A new month, a new Wellness Challenge, friends! This month, we’re looking at laughter, which has been shown to trigger healthy physical and mental changes in the body. But first, let’s look at how March’s challenge went. As always, let us know how it’s going here in the comments or on Twitter and LinkedIn.

March: Sleep
Last month, we challenged you to get a minimum of seven hours of sleep per night. The CEEK Team had mixed results. Though Kristen only achieved that goal 10 nights in 30, the act of tracking helped her see unintentional habits. Kristen’s key takeaway: Call it a night at a reasonable hour. Steve was able to improve his sleep by swapping a work-related book for something else. He was able to more easily shut down his mind and sleep better. Jennifer found that meditation helped her fall asleep faster and feel mentally and physically more relaxed and prepared for sleep.

April’s Challenge: We challenge you to find ways to incorporate humor into your daily and weekly routine.

Did you know that laughter can improve your health? Laughter strengthens your immune system, boosts mood, diminishes pain, and protects you from the damaging effects of stress. Studies have shown that laughter triggers the release of endorphins and immune system cells (T-Cells) to promote an overall sense of well-being and help fight off sickness.

In addition, laughter can be an especially powerful tool for building healthy relationships and managing conflict when emotions are running high. Whether with significant others, friends and family, or client and colleagues, you can learn to use humor to mitigate tension, smooth over disagreements, and communicate in ways that build up your relationships rather than break them down. Practice the art of leveraging appropriate and/or self-deprecating humor to ease tensions and honor relationships.

As a child, you probably laughed hundreds of times a day. As an adult, life tends to be more serious and laughter is far less frequent. Nonetheless, just like anything else, you can practice the art of laughter by putting routines in place to promote humor. As a result, you will improve your emotional health, strengthen your relationships, and find greater happiness.

Turn off the nightly news in favor of your favorite comedy. Schedule an evening with friends. Subscribe to a favorite comedian’s podcast. Refresh and improve your favorite practical joke on this April Fool’s Day. Embrace your inner child. Seek out humor, share funny moments, don’t take yourself too seriously, and…CEEK a Better Way®!