While working with a client on an issue regarding her successful yet sometimes stressful business, we were tapping on the issue at hand, and for whatever reason, we both ended up laughing hysterically.

We tested her SUDS level (Subjective Units of Distress), and her level had decreased from a 10 to a 0. It was great to see how the tapping released her tension enough for her to see the issue from a different perspective and genuinely laugh about it. The laughter shifted her energy and brought her SUDS level down as well.

At the beginning of the session, she didn’t feel like laughing at all.

EFT  reduced her stress to a level where she could see humor in the previously stressful situation. 

One significant benefit of laughter, like EFT, is that it reduces stress almost immediately. Laughing increases blood flow to the heart, which lowers blood pressure. It is also good for the brain. A Johns Hopkins University Medical School study found that incorporating humor into classroom instruction led to higher test scores.

Research

Norman Cousins — author and editor-in-chief of the iconic Saturday Review magazine — believed that emotions played a powerful and often overlooked role in human health. That conviction was rooted in personal experience. When Cousins was diagnosed with a painful and debilitating disorder, conventional medicine had little to offer. So he prescribed his own therapy: large doses of vitamin C and laughter. He watched Marx Brothers films and other comedies, and despite his doctors' skepticism, he laughed his way to a full recovery.

His best-selling book, Anatomy of an Illness as Perceived by the Patient: Reflections on Healing and Regeneration, was published just as the first studies were emerging on the connection between mind and body — specifically, the interaction between human psychology and the immune system. At the time, most research focused on how stress and adversity harmed health. Cousins said, "We can improve or alter emotional responses to reverse disease."

In his book, Possessing Joy, Steve Backlund shares findings from researchers at Loma Linda University and the Oakcrest Health Research Institute: 

"They discovered that a good belly laugh (or even the anticipation of laughter) has a beneficial effect on our body’s hormones. The institute studied 32 healthy men — half watched an hour-long funny video, while the other half sat in a room with magazines. Blood was drawn before, during, and after the experiment. Even before the video started, those in the humor group had, on average, 27 percent more beta-endorphins and 87 percent more human growth hormone in their blood. These elevated levels remained high throughout the experiment and afterward."

Research, presented in San Francisco at an American Physiological Society session, adds to previous studies that reveal humor has healthy “side effects,” such as lowering levels of two stress hormones – cortisol and epinephrine.

Saranne Rothberg founded The ComedyCures Foundation in 1999 from her chemo chair, and she is still cancer-free. Her comic perspective helped her beat stage IV cancer, and she has made it her mission to share humor and laughter to help others with their challenges. The link to her website with numerous resources is below.

EFT

That’s also the benefit of EFT-tapping on our meridian points while talking about a problem; after a few minutes, it no longer feels like a problem. Of course, there are always those more profound issues and concerns brought on by trauma that take longer than a few minutes. Never feel your issues are too deep or too much to heal. I know that trauma and grief are never a laughing matter; however, when you heal them with this effective modality and work with a knowledgeable and compassionate practitioner, well, you may be free enough to be laughing again.

Here’s to a good laugh today!

If you want to experience the benefits of more laughter in your life, email me or book a 20-minute complimentary consult. I'd love to help you.

Here are more links about the Benefits of Laughter. 

https://www.comedycures.org/

www.verywellmind.com

www.mayoclinic.org

ucla.edu/magazine/norman-cousins-humor-health-mind-body

Possessing Joy

Love,