Transcript SO WHY HUMOR?

Humor at workplace
WORLD’S #1 HEALTH PROBLEM
Time magazine's June 6, 1983 cover story called stress
"The Epidemic of the Eighties" and referred to it as
our leading health problem; there can be little doubt
that the situation has progressively worsened since
then. Numerous surveys confirm that adult Americans
perceive they are under much more stress than a
decade or two ago. A 1996 Prevention magazine
survey found that almost 75% feel they have "great
stress" one day a week with one out of three indicating
they feel this way more than twice a week. In the
same 1983 survey only 55% said they felt under great
stress on a weekly basis. It has been estimated that 75
- 90 percent of all visits to primary care physicians are
for stress related problems.
www.stress.org/problem.htm
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FINDING HUMOR IN
UNPLEASANT SITUATIONS
• Have you ever had
one of those days?
• What could cause it?
SO WHY IS HUMOR & LAUGHTER
GOOD FOR US!
 It allows us to be creative, work harder and be more
comfortable.
 It decreases isolation. Laugher allows us to bond with
other people and ease our loneliness.
 It’s contagious. Laughter creates laughter.
 It’s universal. Everybody can laugh. Human beings are
born with the gift of laughter.
 It reduces aggression and conflict.
 It relieves anxiety. One cannot laugh and be afraid
simultaneously. It’s physically impossible. Laughter also
shrinks the source and size of your fears.
 Above all else, it’s fun. It gives us back our playfulness, a
characteristic of all mankind.
 Laughter is a natural, physical process which releases
pain, physically and emotionally.
www.laughtertherapy.com
BENEFITS OF
HUMOR/LAUGHTER
What are the health benefits of humor and
laughter?
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Reduce stress
Lower blood pressure
Elevate mood
Boost immune system
Improve brain functioning
Protect the heart
Connect you to others
Foster instant relaxation
Make you feel good
http://helpguide.org/life/humor_laughter_health.htm
Laughter - Still the Best
Medicine
Health benefits of humor &
laughter
Adults laugh approximately 15 times per
day, while children laugh about 400 times a
day.
Dr. Stanley Tan, Endocrinologist at
California’s Loma Linda University Medical
Center states: “All these neuro-hormones act
like an orchestra, each instrument makes a
particular note. Laughter makes the entire
orchestra more melodious or balanced. In
other words, laughter brings to all the
components of the immune system.”
HUMOR IN THE WORKPLACE
Humor, the joy of jocularity, has benefits that are actually measurable. The
University of Southern California has tested subjects both before and after
a through laugh session and found that laughing lowers the blood pressure,
releases natural pain killers (endorphins), and boosts the immune system.
Not bad for having fun!
Some of the correlations on the relaxing power of laughter:
100 laughs = 10 minutes of aerobic benefits from a rowing machine
15 minutes of laughter = relaxing effect of meditation for 8 hours
10 minutes of laughter = relaxing effect of 2 hours sleep
We can see the future of medicine now….”Take two television comedy
programs and call me in the morning.”
Humor In The Workplace, Brian and Kelly Craft, Innovative Leader, Vol. 6, No. 5
A TWELVE-STEP METHOD TO
FUN
1.
2.
3.
Start with yourself.
Inspire fun in others.
Create an environment that encourages
fun.
4. Celebrate the benefits of fun.
5. Eliminate boundaries and obstacles that
inhibit fun.
6. Look for the humor in your situations.
7. Follow your intuition-Be spontaneous.
8. Don’t postpone your fun.
9. Make fun inclusive.
10. Smile and laugh a lot.
11. Become known as “Fun Loving.”
12. Put fun into action.
Dave Hemsath & Leslie Yerkes, “301 Ways to Have
Fun at Work”
THINGS YOU CAN DO TO PUT
MORE FUN/HUMOR IN YOUR LIFE?
-CPRS 2005
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2 different shoes or sox
Air guitar
Any eating contest
Be a kid at heart
Belly flop contest
Bubble blowing
Charades
Comedy night
Comics
Cook funny receipts
Dance funky
Dog park
Doodle
Draw cartoons
Face & finger painting
Food fight
Funny costumes
Funny faces
Funny movies
Funny noses
Funny stickers
Funny/silly pictures (i.e. baby pictures)
Gag gifts
Goodwill-try on funny clothes
Googly eyes
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Juggling
Karaoke
Lip synch
Magic tricks
Mascot
Most embarrassing moment
Nicknames
Paste pictures on different bodies
People watching
Pig Latin
Pillow fight
Pranks
Put on puppet show
Roast
Silly hats
Silly tales & stories
Skits
Slip-n-slide
Smile
Sound effects
Surprise someone
Theme days
Throwing contest (i.e. rubber chicken)
Water fight
HUMOR / LAUGHTER
ACTION PLAN
 What can I do immediately to increase my humor/laughter? Personally? Work?
(be specific)
 ACTION
 What can I do long range to increase my humor/laughter? Personally? Work?
(be specific)
 ACTION
HUMOR / LAUGHTER IDEAS
HUMOR KIT
– Funny pictures (family, friends, goofy ones, etc.)
– Collect cartoons (newspaper, magazines, cards, etc.)
– Noses (clown, Pinocchio, etc.)
– Funny items (Groucho glasses, hates, shirts, etc.)
– Noise makers
– Posters (3 Stooges, Laurel & Hardey, etc.)
– Audio & video tapes (comedy, storytellers, etc.)
– Collect and send funny cards & letters
– Dress funny days at work or running races
– Read funny books “Erma Bombeck”, “Peanuts”, Calvin & Hobbes”, etc.
– Collect humorous quotes
– Find humorous people to talk to and be with
– Try telling funny incidence
– Observe life and people for funny situations and examples (i.e shopping mall)
– “Lighten Up”
THOUGHTS TO PONDER!
Live is uncertain…eat dessert first!
Don’t Postpone Joy!
One of the best things people can have up their sleeves is a funny bone.
Humorists always sit at the children’s table.
The most wasted day of all is that on which we have not laughed.
You grow up the day you have your first real laugh-at yourself.
A playful attitude is best.
Without laughter, the spiritual path would be boring.
Laughter is free, legal, has no calories, no cholesterol, no preservatives, no artificial
ingredients, absolutely safe.
Laughter is the shortest distance between two people.
Good humor is goodness and wisdom combined.
An optimist laughs to forget; a pessimist forgets to laugh.
Laughter is the natural sound of childhood.
Humor is a fine teaching tool. People learn when they are enjoying themselves.
Laughter is the jest medicine.
Managing to have a sense of humor makes it a lot easier to manage people.
It is more important to have fun than it is to be funny.
S/He who laughs, lasts.
In prehistoric times, mankind often had only two choices in crisis situations: fight or
flee. In modern times, humor offers us a third alternative: fight, flee--or laugh.
Steve Wilson, Eat Dessert First, Advocate Pub.