Dear Stoics,

We’re coming back with the last letter of August and a piece of advice that at first might sound a bit dumb: laugh, even when you don’t feel like it. Or especially when you don’t feel like it. You may ask: Why would I do that? It makes no sense. Then you might be surprised that it’s actually a widely recognised therapeutic technique used to support people dealing with anxiety and depression, and we’ll get to the science behind it now.

Researchers divide laughter into two kinds: spontaneous (when something was funny) and simulated (when you laughed on purpose). The obvious assumption is that only the first, the spontaneous one, counts. Yet when a systematic review compared laughter-based therapies, it reached an unexpected conclusion: the simulated kind was actually more effective at improving mood and easing symptoms of depression. It turns out that voluntary laughter is a motion, and the feelings of real joy follow it.

Your body isn’t as big a sceptic as your mind is. That is why, when it performs a motion, the feelings come up sooner or later. A hearty, loud laugh, whether sincere or not, is a physical workout. During this activity, your breathing deepens, while your muscles engage and gradually release. An analysis of clinical studies found that laughter exercises measurably lowered cortisol (the famous stress hormone) even after one session. This is the principle behind laughter yoga, invented by the Indian physician Dr Madan Kataria and now practised in thousands of clubs worldwide, where groups of people meet to laugh at absolutely nothing and walk out deeply relaxed.

Of course, there’s a social aspect here, too. Famous psychologist Robert Provine spent years eavesdropping on laughter in the real world. He measured that we laugh about thirty times more often in company than alone, mostly at ordinary remarks and situations. This is also why one person’s manufactured giggle sets off everyone else’s real one. Laughter really is a social glue that predates the invention of language itself.

We get that fake laughing might be too weird for you, or just not your thing, but if you’re curious, why not try something new this week? Here are some tips that may help you.

Sure, a couple of minutes of laughter won’t solve your problems. Let’s just treat this as a fun exercise that can make you feel better, a different kind of relaxation technique. Who knows, maybe it will become part of your wellbeing routine? And yes, laughing at nothing should feel ridiculous. But the moment you catch yourself laughing at how silly your laugh sounds, the giggle is no longer fake.

Yours truly,
The Stoic App Team

We dedicate an enormous part of our inner life to the difficult people. We’re even rehearsing our comebacks to the fights that we’ve already had. This week’s theme, On Good People, turns the spotlight the other way: toward everyone who has shaped and steadied us, often without knowing it.

We all have good people in our lives. The stranger whose small kindness we never got to repay. The person who believed in us before we believed in ourselves. Even someone we’ve never met can make our lives better from a distance. They rarely get the attention the difficult ones do, because goodness doesn’t ask for praise. So this week, we'll give it to them. Fair warning: by Sunday, you may feel a strong urge to send someone a thank-you message.