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

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