What’s So Funny About That?
Laughing with you or laughing at you? Check this out and…
… were you laughing? Were you outraged? What’s so funny about that?
If you’re asking you probably didn’t get it and that’s okay. But this made me laugh, I’ll admit it. Kind of a guilty laughter, here, alone with my P.C., but laughter none the less and I’m here to remind you all that laughter is a good thing for lots of good reasons, one of which is to not take things too seriously.
Especially the things that are really serious, like cancer.
In his memoir, “Cancer On $5 A Day”, comedian, Robert Schimmel describes his experience facing stage III non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and all it’s vicissitudes with humor. When his oncologist gave him and his parents, both holocaust survivors, the bad news, the first thing out of his mouth was a joke, to which the doc replied “you’re going to be fine”. “Why do you say that” asked our potential victim, “because”, said the doc, “of your attitude”.
That was close to nine years ago and he’s even had a child since then.
“Going for the laugh was his survival mechanism” and I think it’s safe to say that Robert Schimmel feels great with us laughing at him. In fact you can do just that by tuning in his new television show, “Life Since Then” on Showtime.
This is Dr. Julian Lange, OMD, LAc. reminding you that your laughter heals.
To watch other inspirational comedy video clips go to http://www.ComediesThatHeal.com
To watch this clip click here:
http://www.101comedies.com/laughterandyourbody/whats-so-funny-about-that
Taking Life Too Seriously? Try More Laughter Today with Tips from Laughter Coach, Dr Annette Goodheart
We take life way too seriously, if the following quote from laughter coach Annette Goodheart is true. So why not try more laughter now by taking her advice?
“The average 5 year old in the U.S. laughs 400 times per day. The average adult laughs 15 times.”
In a recent interview for her upcoming book: “Cheer Up! Laugh Your Way to Health with Inspirational Comedy 101″ Dr Susan Lange OMD, L.Ac of the Meridian Center for Holistic Medicine in Santa Monica, California interviewed Dr. Annette Goodheart, a laughter coach with forty years of experience in the field.
Here are a few gems from the interview on the healing power of laughter:
- One thing our family did every night at dinner was laugh. We laughed so hard we spit out our food, fell off our chairs and wet our pants.
- Catharsis is nature or God’s way of resolving the imbalance in our chemistry because our emotions are chemical. If we do not re-balance them, and our culture teaches us us not to, then that inbalance stores and eventually becomes dis-ease. Infants and children expertly resolve this imbalance and return to a state of homeostasis. I believe this is the missing link in science, psycho-neuro-immunology and other emerging mind-body fields because we have so many myths and beliefs that are untrue, not just about laughter, but crying and most other emotional expressions as well. Remember that there’s no such thing as a bad emotion. All emotions are painful and need to be moved out through catharsis.
- As a general rule, in Western culture, (only) women are allowed to lose control, but men have to be in control and it’s very frightening for many of them to lose it. It’s an actual loss of physical control. Most of us have laughed until we cried or fallen out of our chairs. You literally lose muscle control.
- For people starting out on their laughing path, I suggest going into the bathroom by yourself, looking yourself in the eye in the mirror, and with your most serious face, saying “tee-hee” and see what happens. Spend time with friends who laugh a lot and laugh along with them. Don’t wait to find out why they’re laughing. You never have to have a reason to laugh.
- The only thing that I would not recommend is laughing at ridicule or put down. Central Michigan University conducted a study that showed that people who use put downs or ridicule are sick more frequently and spend more time in hospitals than people who are witty. If a friend uses put down humor, I would not spend time laughing with them. Other than that, take every opportunity you can to laugh.
- I used to and still do carry a red rubber nose in my car. When I drove to Los Angeles, I would put it on during rush hour traffic. I had more fun with the other cars. Half of them thought I was crazy and the other half were delighted and gave me the thumbs up.
- I have a book called Laughter Therapy: How to Laugh About Everything in Your Life That is Not Really Funny. Everyone usually knows what they think is funny or can laugh at. But I help people laugh about things that aren’t funny and support them in re-balancing and resolving their pain. I’ve worked successfully with depression, AIDS, cancer, sexual abuse and other emotional and physical challenges. In addition to the book, I have CD’s, DVD’s, video tapes and cassettes available at my two websites, laughtercoach.com or teehee.com. And to sample a free laughter coaching demonstration, write Annette at teehee@teehee.com.
Interview by Dr Susan Lange, OMD, L.Ac www.MeridianHolistic.com
Edited by Jeff Hutner, www.newparadigmdigest.com
For more inspirational comedy articles, tips and video clips click the following link http://www.ComediesThatHeal.com
Cancer? How Humor Helped Dina Heal Her Tumor.
Dina With Her Life Partner Jim
I (Susan) recently interviewed Dina Ferreira, a very attractive woman in her forties from Brazil, for my upcoming Inspirational Comedy book which explores the healing benefits of humor, laughter, fun and play. She was diagnosed with an extremely serious form of brain cancer and went to many different medical experts who all gave her the same diagnosis and a very short time to live – six months to be exact. But she never gave up and finally she met a doc at UCLA, Dr Cloughsey, who was willing to support her in her conviction that she could survive and heal from her brain tumor.
And now over three and a half years later, she is not just surviving, she is thriving! She has set up a website to help and inspire others, linked to a UCLA website, which is listed below. She is so much more than a cancer survivor! She is involved in a cancer support group and she has set up a fund to help cancer research.
I asked her what she attributes her success to, and how she healed from her brain cancer and she cited several very important factors that helped her dramatically. We will be going into those in more depth next time. But she did give me her favorite funny movies to tell you. The movies that helped inspire her and made her laugh. They will be going into my upcoming book “Cheer Up! Laugh Your Way to Health With Inspirational Comedy 101″. You will also find them in an upcoming post
Her current favorite inspirational comedies are: “Mama Mia” and “Wall E”.
Dina’s website is: http://www.ugbf.org Go online and check it out. You will find it very interesting. She is involved in fundraising for UCLA and research into brain tumors - brain cancer research to find enhanced cancer treatments.
To view this post, click here: http://tinyurl.com/8cvoz3
PS To watch other inspirational comedy video clips go to http://www.ComediesThatHeal.com
WHY did we create this blog... and who ARE we? WHAT are we all about anyway... And WHY are we laughing, for goodness sakes? Click on the image to find out what 101Comedies is all about...
