Laughter Helps

Posted On: October 9, 2020

“Be BrainWise and Be Happy” is the topic of this month’s BrainWise newsletter. The article discussed the importance of using your Constellation of Support to improve the likelihood that you will love a long and happy life. Supporting these findings is additional research that identifies laughter to exit your Emotions Elevator. Researchers have found that laughter has been shown to reduce stress hormones and boost feel-good endorphins, helping us remain resilient in the face of problems and adverse events like COVID 19. Humor keeps negative emotions in check and allow us to see some of the bad things that happen to us as a challenge, rather than a threat. Add humor to the “do something else” activity to lower your Emotions Elevator. Here are some ways suggested by medical experts:

Write down the most difficult and annoying things about the problem situation. Look at them and see if you can find any humor in your situation.
When appropriate, use a touch of playfulness or kindly humor during a painful situation. When a widow at the funeral service distributed gift box of the deceased’s ashes to his friend, the surprised recipient joked that he never expected his friend to always be with him.
Keep a “laughter first-aid box” that contains joke books, feel-good sayings, and other props that bring smiles.

BrainWise teaches that you may not have control over things that happen to you, but you do have control over how you react or respond to them. Stop and think about how you can use humor to lighten up your feelings and stay low or off your Emotions Elevator.

Please follow and like us:

BrainWise and Indigenous Populations

In college, Matt Sena taught BrainWise at a youth center in Grand Junction, Colorado and wrote his Master Thesis on BrainWise and young fathers. Twenty-five years later, he is a BrainWise Master Instructor, member of the BrainWise Board of Directors, and cherished colleague. Matt has taught BrainWise to thousands of youth and adults, written grants, […]

BrainWise is the Foundation for My Work

“Few professionals do what I do,” said Gary Brayton, PhD, a Clinical Social Worker in Alberta, Canada. Dr. Brayton specializes in treating children and youth who have engaged in sexually intrusive behaviors. He has been teaching BrainWise since he was introduced to the program at a conference 12years ago. “It is the foundation for my […]

Helpers Reinforce BrainWise Learning

BrainWise instructors are passionate about obtaining successful outcomes and engage others to ensure children practice their newly learned skills. A key strategy involves collaborating with helpers – family members, school staff, community and church members, health providers, and others – to reinforce children’s Wizard Brain behaviors. The interaction between helpers and BrainWise-informed children varies in […]