UnLtd Blogs - laughter

Making a small difference

Sun, 24 Sep 2006 17:00:09 +0000

I've just had a lovely note from one of the carers who joined in with a Laughter session I ran in Ealing a few weeks ago. Along with the playful laughter exercises, we talked about some simple things to try to help lift our mood every day. One of them is simply to write down 3 blessings (things that went well) during the day. They can be small things (a stranger smiling "hello!" walking down the street, the smell of a rose, etc.). The trick is just to actively recall a blessing, without denying the stress and strain of the day. Over time this becomes a habit and you naturally realise that life isn't all bad.

Yes, this does sound Pollyanna-ish but for a number of people, including this carer, it can be surprising helpful. She now finds herself walking down the street actively looking out for a blessing. In line with the findings reported by Richard Wiseman in The Luck Factor, more often than not she finds them. She said she is surprised at how much of a difference this is making to her day. She feels happier and less stressed than before.

Of course, this note is a lovely blessing for me to include in my list today. Along with the beautiful Campanulas Sainsbury's were almost giving away this afternoon and the fun of watching a Spaniel trying to jump about 6 feet up a tree as it chased a squirrel in the park (well, fun at least for me, if not the squirrel).

Rely On The Kindness Of Strangers

Fri, 09 Jun 2006 17:52:05 +0000

According to Wired, researcher David Baker is relying on the kindness of strangers to generate the key to an AIDS vaccine or a cure for cancer by creating a virtual super-computer. Sometimes, in addition to techno-stars, we need basic services and kindnesses. An individual contribution to Baker's search for scientific solutions might be

that old PC sitting under a layer of dust in your closet or the one on your desk doing little else but running a screen saver.

Baker's Rosetta@home project is putting together the spare computing power of tens of thousands of PCs throughout the world to work away at scientific problems over the internet. Owners install free software on the PCs and

when the machine is idle, it figures out how an individual protein � a building block of life � might fold or contort, displaying the possibilities in a screen saver. When the PC is done crunching, it sends the results back to Baker's team and grabs more work.

More than 60,000 people currently donate computer time and Baker is looking to increase that number ten-fold.

Rosetta@home is a tremendously exciting project and is creating virtual communities of people who feel actively involved in the research effort and the potential medical impact of the work. What would happen if we could harness people's goodwill to produce a virtual community of people willing to improve their own well-being and that of others? In The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell promotes the idea that small actions can spark “social epidemics”, that are good for our well-being. What small actions could we do and what would we be willing to do? Is the greatest apprehension the fear of the open-ended commitment and of exploitation? Does the Rosetta@home project work because there is a clearly defined limit to the contributions (e.g., spare computing power, when the computer is turned on?).

Wellness for the Lifestyle Challenged

Thu, 08 Jun 2006 16:43:30 +0000

Wellness for the lifestyle challenged offers 12 general principles for healthier living. The steps are all the generic advice that is popular in magazines and newspaper sections. I would include the benefit of counting our blessings. However, I particularly approve of the following as it re-iterates my usual theme that laughter is good for you.

Resolve to go out of your way daily to experience humor, lightness, fun, joy--good times by whatever name you prefer. Laughter and assorted pleasures strengthen your immune system, metabolize bad vibes and act in 1001 ways to make your everyday life richer and fuller. Unlike frustrations, setbacks, tragedy and disaster, however, initiative is needed to bring these sensations up beyond the minimal level of occurrences.

Laugh-a-thon for British Heart Foundation, May 28th And More Muda

Fri, 26 May 2006 17:27:02 +0000

The next big event on the laughter calendar is the national Laugh-a-thon on Sunday, May 28th which is being run in collaboration with the British Heart Foundation.

The Laugh-a-thon is sponsored in aid of the British Heart Foundation and is also an exploration of the health benefits of laughter. After some local difficulty, I managed to chat with my local BHF co-ordinators and organise an event for Spurriers Cafe, Harlow Park, this Sunday 28th at 1pm..

So, unless it is contra-indicated, and you have been warned off laughing - have a look at what is available in your local area and go along to a Laugh-a-thon event. Laughter really is good for you!

Never one to pass up the opportunity for a whinge, the local difficulty was that I went to my local BHF shop to find out more about the event, only to be told that the shops aren't allowed to participate in local fund-raising. I was told some probably-defensible but ludicrous-sounding story about how two local men had raised �1500 at an event and wanted to donate the money for use in the local area: anyway, you aren't allowed to make a directed donation for local use, so the shop couldn't accept the money. This whole area was obviously the source of ill-feeling but I am glad to say that the shop did accept some advertising material for the event once everything was sorted. I shall whinge about that in a separate paragraph.

Laugh-a-thon Interview on Radio 2

Thu, 11 May 2006 10:57:53 +0000

My Laughter colleague, Joe Hoare, is on Radio 2's Johnnie Walker show this afternoon, between 2 and 3. He will be talking about the Laugh-a-thon event. I'll see if there is a link that I can post later for anyone who misses it.

The next big event on the laughter calendar is the national Laugh-a-thon on Sunday, May 28th which is being run in collaboration with the British Heart Foundation.

The Laugh-a-thon is sponsored in aid of the British Heart Foundation and is also an exploration of the health benefits of laughter. I'm chatting with my local BHF co-ordinators to see if we can organise an event in my local area.

So, unless it is contra-indicated, and you have been warned off laughing - go along to a Laugh-a-thon event. Laughter really is good for you!

World Laughter Day The Happystance Way!

Mon, 08 May 2006 10:50:16 +0000

Despite the dour or bemused expression on the dog's face, we had a good time with the Laughter in the Park event for World Laughter Day. There was some initial reticence but the sunshine persuaded people to loosen up and despite the dour disapproval of the dog (whom I am sure that Wodehouse would have named McTavish and evolved an entire biography in which he is the embodiment of one of the narrower sects that disapprove of earthly pleasures) people overcame their inhibitions and laughed in public. The next big event on the laughter calendar is the national Laugh-a-thon on Sunday, May 28th which is being run in collaboration with the British Heart Foundation.

I've been invited to be the warm-up man for the Summer Concert in the Park event scheduled for August 20th. I've always wanted to run a laughter event with several hundred people so this is a great opportunity. One of the most enjoyable exercises that we do is the laughter wave (think Mexican wave) combined with the laughter orchestra (different tones of laughter). The wave needs a good 30 people to be truly effective, but with a potential orchestra of hundreds, the results should be impressive.

Laughter Really Is Good For Us

Fri, 05 May 2006 15:03:02 +0000

It's World Laughter Day on Sunday and I'm running an event in my local park. A study by Cambridge University recently reported on behavioural changes that add to our longevity:

giving up smoking means an extra five years
moderate exercise adds three years
eating five portions of fruit and vegetables a day adds three years.

The study neglected to mention that there are studies that suggest that happiness (including the sense that life offers meaning and engagement as well as pleasure) adds up to nine extra years of life. This finding was reported by the study that researched Alzheimer's disease among 678 nuns: the findings of many papers indicate that positive emotions are correlated with survivor rates. The study began in 1986: researchers traced the nun population to the early 1900s. Of the least cheerful nuns, starting from age 30, only 34 percent lived to be 85, and 11 percent lived to age 94. Of the most cheerful, 90 percent lived to age 85, and 54 percent lived to 94, starting at age 30. In a paper examining Positive Emotions In Early Life And Longevity the researchers concluded that:

Positive emotions experienced early in life predicted longevity more than 60 years later.

At 9 years, the benefits of positive emotion outweigh the negative effects of obesity, smoking or alcoholism.

World Laughter Day and Happystance In Biscuits

Thu, 04 May 2006 12:02:48 +0000

I'm running a Laughter in the Park session this Sunday as part of the World Laughter Day. There are lots of events through the UK so find out if there is one that is local to you. As ever in the UK, my main concern is for the weather but I have been invited to run the event by the social entrepreneur who runs the cafe in the local park so I do have some options if the heavens should open...

As part of the cheery theme, I am publicising my Happystance for Carers project and I shall be using this biscuity banner as a nod to the tea and biscuits that people usually associate with carers events.

Laughter Is the Best Medicine

Mon, 03 Apr 2006 15:06:34 +0000

The Guardian carries a piece on Laughter really is the best medicine.

scientists have proved what everyone else takes for granted - that laughter really is good for you. It turns out that even the anticipation of watching a funny video can raise the levels of immune-boosting hormones in the blood and the benefits can last up to a day.

There are well established health benefits for laughter and for positive emotions associated with it. More technically, in this study, the researcher established that:

the anticipation of a laughter eustress [positive stress] event initiates changes in neuroendocrine response prior to the onset of the event itself...From our prior studies, this modulation appears to be concomitant with mood state changes, and taken together, these would appear to carry important, positive implications for wellness, disease-prevention and most certainly stress-reduction.

All of which is as maybe. Doesn't scheduling time with laughter to improve the workings of our immune systems and overall well-being sound more enjoyable than most other interventions? I would hope that regular laughter sessions might be a lifestyle modification that most people were willing to adopt and practise regularly. We have nothing to give up but a sense of our seriousness and some perspectives that might stop us from enjoying our lives as much as we can, or enjoying the well-being that is open to us.

The Fun And Benefits Of Laughter

Wed, 22 Mar 2006 18:08:22 +0000

Time magazine has a good article, The Funny Thing About Laughter.

There is some discussion about whether laughter is good for us because it is primarily a social activity and implies the presence of others; or whether laughter is good for us because of its beneficial effects on hormone levels and our cardiovascular system. As always, it is probably a combination of both.

Laughter has many benefits for our well-being. And, above all, it is fun, it can make us happy and can be cost-free. I believe that it can help us build resilience and develop a Happystance.

I do sometimes come across people who are hostile to the notion of laughter and developing a Happystance. I respect that some people are angry at the notion of laughter which seems mocking in the context of what else is happening in their lives. And yet, I do know that some of the liveliest groups that I run are the ones with homeless people who are beset with a multitude of problems. There have been laughter projects with homeless people that have offered a way back into society. There have been research projects looking at the link between laughter and improved immune system functioning and greater self-confidence. As Oscar Wilde never put it, "We are all of us in the gutter. But some of us are chortling at the stars".

Laughter in the Park

Sun, 22 Jan 2006 18:23:16 +0000

At the end of my Sunday stroll I dropped in on a Social Entrepreneur who runs the cafe in the local park. We had an interesting chat between the times when he was cleaning around and serving his customers.

I was delighted to be offered the cafe as a venue for running future Laughter in the Park sessions. I’m very pleased about this as I have previously attended and enjoyed laughter sessions in Regent’s Park and other similar venues in London that offer a suitable bandstand. Although we have a bandstand in Harlow it is not in suitable condition for use by the general public and has the added (albeit picturesque) disadvantage of having a rill running very close to it. The last time that I enquired about using the bandstand for a voluntary event I was instructed to put together a Health and Safety Risk assessment. Now, that’a pretty much like telling me to look at a bare field and assess its crop potential. I have no background in agronomics or Health And Safety and any assessment that I made would have been pure guesswork rather than based on informed principles. So, the planned Laughter in the Park events didn’t happen.

The events will need to be scheduled for times when the cafe is not in use so that will affect the audience that can attend. I’d like to think that young people could attend but homework and other obligations would probably preclude family events for weekday evenings. I’m going to think some more about what I can offer on weekdays evenings or at weekends and with what sort of regularity.