Medicinal mirth: The health benefits of laughter
Mary Desmond Pinkowish | August 2009 issue The teacher gathers his laughter yoga students from the corners of this tiny studio on the second floor of a downtown Manhattan building. Most of us have never met and from the looks on some faces, aren’t quite sure what to expect. "Ha-ha-ha," our Read More...
The business of making people laugh
Janet Paskin | August 2009 issue What’s a laugh worth? You can get your yuks in a comedy club for $20 or less; for a few hours of humor in a movie theater, you’ll pay about $10. A whoopee cushion or a joy buzzer is significantly cheaper; to indulge in more highbrow humor—say, a framed New Read More...
How laughter meditation can bring you peace and joy
Max Christern | August 2009 issue Laughing is a group activity. "It gives you a feeling of solidarity," Dhyan Sutorius had already explained to me on the phone. That’s why he asked if I was interested in doing a short laughing meditation with the staff during his upcoming visit to Ode’s Dutch Read More...
How laughter can keep you on your spiritual path
Carmel Wroth | August 2009 issue Photograph: Money Sharma/EPA/Corbis A few years ago, I traveled throughout India looking for spiritual inspiration. Naturally, I wasn’t the first person to have done this. At all the temples, ashrams and holy mountains, I found crowds of Westerners looking for Read More...
How laughter evolved and how it makes us human
Blaine Greteman | August 2009 issue Two Neanderthals walk into a bar, order drinks, sit down and listen to the chattering, laughing crowd. Suddenly, one turns to the other and whispers, "Try to stay cool, but this sounds like one of those Homo sapiens joints." How would a Neanderthal know he was Read More...
Miller's online humor survey study
Mary Desmond Pinkowish | August 2009 issue Does laughter prevent heart disease? Michael Miller, director of the Center for Preventive Cardiology at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore, thinks so. Here’s why: Several years ago, he and his colleagues gave a humor test to people Read More...
Ode's list of favorite funny movies
Editors | August 2009 issue Watching Marx Brothers movies helped Norman Cousins cope with a painful illness, a process he described in Anatomy of an Illness. Here are Ode’s recommendations if you’re feeling sick, tired, or just plain in need of a pick-me-up: Bridget Jones's Diary Mark Darcy to Read More...