©Copyright Workers Assistance

Program, Inc. 1997

Alliance Work Partners

Wellness Training

Laugh Your Way to Less Stress

Laugh Your Way to Less Stress

©Copyright Workers Assistance

Program, Inc. 1997

Alliance Work Partners

Wellness Training

What is stress?

• Stress is the body’s reaction to a perceived threat.

• Adrenaline and hormones are released, nervous system activated, senses sharpened.

•Pulse rises, muscles

tense up for fight or flight.

•Immune system SHUTS DOWN.

How does stress damage us?

• Living in constant change and high pressure can put us in a continuous state of fight or flight.

• Without relief, in the short run you may experience fatigue, upset stomach, or frequent headaches.

• Long term, the consequences of continuous stress are more dangerous

Long Term Stress Problems

• Family breakdowns

• Heart disease

• High blood pressure

• Memory loss

• Depression

• On the job accidents and injuries

What difference does humor make in relieving stress?

Laughter is positive stress.

When we laugh, we are stimulated and then we relax relieving the stress.

What happens when you smile?

• You breathe through your nose and exert pressure on the veins in your face.

• Your brain then releases endorphins, the body’s natural pain killer.

Laughter can be healing

• Norman Cousins (Anatomy of an Illness) experienced a remission from his life threatening disease.

• Massive doses of Vitamin C and “Candid Camera”

Laughter turns your immune system ON

• Gamma interferon increases - turns on immune system, fights viruses, regulates cell growth.

• “Helper T cells” increase in number – coordinates immune response to illness.

• “Compliment 3” increases - helps antibodies destroy infected and damaged cells.

• “Natural killer cells” increase in number and activity - attack foreign cells, cancer cells, infected cells.

Humor may restore brain function

• Brain uses right brain, left brain, and frontal lobe to

process or “get” a joke.

• Brain seeks unity to be efficient in finding

explanation for the punch line.

• Left Brain/Right Brain unity exercise.

• Joke telling may help stroke victims, elderly recover lost brain function (Peter Derks, College of William and Mary).

Laughing Matters, or Why Be Serious About Humor?

Insights on the Value of Humor from

Some Folks Who Should Know

Jest for the Health of It

• “You can’t help getting older, but you can help getting old”--George Burns

• Humor adds years to your life and life to your years by preventing hardening of the attitudes.

• You don’t stop laughing because you grow old, you grow old because you stop laughing.

• She who laughs last, lasts

– “When humor goes, there goes civilization.” – Erma Bombeck

– Humor helps you manage stress and prevent burnout.

Ha Ha and Aha!

• Put on your humor glasses.

• Humor and creativity

are closely related.

• As you develop your sense of humor, you are better able to access your problem-solving abilities.

• Humor and creativity can move you from “yes, but…” to “yes, and…” thinking.

A Smile is the Shortest Distance Between Two People

• Humor is an effective and fun way to “reach out and touch” others, to boost morale at work, to communicate the serious with a light touch.

• Exercise: Think of a tight situation with a group when someone lightened the load with a humorous view of the situation.

• What’s on your Epitaph? - Remember Me When I am Gone - Larry King

A Short Quiz for Professionals Only

Andersen Consulting Worldwide

1. How do you put a giraffe in a refrigerator?

• Open the refrigerator, put in the giraffe and close the door.

• This question tests whether you tend to do simple things in an overly complicated way.

2. How do you put an elephant in a refrigerator?

• Open the refrigerator, put in the elephant and close the door.

• WRONG!

• Open the refrigerator, take out the giraffe, put in the elephant and close the door.

3. The Lion King is hosting an animal conference. All the animals attend except one. Which animal does not attend?

• The elephant.

• The elephant is in the refrigerator.

• This answer tests your memory.

4. There is a river you must cross. But it is inhabited by crocodiles. How do you manage it?

• You swim across.

• All the crocodiles are attending the animal

conference.

• This answer tests whether you learn quickly from your mistakes.

According to Andersen, around 90% of the professionals they tested got ALL the answers wrong.

But many preschoolers got several correct answers. What do they know that we don’t?

What makes you laugh?

• Physical comedy - slipping on a banana peel,

getting hit in the face with a custard pie, Keystone

cops, Three Stooges, vaudeville, props, gimmicks,

Gallager.

• Verbal humor - puns, jokes, stories, limericks,

one-liners.

--A three-legged dog walks into a saloon in the Old

West. He slides up to the bar and announces: “I’m

looking for the man who shot my paw.”

What makes you laugh?

• Satire - criticism, topical humor, current

events (Mark Russell, P.J. O’Rourke)

• A Martha Stewart Holiday Season: After Thanksgiving, clean out that turkey carcass, spray paint it gold and use it as an attractive centerpiece to hold all those holiday cards coming in the mail.

What makes you laugh?

• Farce -mistaken identity, comedy of errors, everyday events exaggerated

(Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream, Seinfeld)

• Male driver sees female driver going 65 mph and putting on eyeliner. This scares him so bad, he drops his electric razor, donut, and knocks his cell phone into his coffee--disconnecting an important call!

What makes you laugh?

• Unintended humor of everyday - quotes from

public figures, America’s Funniest Home Videos,

kids saying the ‘darndest’ things, church

bulletins, headlines

• 6th grade history test answer: “Franklin discovered electricity by rubbing two cats backward and declared, ‘A horse divided against itself cannot stand.’ Franklin died in 1790 and is still dead.”

• “Psychic’s Going Out of Business; Public Questions why she didn’t see it coming”

Think Before You Speak: Universal Cautions

• Humor can be used to hurt, so think before you speak

• Avoid ethnic, racial, or gender-based jokes

• Avoid off-color jokes at work

• Know your audience

How can you increase humor in your life?

• Bart Simpson maneuver

• Ballooning

• Pick a safe target

• Laying it on the line

Serious Ways to Have Fun at Work

• Toys & Props • Baby pictures

• Pass a Koosh ball • Cartoon/joke books

• Magic wand • Wear a funny hat

• “Ways to Have Fun” list • Dance down the hall

• Crayons & coloring books • Happy colors

• Play with your problems

It’s not “He who has the most toys wins.” It’s “He who has the most time to play with his toys and the most fun playing with them who wins.”

Less Serious Ways to Have Fun

• Ideas for the team: • To Do list of the “dones”

– Show & Tell • Bill your doctor

“Theme” Dress Days • Tiny marshmallows up your nose

• Decaf to espresso • Pop popcorn without the lid

• Bowling in the office • Roman numerals on your 1040

• Button: “Save time,

see it my way”

Less Serious Ways to Have Fun

Got teenagers?

Put this sign on your refrigerator:

“If you’re tired of being hassled, leave home. Make your own way while you still know everything.”

IF YOUR WORKLOAD GETS TOO MUCH...

THINK OF HOW TO BALANCE YOUR LIFE!