An article on nursetogether shares some of the reasons why laughter is healthy, not just physically but psychologically as well. Some of the benefits include:
- Laughing teaches us it’s OK to be out of control.
- Laughing brings us into the moment.
- Laughing helps us think more clearly.
For more benefits, and a list of ways to incorporate laughter into your life, check out the full article. Ready for your own laugh? Take a gander at some office humor.
Source: You Just Gotta Laugh by LeAnn Thieman LPN, CSP, CPAE. nursetogether, 2009.
Research at a university in California suggests that just anticipating a humorous experience can help boost immunity and reduce stress. The scientific study measured various hormone levels of two groups; one group anticipated watching a humorous video, and the other did not.
Some of the highlights from the study include:
- The anticipation of mirthful laughter increased two hormones associated with alleviating depression and improving immunity by an average of 57%.
- Three stress hormones were also reduced by an average of 49% when anticipating laughter
- As the lead researcher stated, “Our findings lead us to believe that by seeking out positive experiences that make us laugh we can do a lot with our physiology to stay well.”
Ready to laugh for better health? Just take a second to anticipate watching some great office humor videos, then click on through and actually reap the benefits of laughter.
Source: Anticipating a Laugh Reduces Our Stress Hormones, Study Shows, American Physiological Study. Science Daily, April 2008.
According to an article in Fast Company adapted from the book Iconoclast, advances in neuroscience have shed new light on the key attributes of creativity. What amazes me is that many of the discoveries re-enforce the value of improv in stimulating the creative process.
Some of the main points on creativity:
- “The important elements for creative thinkers can be boiled down to this: Experience modifies the connections between neurons so that they become more efficient at processing information.”
- “In order to think creatively, you must develop new neural pathways and break out of the cycle of experience-dependent categorization.”
- “The surest way to provoke the imagination, then, is to seek out environments you have no experience with.”
Improv exercises can help you break out of the cycle by challenging you to think differently. Not only will the exercises themselves be unique and geared towards building a creative mind, but just doing something you aren’t experienced with will provoke the imagination.
If you want to create some of those neural pathways, try out some solo improv exercises you can do in the comfort of your own home or office. If you want to learn more about the creative process, I highly recommend picking up Iconoclast by Gregory Berns.
Source: Neuroscience Sheds New Light on Creativity by Gregory Berns. FastCompany, September 2008.
