WHY YOU AREN’T LAUGHING ENOUGH, AND WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT
More than ever the medical community is tapping into the role of attitudes and emotions in the healing process. With so many health problems facing the population along with the high cost of medicine (drugs), scientific evidence supports the biblical notion that “a merry heart doeth good like a medicine.”
The research is available to everyone and the surprise is: there really are mental and physical health benefits with laughter. The latest ‘integrative’ approach to healing incorporates alternatives such as therapeutic laughter. Laughter is being credited with boosting the immune system, improving blood circulation, helping diabetics’ balance blood sugar, relaxing muscles, aiding digestion, and according to a recent report- improving the quality of breast milk in nursing mothers. And, yes, laughter even burns a small number of calories.
“There are serious obstacles to getting an adequate supply of laughs,” says psychologist Steve Wilson. “Very few people are laughing enough to really get the benefits.” He calls this the Y.A.L.E. Complex (You Aren’t Laughing Enough), which he attributes to a combination of the enormous pressures of modern life and the historical view that laughter is silly or immature. And, he has a cure for it.
Wilson is the founder of the World Laughter Tour and the developer of laughter therapy programs promoting laughter and humor for health and as alternatives to violence. He has already trained 4,000 Certified Laughter Leaders. According to Wilson, “There is a daily quota of laughter, but most folks are too stressed, too hurried, and too glum to get it. We need to get the word out that laughter is so beneficial that everyone will want to get their quota every day.” What is a quota? “A total of about fifteen minutes every day,” he says.
“Lighten up,” urges the formerly serious psychotherapist who describes laughter as “like a shock absorber that relieves the physical and emotional toll of daily pressures as well as some of the extraordinary stresses that life can throw at us. Our total program,” he says, “also prevents hardening of the attitudes, making it preventive as well as therapeutic for mind and body.
Wilson’s organization trains leaders who conduct group laughter sessions and teach his six-step program called Good-Hearted Living. And, he is backed up by a distinguished panel of experts on the science of humor & laughter that guides him in the creation of quality programs that are beneficial in a variety of settings.
His method, a derivative of ancient practices blended with modern science, is rapidly finding acceptance and popularity in traditional healthcare settings. He cites many examples of laughter therapy being found useful. “In several settings it has proven to be an adjunct to cancer treatment modalities. It’s a life enhancing activity in Senior Care facilities, and a boost for morale and positive attitudes in schools, 2workplaces, and even among military families. We have discovered an amazing variety of applications across the country and around the world where our programs significantly reduce stress and help people enjoy life more.” He cautions, “It appears that a few weak chuckles each day are just not enough. So, get all the laughs you can!”
The best part is that just about anyone can learn how to promote more laughter by becoming a Certified Laughter Leader in a 2-day training workshop followed by continuing support and education. What are the basic requirements to be certified as a laughter leader: “We look for people who are mature, responsible and cheerful. A college degree or professional background is not necessary. Typically, classes are filled with a variety of upbeat people: housewives, business people, retirees, teachers, nurses, doctors, caring clowns, and others. “Those who attend the training,” Wilson promises, “will touch people’s lives, get people laughing, and make this world a better place to live in.”
Laugher Clubs are springing up everywhere. A training workshop conducted by World Laughter Tour is returning to Anchorage in July 2010 being hosted by Alaska Regional Hospital. Jennifer Fielder, RN and CLL a "proud employee" at Alaska Regional states: “I have been having weekly laugher club get-togethers here for the past couple years, and have several community members that have hardly missed a session. I have had attendees tell me that since attending it’s just easier to laugh, that they’ve had a ‘workout’ that relaxes and one even said her gastric reflux was gone by the end of the session.” Fielder says she originally wanted to bring laughter to her workplace “because as nurses we are so pulled in multiple directions, that having a short burst of ‘letting the pfft off” (as an old radiator in the sitting room) in such a positive mode only helps each of us get through the day. And the biggest reward is that occasionally a nurse or two will pop in for an exercise! Also, I have been having more and more requests from the community at large,” states Fielder, “to hold regular ‘clubs’ but for their respective areas, so the public as a whole is also seeing and feeling the need to add a guffaw or two to their days.”
“With a substantive curriculum and a hysterical workshop,” Wilson says, “we’ll be training people to take the good-news message about laugher to the community through civic organizations, businesses, nursing and retirement facilities, schools and anywhere people want to relieve stress, lift spirits have fun, laugh, feel better, and help health whatever ails them.”
Wilson’s happily emphatic rallying call: “Laughter is contagious, let’s start an epidemic!”
For more information, contact Jennifer Fielder, RN CLL of the AhLAFska Club at (907) 350-8822 or email: ahlafskaclub@yahoo.com
OR: Steve Wilson who is “Cheerman of the Bored” at 1-800-NOW-LAFF or www.worldlaughtertour.com
