Wit n' Wisdom

Inspiration

Humor impacts health the way sunshine improves a harvest. To tweak Mark Twain's famous phrase: "Laughter is the best medicine"... plus, no co-pays!

Insight

In his 1979 groundbreaking book, "An Anatomy Of An Illness", author Norman Cousins described how he supplemented his meds with Marx Brothers movies to such therapeutic effect "the laughter was like internal jogging."  
 
Cross over a continent, and fast forward to 1995, when Dr Madan Kataria in Mubai, India discovered that to receive the health benefits of humor we don't have to wait until something strikes us as funny. Simply choosing to laugh just to exercise our lungs, for as little as 30 seconds, reduces the levels of the stress hormone Cortisol in our blood stream. Further studies document that simulated big belly laughs burn off calories, lower blood pressure, boost endorphins, pump oxygen to the brain (and I suspect in rare cases restore virginity!)  So why wait for a punchline, when you can cut right to the comic chase and crack up... just for the health of it!

Intent  (memo to self)

Today , I am seizing the comic moment ('carpe comediem') and real or fake, I'm milking the mirth for all it's worth...to boost my over-all well being.

Special thanks to Rob Peck for sharing his weekly column with our readers. To learn more about Rob and his business, Zestworks, visit his website, http://www.zestworks.com