To Your Health And Your Success: Laughing Matters! Article

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To Your Health and Your Success: Laughing Matters!

Laughter is healing. To relieve stress, improve your mood, enhance communication, and increase wellness, nothing beats a belly laugh.

Author: Dave Caperton

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It’s hard to find much in life to enjoy that doesn’t result in guilt, fat, or jail. But there is at least one activity we can indulge in that is good for us in spite of the fact it feels good-- laughter. Humor is increasingly regarded as having real and significant benefits for our physical, mental and emotional well-being.

Several years ago, I was invited by a hospital to present a program on humor for a weekend retreat for cancer survivors and their families. I was nervous about this group because—unlike some of my typical audiences of sales people or teachers or even nurses—these individuals were facing life and death issues about their own health. I believed that a message about the healing nature of compassionate humor was especially relevant for them. What I didn’t know was whether they could accept the message from someone who wasn’t a doctor and who hadn’t faced what they were facing.

As the people filed in, I remember a woman who walked through the door with an entourage. She was surrounded by disciples and it was clear what the attraction was. There was laughter and energy around this woman. She exuded joy and others were clamoring to be touched by it. She wore a scarf around her head to conceal the effects of the therapy she was still undergoing, yet, with all of her challenges, she still offered others her joy and her humor.

I remember she was wearing a blue tee shirt with printing on it that I couldn’t make out from the front of the room, but she headed straight for the first row. When she got close enough I read the words: “Hair by Chemo”

I laughed. Then I stopped. It didn’t feel right, laughing at cancer. Cancer is not funny. Then I realized something. She didn’t think her cancer was amusing but she did understand that not every aspect of it was life and death. Hair loss was perhaps embarrassing for her and maybe shocking for others, but it was a temporary side effect. Since it was not a life or death matter, she could use laughter to deal with it. One of the most important coping skills is the ability to distinguish between what is life and death and what isn’t. Used this way, humor becomes an effective handle of control so that every adversity doesn’t end up being treated with equal emotional distress. But the therapeutic value of humor doesn’t end with relieving stress. Over the past two decades or so, more and more evidence has been piling up that points to the important role laughter might play in physical as well as emotional health.

Lee S. Berk, an assistant research professor of pathology and laboratory medicine in the Schools of Medicine and Public Health at Loma Linda University in California, is one of a growing number of researchers who have turned their attention to humor and the health benefits of laughter and joy. Berk’s findings concur with other studies that show direct health benefits from laughter. After laughter, blood pressure levels temporarily drop, as do levels of cortisol, a stress hormone associated with a host of threats to the body’s health including heart disease and cancer. At the same time disease-fighting killer T cell levels increase as do other substances important to immune function and pain control.

Beyond the measurable physical benefits of laughter to boost immune function and moderate the stress response, humor also has benefits for the mind and spirit. We often use humor to deal with problems that seem overwhelming. It is a natural and healthy tool because humor provides symbolic control over the otherwise unendurable. That mental grip might be a first step to overcoming a difficulty by reframing the problem in a new and humorous way. It is also more effective than any other experience except tragedy in its potential to cement and strengthen relationships. People we laugh with are people we care about.

For all the benefits to body, mind, and soul, there is also a dark side. Humor can be used to nurture, strengthen, cope, and invite others but it can also be used to ridicule, separate, and exclude. The success of humor shouldn’t be measured by the laughter it elicits, but instead by the motive that underlies it. The kind of humor we need to practice is healing and constructive. It invites rather than excludes, it nurtures rather than victimizes, and it is rooted not in anger but kindness.

Here are some suggestions for enjoying the benefits of humoring yourself and others:

1. Practice humor. Start with you. Look in the mirror and smile for no reason. Keep it up until you either start to feel better or someone pounds on the bathroom door. Don’t stop there. There are lots of times during each day you’re funny. If you don’t think so, you aren’t paying attention. It's okay, even healthy to poke fun at yourself for your mistakes or your bad hair day, but be gentle. Be kind in your use of humor even when it’s just you talking to yourself.

2. Look for humor. Tune into the incongruities of life at work and at home and when you find them, consciously choose amusement over anger. With practice, the response becomes more natural. Read the comics and post the ones that really tickle your funny bone ( I like Dilbert and Pearls Before Swine). When humor is part of your environment it is easier to access when you need a lift. It’s also a great way to accomplish the next item on this list.

3. Share with others. Share an experience with others that invites them to laugh with you. The power of shared laughter is strong and bonding. Make sure the humor you share doesn’t come at someone else’s expense. Ironically, people who laugh at their own mistakes gain the esteem of others while those who try to project an aura of infallibility are magnets for ridicule.

4. Take it home. Don’t forget to find laughter to share with your family. Funny experiences bond people like few other experiences can. Dare to use humor. Your teens may roll their eyes, but they’ll do that anyway. Deep down they’ll appreciate your attempt at lightness even if they pronounce it, “Lame.”

5. Take inventory. After a week of your humor regimen ask yourself how your conscious use of humor has altered experiences and relationships.

Making humor and laughter a part of your experiences at work and at home not only lowers stress and improves your mood, it also strengthens your health, it helps you to connect with others and it feels good without being illegal or fattening.

About Author

Dave Caperton is a speaker and educator who teaches organizations in business, education and healthcare the many benefits of humor to manage stress, improve communication and strengthen teams. For more information call 614-804-5725 or visit http://www.davecaperton.com

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To Your Health and Your Success: Laughing Matters!