Date: Wed Nov 27, 2002 1:06 pm

Subject: Keep Smiling :-)

Hi Guys,

We are in the midst of a battle and it seems as if this is one of our

best offensive weapons.

Love, Laughter and Healing to All,

Ruth :-)

A DOSE OF LAUGHTER MEDICINE

excerpt from:

http://www.isma.org.uk/stressnw/laughter.htm

By ROBERT HOLDEN

(Robert Holden is a Stress Consultant)

Imagine the following scene: you are down to your last nerve, your

muscles are cooked, your hair is clenched, you have lock-jaw, you can

breathe in but you don't feel much like breathing in, your heart beats

only when it can find the time, and your head is auditioning for a

part in High Anxiety! You tell your doctor that life's got it in for

you, that you and God have a personality clash, and that you feel the

Universe quite simply doesn't want to involve you in Its plans. Your

doctor reaches for the pill pad, writes something, rips the sheet from

the pad, and hands you a prescription ... for laughter!

The Laughter Clinic Project is perhaps best described as a `support

group for joy'! The term Laughter medicine is used as a playful

metaphor for exploring central themes such as `The Wisdom of

Happiness', `The Psychology of Joy', `Releasing the Fun Child',

`Happiness is a Way of Travelling', `The Therapeutic Power of Play',

`The Joy of Stress', `Living Wonder-fully' and, of course, `Laughter

the best medicine'. Over 5,000 doctors, nurses, psychologists and

other health professionals have attended a training event involving

The Laughter Clinic Project over the last three years. Modern

medicine, so often accused of being over-chemical, over-technical,

over-reductionist and over-preoccupied with illness, is showing a

renewed willingness to explore the potential medicinal role of

feelings, emotions, happiness, touch, laughter, tears and smiling, for

instance, in health. Laughter is an ho-ho-holistic medicine!

Happy Cells

Perhaps the most exciting medical research on laughter is in the field

of `psycho-neuroimmunology' which looks at the effect of the mind on

the brain and on the immune system. This research shows that whereas

suppressed anger or feelings of intense hatred or frustration, for

instance, disturbs the natural, healthy functioning of the immune

system, laughter, joy and happiness have been found to help boost the

immune system.

Joyful Stress Release

Dr Berks research work has also found that the "mirthful laughter

experience", as he calls it, appears to reduce serum levels of

cortisol, dopac, adrenaline and growth hormone, thereby creating a

reverse effect to the classical hormone response during times of

stress. Both physically and psychologically, it is as if laughter acts

as a `safety valve' for the discharge of nervous energy.

Laughter can help us to wipe the slate clean in that it can inspire a

fresh perception, a new way of thinking, a change of belief, and the

revelation of previously unimagined possibilities. Laughter inspires

lateral thinking. Laughter is also a good antidote to the over

seriousness that swells during times of stress and anxiety. Over

seriousness blows up problems; laughter blows them out! The

psychologist and mystic Alan Watts once wrote, "The whole art of life

is in knowing how to transform anxiety into laughter".

Keep Smiling!

A favourite motto of The Laughter Clinic Project is, "The most wasted

day of all is a day in which we have not laughed". Whole-hearted

laughter is a re-creation, a celebration, a creative impulse that

encourages us to take the moment playfully. Laughter can transform an

ordinary moment into something extraordinary; it can energise us and

optimise us; it can conjure up a blessing from any burden. Above all,

the spirit of laughter beckons us to live fully, now, this moment, today.

I will leave you now with five prescriptions, collectively called

S.m.i.l.e., which are designed to encourage you to make today a little

more enjoyable than you initially thought it was going to be.

1) S is for smile donate a smile to a worthwhile cause today! Make an

effort to be more friendly today, just for the fun of it. Keep smiling

- it triggers curiosity!

2) M is for making mayonnaise, or any other dressing that turns

something dull into something delightful! In other words, don't wait

for happiness to happen, make it happen. Take an ordinary moment and

make it extraordinary. Some pursue happiness - others create it!

3) I is for impulse, innovation and the irregular. A brand new day is

an opportunity to try a brand new way. Change a perception, alter a

belief, entertain a new thought, communicate differently, act

adventurously. "Each day the world is born anew/For him who takes it

rightly", wrote James Russell Lowell.

4) L is for the greatest dose of medicine of all, love. Let someone

know that you love them today.

5) E is for enjoyment. When was the last time you went out to play?

Indulge yourself, invest in yourself give yourself - something to

smile about. Remember the old adage, "He [or she] who laughs, lasts!"