Wednesday, April 29, 2015

SERIOUSLY SPEAKING - THE HEALING POWER OF LAUGHTER

Did you know that the oldest known joke is dated from 1900 BC? 

Why does laughter make us feel better? 

The jury is still out on exactly how it works but we know that laughter increases our breathing and speeds up our heart rate - some have even compared a good bout of laughing to a good physical workout!  It seems it even burns calories!

In 1976 Norman Cousins published his famous book, "Anatomy of an Illness" documenting his laughter cure from illness by watching hours of Marx brothers comedies!    check it out

What happens to us emotionally when we find the giggle - the tickle in an otherwise dark situation?

One possibility is that we are shifting the focus on how we perceive something.

Comedians often describe their art as turning perception upside down - getting the laugh by exaggerating reality and throwing in the unexpected. 


  
DANCE WITH IT!   EXPERIENTIAL APPS           
An opportunity to experiment with some fun ideas...
WHAT MAKES YOU LAUGH?

Can you allow yourself to see the ridiculous, the ludicrous, to step back and find the laugh?

Take a recent situation that stressed you and that you reacted to with heaviness, feeling down and overwhelmed.

Now imagine that you are a Hollywood screen writer and rewrite the script as a comedy… 

Make sure to include lots of exaggeration, and role reversals and even a few bad jokes!

Take a deep breath and watch your new movie.
How does it make you feel?  Better?






~To comment click below and let us know what you think ~

And for a quick meditation:                                                                                   



No comments:

Post a Comment