Coffee, Laughter And Friends: What’s Better?
Few things are as pleasant and relaxing as sitting down with friends for a nice cup of tea or coffee and laughter. In those moments it seems that even the problems become lighter.
That of coffee or tea continues, for some of us, to be a pleasant ritual, which is very good for the brain and emotions.
If you’ve never paused to think about it, we recommend that you never stop mixing these three wonderful ingredients: coffee, laughter and good friends.
The social component of coffee and laughter with friends
Coffee is a stimulating drink that has a centuries-old tradition behind it; it is part of our daily life and it is a gesture that we should not give up.
We have already told you about the benefits of this drink that boosts our cognitive abilities, wakes us up in the morning with a burst of energy and takes care of our liver health.
Perhaps, however, you have not yet considered the “social component” of this black drink that we love so much. Here’s what it is.
A hot drink in good company
Let’s take a day’s work that wasn’t exactly good. Stress, worries, nervousness result in an excess of cortisol and noradrenaline in the blood which alter many of our basic functions:
- The rhythm of the heart is accelerated, we feel stomach discomfort, fatigue and a kind of mental numbness. Well, before returning home a friend calls us for a coffee.
- We order a coffee and, a little while, we start a pleasant conversation. Any hot drink has a calming effect on our body, nerves and breathing. Even the headache subsides.
- Furthermore, coffee and tea have a mild stimulating effect and allow us to communicate with our friend more easily. In this way, almost without realizing it, we began to tell her our concerns.
- The hot drink relaxes the muscles, but at the same time the caffeine stimulates the mind and makes us more receptive, communicative and open to positive emotions.
- So, after the first laugh, the power of the endorphins does the rest of the work: we really feel better and see problems from the right distance.
Coffee, laughter and friends: a way to stay in the “present”
We live in a fast-paced world that is demanding more and more. Our thinking is more about what we will have to do in an hour or tomorrow, rather than the moment we live in.
The coffee ritual is a therapeutic exercise that allows us to “keep our minds in the present”. Everything else disappears: we take a moment to enjoy the coffee, the conversation, the laughter, the company.
This is no small thing.
The power of emotional anchors
Emotional anchors are specific moments that our brain classifies as positive and worthy of being kept in our memory, so that they can help us overcome difficulties in the future.
- Let’s take another example. We just had some intense moments with our friends, over a cup of coffee. We talked about everything: laughed, cried and gave good advice.
- The combination of these emotions leaves an imprint in our brain by creating emotional anchors, moments that we can recover instantly, when things are not going well.
- It will be enough to remember those tips, those moments to draw strength, because it is there that the simplest, most rewarding and useful happiness is sculpted.
Good times have more power than bad ones
It might seem the other way around, but “storing” good and pleasant moments helps us fight the bad ones. The brain prefers to remember the positives rather than the negatives, because they help us react better and move on.
- Negative events block and trap us. For this reason, it is better to accept a failure, a loss or a mistake, and then move on, avoiding being followed by this dark shadow for too long.
- A habit as simple as stopping for a moment with a friend to have a coffee and talk about this and that is one of the best exercises for the mind and heart that can be done.
All this will remain in our trunk of positive experiences, from which to draw encouragement, strength and energy, in the “no” moments.
And you … today did you meet a friend over a cup of coffee?
