Humor Benefits both Mind and Body

One of the benefits of humor is that it contributes to Mind/Body Balance.

“Worrying is like a rocking chair: it gives you something to do, but it doesn't get you anywhere.” Unknown

A sense of humor can create a remarkable feeling of control over one’s life. Learning to use humor as a lens for life challenges can increase confidence in one’s own internal ability to adapt. The optimistic energy that comes from humor enables individuals to embrace difficulties with resilience. Some individuals purposefully use laughter to ease pain and promote physical healing. There is some experimental research indicating that laughter/humor might actually cure illness and may provide effective therapies for numerous disorders. Some claim that laughter relieves pain, reduces stress, and improves the immune system response. (Harvey, 1998) Although these studies are preliminary, and no firm conclusions can be made as yet, many of the findings are encouraging as to the benefits and applications of positive humor.
Got stress? The purposeful use of humor can help you feel more optimistic about your life, knowing that you can choose how to respond to stress. Humor elevates mood and has been known to be a deterrent to depression. Stress reduction is considered to be one of the most important benefits of humor. A little humor will go a long way in helping educators balance the current focus on accountability, testing, standards and unfunded mandates.

This is an exerpt from my book, "Using Humor to Maximize Learning"