Nancy Rosen presented the program “The Positive Effects of Laughter” at the monthly meeting of the Heart-N-Hands Extension Homemakers Club. The meeting and craft workshop were held at the Pursuit Church in White Hall, according to a news release.
Rosen said that most people have heard the expression, “He who laughs, lasts.” She explained that humor and the subsequent laughter have many therapeutic effects on the body. Humor is the ability or quality of people, objects, or situations to evoke feelings of amusement in other people. Laughter is the physiological response to humor. Laughter is a form of outward expression of amusement.
Different people find different things funny. One of the most significant differences in whether someone finds something funny is age. Infants and children are constantly discovering the world around them, and a lot of what goes on around them seems surprising which strikes them as funny.
The preteen and teenage years are frequently awkward and tense. Lots of adolescents and teens laugh at jokes that focus on sex, food, authority figures and any subject that has been banned by authority figures in their lives. By the time individuals reach adulthood, many have experienced tragedy and success, according to the presentation.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Senior adults tend to laugh at other people and themselves in shared common predicaments and embarrassments. The senior’s sense of humor is usually characterized as more subtle, more tolerant, and less judgemental about the differences in people.
There are many benefits to laughter. Laughter gives the body a good workout. Humor stimulates both sides of the brain to enhance learning. It eases muscle tension and psychological stress which keeps the brain alert and allows individuals to retain more information. Laughing at ourselves and the situations helps reveal that small things are not the earth-shaking events they sometimes seem to be.
Rosen closed the program by giving the following suggestions to adding humor to life:
Remind yourself to have fun.
Don’t take yourself too seriously.
Hang around with people who make you laugh.
Put humor into your surroundings (light hearted sayings on calendars, etc.)
Take a fun break everyday to laugh.
Figure out what makes you laugh, then do it.
During the business session of the Heart-N-Hands meeting, Delores Kelley reminded members to bring cereal boxes for the Backpack Program at Pursuit Church. Rosen, special community project chairman, thanked Jody Stout and Lynda Toler who along with herself filled bags for the Backpack Program.
Stout, club president, reminded everyone of the Arkansas Extension Homemakers Council State Meeting which was held June 3-5.
Upcoming events include:
A free Mental Health First Aider Training will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. June 23 at the Jefferson County Cooperative Extension Office.
A Jefferson County EHC Craft Workshop will be held at the extension office June 26.
After the Heart-N-Hands meeting, Toler taught a jewelry workshop to the club.