“April is National Humor Month! Celebrated from April 1st to the 30th, National Humor Month was first set up in 1976 by Larry Wilde. Wilde is a well-known author and humorist who, according to the National Humor Month website, created National Humor Month in order to “heighten public awareness on how the joy and therapeutic value of laughter can improve health, boost morale, increase communication skills and enrich the quality of one’s life.”
Humor is a wonderful thing and while it varies from person to person the idea of it, finding something that amuses you and allowing yourself to enjoy it, doesn’t change. Indulging in laughter is a great way to enjoy things in life that make you happy and take a break from all the stress out there. Not to mention laughter has many awesome benefits to you, like helping your health. In fact, the use of humor and laughter in a therapeutic sense is also starting to become more widespread. Larry Wilde wrote about this on his website, he said that “[t]he idea of laughing and the use of humor as a tool to lift ailing spirits is growing. Scientific research now indicates that the curative power of laughter and its ability to relieve debilitating stress and burnout may indeed be one of the great medical discoveries of our times.” It has been found that laughter can cause positive, healing reactions in the body, such as; it can reduce stress and pain, strengthen the immune system, help your heart, and help relax and recharge the body.”
Bellevue University – Freeman Lozier Library (Freeman/Lozier Library)