Laughter Really IS the Best Medicine
Pat Davis is my friend and she has spoken to my ladies' group. She is a strong advocate of laughter medicine. Not comedy hour, laughter medicine is therapeutic laughing. Here is her testimonial:
"One of the best things any of us can do for our mental, physical and spiritual health is laugh! Study after study for over 30 years has shown the concrete medical benefits of laughter. Among other benefits, it strengthens the immune system, helps lower blood pressure, improves digestive function, decreases pain levels...it's like an inexpensive miracle. And of course, laughing just feels good mentally and emotionally! The problem for some people can be finding something to laugh about. That's where therapeutic laughter exercising comes in."
"If you've never heard of it, it's also referred to as "laughing for no reason." Laughter exercising was invented by a physician in India, Dr. Madan Kataria,
who as a doctor knew the medical benefits of laughing. He also knew that the typical reasons why people laugh--funny movies, humorous stories, jokes--are not
funny to everyone. "Humor" is very cultural, personal, and can at times actually be cruel. The challenge he felt was to create a way for anyone present to be able to laugh in order to reap the benefits. He invented laughter exercise. His methods were brought to North America by Steve Wilson, psychologist and head of the "World Laughter Tour," who trains people to become Certified Laughter Leaders (CLL's). The CLL leads a group in quickly learning tonal qualities (HEE-HEE, HA-HA, HO-HO) and a brief chant (HO-HO...HA-HA-HA). Then, the group does short pantomines to the sound of their own created laughter. You can pretend to be a chicken, talk on an imaginary cell phone, or mow an invisible lawn--all to the sounds of laughter! And best of all, continued studies of this "laughing for no reason" show that our bodies don't know the difference between spontaneous laughter (from something that does strike us as humorous) and laughing on command of the CLL. Of course, the laughter exercises are so silly and so much fun, spontaneous laughter will occur! Its an inexpensive and effective way to bring laughter into our lives."
For more information, check out the World Laughter Tour web site www.worldlaughtertour.com. You will find there a listing of local CLL's who can come share this innovative activity with your group.
"One of the best things any of us can do for our mental, physical and spiritual health is laugh! Study after study for over 30 years has shown the concrete medical benefits of laughter. Among other benefits, it strengthens the immune system, helps lower blood pressure, improves digestive function, decreases pain levels...it's like an inexpensive miracle. And of course, laughing just feels good mentally and emotionally! The problem for some people can be finding something to laugh about. That's where therapeutic laughter exercising comes in."
"If you've never heard of it, it's also referred to as "laughing for no reason." Laughter exercising was invented by a physician in India, Dr. Madan Kataria,
who as a doctor knew the medical benefits of laughing. He also knew that the typical reasons why people laugh--funny movies, humorous stories, jokes--are not
funny to everyone. "Humor" is very cultural, personal, and can at times actually be cruel. The challenge he felt was to create a way for anyone present to be able to laugh in order to reap the benefits. He invented laughter exercise. His methods were brought to North America by Steve Wilson, psychologist and head of the "World Laughter Tour," who trains people to become Certified Laughter Leaders (CLL's). The CLL leads a group in quickly learning tonal qualities (HEE-HEE, HA-HA, HO-HO) and a brief chant (HO-HO...HA-HA-HA). Then, the group does short pantomines to the sound of their own created laughter. You can pretend to be a chicken, talk on an imaginary cell phone, or mow an invisible lawn--all to the sounds of laughter! And best of all, continued studies of this "laughing for no reason" show that our bodies don't know the difference between spontaneous laughter (from something that does strike us as humorous) and laughing on command of the CLL. Of course, the laughter exercises are so silly and so much fun, spontaneous laughter will occur! Its an inexpensive and effective way to bring laughter into our lives."
For more information, check out the World Laughter Tour web site www.worldlaughtertour.com. You will find there a listing of local CLL's who can come share this innovative activity with your group.
posted by Mindy Nemon at
8:10 PM
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