Jean’s Word of the Week: Joke
Laughter releases a natural painkiller and makes those around us feel good
Ric Edelman: Time now for everybody's favorite segment of the program, a visit by my wife, Jean Edelman. Jean is a student of the Healing Arts, Reiki, traditional Chinese medicine, homeopathy, acupuncture and of course, macrobiotic and plant-based cooking. Here's Jean.
Jean Edelman: Great to be with you this week. So I have a question. Are we having fun yet? When I think of fun, I think of two things: laughter and learning. When we are laughing, we're smiling, we're breathing, we're relaxed. We're in the moment and we have a mental release. There's so much research on the benefits of laughing. There is a hormone release when we laugh. The Mayo Clinic talks about laughter improving our immune system by releasing neuropeptides that reduce stress. Laughter releases a natural painkiller. Sometimes life gets so bizarre, you know, you can't make it up, and it's better to laugh than to dive into the drama. So action items for this week are, let's keep funny close by. Maybe post some funny cards or cartoons that we can see often. Have our favorite movie on hand, listen to funny podcasts, try laugh yoga, hang out with positive, happy, funny people. One footnote - do not laugh at the expense of others, ‘Nuff said.
The same holds true for learning. When we're engaged in something different, we have that mental release, and we are relaxed and breathing. We're smiling and we're in the moment. There's so much research on the benefits of laughing, and I know that with the weight of the world, there's not much to laugh about right now.
But we need to take care of ourselves. And a piece of that is finding moments of laughter. And so my word of the week is going to be JOKE. Because in order to laugh, we need a good joke.
So the J is for Join,
to bring together and connect. Because when we laugh, we are just joined together. We come together for that moment and that moment, that laughter lasts a lifetime.
The O is for Oasis,
a place of calm in the midst of chaos. And laughter helps us keep the weight of the world away for just even a moment.
K is for Karma,
the destiny you earned through actions. I love this. When we bring laughter to others, we are earning so much good karma, so make others laugh as often as you can.
And E is for ecstasy,
a feeling of intense joy. A good laugh lasts for hours, days and a lifetime. So finding fun and laughter and learning in our day is truly a great journey to embark upon. I wish you many laughs this week. Have a great week.
Ric: That's my wife, Jean Edelman here on The Truth About Your Future. And if you want to get more of Jean's words of the week, just go to TheTruthAYF.com.