Know-it-All, Dr. Oz of the Oprah Kingdom confirms that "laughter is the best medicine after speaking with comic Steve Rizzo and humorist Kurt Kilpatrick.
Steve Rizzo, author of Becoming a Humor Being said, "People need to know that there is a difference between laughing at something that's very serious and laughing off the fear that represents it," Steve says. "If you can allow yourself to laugh off the fear, and anything that might be bothering you, you're going to beat it."
That's been my experience as well. And although Steve says that "Everyone has a 'humor being,' everyone on this planet," he says. "Your humor being is of your higher self—it's the part of you that brings out the best in you when times get really tough," you don't need a sense of humor to laugh. It may help but it is not required.
Humor, laughter, and happiness in the daily lives of recently bereaved spouses.
Lund DA, Utz R, Caserta MS, De Vries B. University of Utah, Salt Lake City
The positive psychology movement has created more interest in examining the potential value of experiencing positive emotions (e.g., humor, laughter, and happiness) during the course of bereavement. This study of 292 recently widowed (5-24 weeks) men (39%) and women (61%) age 50 and over examined both the perceived importance of and actual experience of having positive emotions in their daily lives and how they might impact bereavement adjustments. We found that most of the bereaved spouses rated humor and happiness as being very important in their daily lives and that they were also experiencing these emotions at higher levels than expected. Experiencing humor, laughter, and happiness was strongly associated with favorable bereavement adjustments (lower grief and depression) regardless of the extent to which the bereaved person valued having these positive emotions.
Once again, laughter proves to be the best medicine.
Yours in giggles and laughter,
Bruce
Article plumbed from: www.pubmed.gov
