, and your body is something most of us are not doing enough: laughing. Laughter releases endorphins, helps lower stress hormones like cortisol, supports immune function, and can shift your emotional state fast. A real laugh can pull you out of a bad mood, break tension, make you feel more connected to people, and remind your nervous system that everything is not as serious as your brain is making it. In this episode of Habits and Hustle, I share the science of laughter, why humor may be one of the most underrated health tools we have, how laughing affects stress and immunity, and why five minutes of comedy might be one of the easiest daily habits to add to your life. What's Discussed: (00:41) Why laughter affects the brain, mood, and overall physical and mental health. (01:18) How research connects laughter to neuroplasticity, emotional wellbeing, and laughter-based therapies. (02:08) Why five minutes of comedy can shift a bad mood fast. (02:40) How laughing yoga works and why forced laughter can become real laughter. (03:29) How laughter releases endorphins and helps reduce stress hormones like cortisol. (03:49) Why laughter may support immune function, antibodies, and natural killer cell activity. (05:58) Why laughter is a universal language and one of the fastest ways to bond with people. (06:45) Why laughter may be one of the most underrated free health tools. (07:49) Why walking and laughter are two of the simplest ways to improve your mood and health. (08:15) How humor can become a powerful coping mechanism during hard seasons. (15:05) Why finding five minutes to laugh every day can support your physical and mental health.   Thank You to Our Sponsors! Magic Mind: Head over to magicmind.com/jen and use code JEN at checkout. Pique: Go to piquelife.com/jenniferrsd to get 20% off for life plus free gifts Momentous: Ready to try supplements that actually do what they claim? Head to livemomentous.com and use code JEN for 35% off your first subscription.  Therasage: Visit therasage.com and use code JEN to get 15% off your order. Your skin Prolon: Prolon is offering listeners 30% off sitewide plus a $40 bonus gift when you subscribe to their 5-Day Program! Just visit prolonlife.com/JENNIFERCOHEN and use code JENNIFERCOHEN to claim your discount and your bonus gift.   Find more from Jen Cohen:  Website: jennifercohen.com Instagram: @therealjencohen Books: jennifercohen.com/books Speaking: jennifercohen.com/speaking-engagements  

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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, Shawnee, 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. A little belly laugh. Right? Yeah.

And 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 stand up. So let's go into us 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 well-being that's why there's like a laughter therapy there's like laughing yoga or whatever they call it yeah laughing yoga laughing yoga is my favorite thing have you actually done it yeah i can't believe you've never done it's like so much fun yeah i've never done laughing yoga

so much fun i just like going that's why like you know i'm like hugely obsessed with stand-up comedians and like watching stand-up 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, 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've got to 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 five 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 can say meditation. They can say 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 and look at a beach. Like my whole family was there on vacation and this circle of what looked like a cults 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, it reminds me of, like, yawning, you know, like, when someone else starts, if someone starts to laugh, I end up laughing because they're laughing. And then I can't control my laughter. And it goes back and forth. And it's, like, usually the best belly laugh, the best, 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, 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 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. By the way, it's everybody's like. Friken arch nemesis. It's everybody's. I mean, Who likes Corto? I can't, you know what I mean? It's not something that people are like, oh, I love having my stress hormone, you know. If it 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 Mufasa or whatever of like my story. I think it's everybody's. 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? No, like in laughter. Oh.

There's like a lot of ways that you can use laughter to like help you with the physical and mental conditions. I mean, 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 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 not just laughing, right? It's like maybe that has been your experience or maybe if you microdose, you can get a different thing. Well, microdosing is not going to give you any impact. It's not going to, it's a long-term, like, thing. It's not something that gives you, like, a high. And also, I would say that laughter is like a universal language, right?

Like, 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 to share it experience that was so positive and happy and fun. What's that mean, girls quote? It's like math is the same in every language. Like laughing is the same in every language. really is. It is. Laughing is the same. Literally the same. There's no language. It's just ha,

ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, you know? Unless you're typing in Spanish, it's ja, ja, ja, ja, because they, J is ha, so it's ha, so ha ha. Yeah, it's so funny. If I'm talking to my Spanish friends, like a ja, ja, yeah, that's actually true. But I think it's like a universal language, right? And it's like, 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, 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 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 like laugh for like five 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 do it every day. And I 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 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, like, people, like political problems, everything. Like, it's like, if you can, like, find humor in certain things that are, like, terrible, it's a great way to cope with anything, right? Like, 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, those are the two best ways to, impact and increase your health in a positive way. Who are your favorite comedians to watch? I'm so curious. Now you're talking my language. I used to be obsessed with Sebastian Manasilco. 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 standards of all time. He can like sell out the Madison Square Garden for like three nights in a row. He like lost a little bit of his edge in my opinion. That happens.

Right, because now, like, his perspective, like, you know, when you're down and, when you're in the trenches and, like, you know, like, you're funny as hell. But as, like, you're now, you're living a bougie life. It's not so funny about his kids in private school or, like, his life is very different. His kids in private school. Well, like, that's a, 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 end. 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 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. 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 not enough of. I think he's lost his last couple specials. I just wasn't really, I don't know.

They're 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 think.

I'm not trying to think. Yeah. I'm trying to just like die laugh. I want to fall off my seat. Did you listen to Chris Rock's recent one? Recent Netflix special. No, but you know what? Have to listen.

My dad told me. me also to watch it. And that's kind of what put me off from watching it because I was like, he always tells me like, you know, 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. She's hysterical. She's amazing. I don't want to lean in. I want to lie down with one of my favorite lines. ever. She's so good. So good. Another one, we had him on, actually, and Sam Meryl 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 good. 100%. And his reels are really funny. He's funny. He's great. Like, he's gray in the moment. Like, Sam can, like, that's why his whole page, is basically like him picking people out of the crowd work. The crowd. 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. And again, it's also his delivery, his voice. Voice has a lot to do with these comics. I find, like, like, there's a bunch of people. I like this other girl. She was used, she actually used to date Samarrel. She's really funny.

Like, she's young and she's like super, super, super talented. And her and Sam Morrell used to go out. And what does her name? She's really funny. Taylor, Tomlin. 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's another one I really like. There's so many, but.

Do you know Anthony Jostelnick? Yeah, I do. I know him. He's good. I like him. Not as good as the other ones. I love him. I think he has, in terms of the

economy of words. Like, he's one of the best. 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 that I don't like story comedy. Yeah, but I mean, I know what you. She's great. I think she's an excellent standup. She has like three specials and each one of them, I think, were amazing. So crazy. I could never get into any of them. I even started all of them. Really? Yeah. I just didn't like love. I like them. See, and I actually do like Andy Jusselnick. He wasn't 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 Gold. He's hilarious. Elon Gold is so freaking funny. Oh, my God. He is so funny. And the other guy that his sidekick at that Moody. Modi. Yeah. I like him. I think he's great funny. Someone I love also on the British side of the pond is Michael McIntyre. I think he 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 Jarvee. Yeah, he's great. Yeah, but Michael McIntyre is like a little bit more, like Michael McIntyre is, yeah, I guess he's like family friendly. The guy literally sells out like arenas nonstop. 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 five minutes to laugh every day, your health will be so improved. That's a great way to naturally just release endorphins 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 let us know some comedians that you guys like. I mean, seriously, like I'm always looking for someone 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.