The Healing Power of Improv with Sue Walden and Zohar Adner

[Zohar Adner]

Thank you for a great conference!

Here is a breif overview of the many things we went over!

The impact of laughter on health:
Relaxes muscles
Boosts immune system
Lowers stress hormones (cortisol/adrenalin)
Prevents heart disease
Eases anxiety and fear
Decreases pain (laughter and pain share nerve receptors)
Enhances teamwork/likeability

http://helpguide.org/life/humor_laughter_health.htm
http://stress.about.com/od/stresshealth/a/laughter.htm

The impact of stress on health:
Tenses muscles
Weight gain
Reduced ability to think clearly
Weakens immune system
Increased heart rate and blood pressure
Disturbed sleep
Skin irritations

http://www.stopstressingout.com/Effects_of_Stress.pdf
http://www.stopstressingout.com/AINPortland/World_Health_Org_on_Str...
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/stress-health-effects-body.html

Laughter Yoga exercises (clapping Ho, ho, ha, ha, ha between each exercise):
- Namaste laugh: hands together in greeting, followed by ha, ha, ha (can do this walking around or just turning to others in place)
- Sunrise laugh: bend at waist. Breathe in while coming to stand with arms over head. Hold breath for 3 seconds. Then let out a big ha, ha, ha
- Laughter milkshake: position both hands in front of you as if you're holding a cup in each. Say "yea" as you pour the "contents" from one hand to the other and back. Then throw head back and laugh as you enjoy your favorite milkshake.
- Lion laugh: Walking around room, make a scary face with tongue out and clawed hands and laugh.
- Argument laugh: Walk around room, point to someone, say "oh" then with arms outspread and a smile give a big "ha, ha, ha" laugh.

More info about Laughter Yoga can be found at http://www.laughteryoga.org. For more "laughs" check out this site as well as the many videos on YouTube.

The impact of laughter on the creative process
Game: Bad news, Good news, And so... - Groups of 2,4,5 (as long as it's not divisible by 3) will create a story. The instructor gives the first line. Then proceed in sequence adding a sentence that start with
"The bad news was..."
"The good news was..."
"And so..."

We also discussed taking a look at the things we ask ourselves. Changing questions like "Why am I always stuck in traffic?" to "Why is this time in my car beneficial?" or "How can I use this time in my car to the most benefit?"

(The words we use have a tremendous effect on our bodies - One book that helps illustrate this is: Masaru Emoto's The Hidden Messages in Water)

The Four Intensifiers/Diffusers of Stress
- Mood: The more uplifting your mood, the less stress you'll experience.
Game: Jeepers Peepers - stand in a circle with heads down. On the count of 3 lift your head and look at someone. If the other person is looking at you do a slo-mo run to the center and give a hi-10 (it's twice as uplifting as a hi-5).

- Gap (between what you want and what you have): The closer the less likely you'll experience stress (NB - if there's no gap, there's no stress)
Game: What I like - Pairs (or groups) go back and forth about a creation project (design a kitchen, chair, conference, etc.). First person comes up with an idea. Next person responds with "What I like about your idea is ..." then adds an idea of their own to further the project.

- Attachment: The more tied you are to what you want the more stress you'll experience if you don't have it.
Game: One-word story - Pairs (or groups) go back and forth about a story (Ex. The magic toolshed).

- Familiarity: The more you've experienced a stress before the easier it is to handle.
Game: Montage - Take turns (not necessarily in order) coming up with different uses for an object.

Fun and stress articles:
http://www.stopstressingout.com/AINPortland/FUN-You_gotta_have_it.doc
http://www.stopstressingout.com/AINPortland/Health_n_Laughter_artic...
http://www.stopstressingout.com/AINPortland/Importance_of_Play.doc
http://www.stopstressingout.com/AINPortland/Laughter_and_the_Brain.doc
http://www.stopstressingout.com/AINPortland/Playful_Living.doc
http://www.stopstressingout.com/AINPortland/Using_Humor_to_Reduce_S...


Sue and Zohar were overjoyed by the experience of sharing our material with all the attendees. It meant so much to have people come up to us in the hours and days after the session with the impact the concepts already had on their lives. Keep it up! Please, let us know how you're using the techniques and the effect they've had.

P.S. Zohar's book, The Gift of Stress, will be available in December 2009. Updates will be posted here and other places.

[Zohar Adner]

FYI - My book ships tomorrow (Dec 18th):
http://www.GiftofStress.com/book

[Drew Tarvin]

awesome resources, thanks Zohar and Sue!

[Trilby Jeeves]

It was a great session Zohar....so thanks to you and Sue! I used the "Good News, Bad news...etc" exercise on my way home as we had some travel challenges! My train buddy sure knows the exercise now too! :) And thanks for posting all the information, and passing on your book...

[Leif Hansen]

Excellent session you two, thank you. Here is the video, though I came in late and the noise-level is difficult for this first exercise. Gets better after that:

[Zohar Adner]

Thanks for recording and posting this, Leif!

[Zohar Adner]

Ah yes, group counting! I've found that by the end the group members really feel in sync with one another. I like it when people hold hands while doing that, but it depends on the group and when it's used in the program.