There is a man whose story I cannot stop thinking about.
His name was Norman Cousins. In 1964, he was a journalist - sharp, driven, the kind of person who took life seriously. Then he was diagnosed with a degenerative disease and his doctors gave him little hope.
So he did something radical.
He checked himself out of hospital, got hold of every comedy film he could find, and laughed. Deliberately, daily, as a choice he made about his own recovery.
He documented that ten minutes of genuine laughter gave him two hours of pain-free sleep. He recovered. Even more, he went on to write Anatomy of an Illness, teach at UCLA Medical School, and spend the rest of his life researching the healing power of positive emotion.
This was not wishful thinking. It was a man who took laughter as seriously as medicine - because it is medicine.
What is actually happening in your body when you laugh
The science of laughter Cousins stumbled into has since been studied extensively. When you laugh - really laugh, not the polite smile you offer in meetings - your body does something remarkable:
- It releases endorphins, your natural painkillers and mood elevators
- It lowers cortisol, the stress hormone that quietly depletes your immune system, disrupts your sleep, and ages you faster than almost anything else
- It activates the mesolimbic dopamine system - the same reward pathway triggered by achievement, connection, and the things we work very hard to experience
Here is what I find most fascinating: your body does not distinguish between a laugh that arose spontaneously and one you deliberately chose to seek out. The neurological and physiological response is the same either way.
You can decide to bring more of this into your life. And your body will respond as if it happened naturally.
Why many driven women are not laughing enough
I want to be honest here, because I think this applies to more of us than we admit.
When you are focused, ambitious, always moving toward something, lightness can start to feel almost irresponsible. Like you should be doing something more meaningful. More grown-up. The serious work is always waiting, so why pause for something as silly as a comedy?
This is a quiet trap. Because what we are really doing when we push laughter aside is treating our nervous system as a machine that only needs output, never restoration.
The research tells a different story. A 2016 review by DSc JongEun Yim found that laughter measurably benefits both physical and psychological health.
Three ways to bring more lightness into your week
These are not dramatic interventions. They are small, deliberate choices.
Watch something that makes you laugh out loud - not smile, actually laugh. A stand-up special, a comedy series, a silly film you loved years ago. Give yourself permission to sit there and just laugh. No multitasking.
Stop taking your own thoughts quite so seriously. When you notice yourself spiralling, just ask yourself: will this matter in five years? If the answer is no, it probably deserves a lighter touch. Our thoughts feel urgent and weighty because we give them that authority.
Spend real time with people who make you laugh. Not a quick coffee catch-up where you both report on how busy you are. Time where you end up laughing until your eyes water. Those people are not a luxury. They are part of your health.
A final thought
Norman Cousins did not laugh because his situation was funny. He laughed because he understood something that many of us forget in the grind of ordinary life: joy is not a reward for when the work is done. It is part of how we sustain ourselves for the work.
If he could choose laughter in one of the darkest moments of his life, then choosing it in an ordinary week seems like the very least we can do for ourselves.
What was the last thing that made you genuinely laugh out loud? If you cannot remember, that might be your sign.
If Norman Cousins could prescribe himself comedy, you can too. I'm building a comedy recommendations space inside NURA Community - come add yours and get inspired in return.
