DEPRESSION

Who Says I’m Not Funny

Joy Miller, , , Leave a comment

                         

thic0023042

      “By the time a child reaches nursery school, he or she will laugh 300 times a day.  Adults laugh an average of 17 times a day.” (Discovery Health).

Do you laugh every day or have you discovered that as an adult you have neglected such activities because you are supposed to be producing, achieving, and focused on your goals?  Today Americans are finding that they are laughter deprived… are you one of the victims?

What are the benefits of laughter?

  • Reduces stress (laughter stimulates both sides of our brain and eases muscle tension)
  • Lowers our blood pressure
  • Elevates our mood (and gives our body a good workout)
  • Boosts our immune system (releases antibodies)
  • Improves our brain functioning
  • Helps us lose weight (laughter actually burns calories)
  • Helps us connect with others
  • Fosters relaxation

Why do we need humor & laughter?

  • Laughter replaces negative emotions with pleasurable feelings
  • Laughter changes our focus and our behavior. When we use humor in a conversation we tend to talk more, make more eye contact, and we touch more.
  • Laughter increases our energy level and makes us feel vital.
  • Laughter makes us feel good and heals our emotional pain.
  • Laughter helps us move from a place of negativity into a place of gratitude and a way to see the positive in our life.
  • Laughter and humor are some safe ways to introduce ourselves to others (connection)

How can you expand your sense of humor?

  • Look for everyday humor. Look for absurd, silly or funny things that happen around you and rejoice in their humor.
  • Watch children. Observe how they delight in the little things around them in everyday life.
  • Increase your exposure to humor. Watch comedies, read joke books, listen to funny stories of others, read the “joke a day” online.
  • Hang around with funny friends. Funny people are everywhere, you just have to look around and you will find humorous people surrounding you.
  • If you hear a joke you like write it down. Make sure you tell someone else the joke you learned and brighten their day.

 

The Power of a Smile

Joy Miller, , , Leave a comment

Smiles—do they have meaning? Are you one of those people who puts a smile on your face when you know it’s not genuine?  Does your face tell people that your smile is something thatis forced and stiff? Or does your smile shine from within and tend to bring people closer to you?

You might be surprised that recent studies have shown that a “genuine” smile can enhance and benefit your life in ways that you might not realize.  In fact, a genuine smile just might help you live a longer and happier life.

  • The power of a smile.
    • Researchers have found that smiling can slow down our heart rate and eliminate stress. This happens even when we are not aware of showing that grin. The simple act of smiling tends to calm our body and soul.
    • The pure act of smiling has been proven to enhance our happiness ratio and creates a more optimistic view of life that surrounds us.
    • Research shows that a genuine full grin has the potential to affect our body in a positive ways & even a “polite” smile can also bring benefits. Health benefits include an increase in those “feel good” hormones, lower rates of anxiety, and relaxed muscles.
    • The Journal of Psychological Science study reports that those who engaged in smiling after a stress inducing tasks had a greater reduction in heart rate than those who had no facial grin.
  • What else does the research show?
    • When we smile it sends a message to the brain that signals safety and it translates into real health benefits.
    • The act of smiling sends cortisol to our brain, which lowers our stress levels.
    • A University of California study showed that the intensity of a person’s smile can predict life satisfaction over time and even the longevity of participants.
    • Research also shows that people who smile more tend to elicit more positive responses from strangers and more positive connections.
    • So take a moment and let your smile shine through. The simple act just might help you re-connect with those around you and help you live a whole lot longer!

 

HOLIDAYS OR HOLIDAZE?

Joy Miller, , , Leave a comment

 

Your eye begins to twitch, you start to have sleepless nights, and you can’t seem to find all the countless notes you wrote to yourself filled with “to-dos.” It must be that time again—the Holidaze! Welcome to that time of year where our society and the commercial world slams us with messages to overspend, over-indulge, over-do, and over-eat. Welcome to the holiday season 2007!

During this time period, the common mantra spoken by humans appears to be questions such as… “Are you ready for the holidays?” Have you done your shopping? How much many more presents do you have to get? Have you started cooking for the holiday meals?”

Most people would agree, November and December are the most stressful months of the year.
• Did you know that during this time period the number of visits to physicians increase?
• Did you know that emergency rooms are filled to the brim during the holiday season?
• Anxiety seems to spread like wildfire, and tempers seem to flare at the drop of a hat.
• Our bank account goes lower and lower and our frustration level seems to rise beyond comprehension.

What happened to the concept that the holiday season was a time of joy and happiness?

Try something different this year by really “noticing” and being aware of what you are feeling during this holiday season. Ask yourself if you are doing things out of obligation or because you really love whatever you are doing. What would you rather do? What would make you happy this holiday season? What do you really see as realistic expectations of yourself?

Try this… take out a piece of paper and make three columns. On the first column write “love it,” on the second column write “neutral feelings,” and on the third column write “hate/resent it.” Now list all the things that you normally do during the holiday season and place it in one of those three categories. You know, list things like going to the company holiday party, making fruitcake for everyone you know, going to a neighborhood get-together, buying presents for your distant aunts and uncles, making up your holiday letter to send to everyone you know in North American replaying the past 11 months of important life changing events.

How many of the things you listed feel like “shoulds, ought to’s, or must do’s?” If you decided not to give in to these inner demands, what would you do with all your time? Record some of those ideas in the love column. Make a commitment to yourself to make this year different by doing more things on your “love it” list and less things on the “hate/resent it” list.

I once read something about Halloween, which appears to fit for most people. It went something like this…“Why is the scariest holiday the most joyful, and the most joyful holiday the scariest?” Perhaps because on Halloween we allow ourselves to do what we love, and during Chanukah and Christmas we force ourselves to do so many things that we really hate or resent due to expectations of others and demands that are internally motivated by societal pressure.

It would be a gift to yourself if you just looked at your “Love it” list and start scheduling those items on your calendar. The ultimate goal is to become more aware of what makes you happy and what is really important during the holiday season. Perhaps one way to do this is to give your “presence” to your loved ones, instead of worrying so much about the “presents.” Your loved ones don’t need more presents from you, as much as they need you to be more “present” with them. Make this year a “holiday” season instead of a “holidaze” season.