WEBVTT 00:00.899 --> 00:05.899 (ambient music) (logo whooshing) 00:10.522 --> 00:13.522 (upbeat rock music) 00:33.208 --> 00:36.120 In the spirit of research, 00:36.120 --> 00:37.470 I haven't done this very often with groups, 00:37.470 --> 00:41.970 so being this is like a scientific group. 00:41.970 --> 00:45.030 And so I'm gonna ask you to do something very simple. 00:45.030 --> 00:46.773 I'm gonna have you draw. 00:47.640 --> 00:49.150 Let's do 00:52.590 --> 00:55.263 five lines on just a sheet of paper. 01:02.490 --> 01:07.490 And the first one we'll just put a little heart by it. 01:08.832 --> 01:13.830 Then one to 10, one to 10, one to 10, one to 10. 01:13.830 --> 01:15.158 All right, I wanna get a baseline here 01:15.158 --> 01:17.370 before we get started. 01:17.370 --> 01:21.240 So, I want you to get an approximate count of your pulse. 01:21.240 --> 01:22.410 Do you know how to take your pulse? 01:22.410 --> 01:25.410 If not, it's like slow, medium, fast. 01:25.410 --> 01:27.900 But if you know how to count your pulse for six seconds. 01:27.900 --> 01:29.730 Heidi, can you give us six seconds? 01:29.730 --> 01:31.200 And then we'll just put a 10 after it. 01:31.200 --> 01:35.520 Okay, on your mark, get set, ready? 01:35.520 --> 01:36.353 Go. 01:42.390 --> 01:44.370 Okay, and then just plot that somewhere 01:44.370 --> 01:46.077 between 60 and 120. 01:46.077 --> 01:48.813 And then on a scale of one to 10, 01:51.480 --> 01:54.690 How would you rate your mood with one being, 01:54.690 --> 01:59.690 oh, so sad, and 10 being really, really happy? 02:00.540 --> 02:01.983 Like ecstatic. 02:03.150 --> 02:08.150 Given that you just had lunch on a scale of one to 10, 02:08.520 --> 02:13.143 how would you rate your level of alertness? 02:14.280 --> 02:17.613 Are you kind of sleepy, you kind of tired? 02:18.782 --> 02:20.220 Are you feeling moderately awake? 02:20.220 --> 02:22.320 Or you're just like, "Woo-hoo." 02:22.320 --> 02:23.460 Let's see. 02:23.460 --> 02:26.580 Next one, let's do respiratory. 02:26.580 --> 02:30.423 Just about how many breaths you're taking in a minute. 02:32.220 --> 02:34.203 Heidi, give us another six seconds. 02:35.940 --> 02:36.773 All right. 02:38.430 --> 02:39.263 Oh, thank you. 02:39.263 --> 02:42.270 That's so much more important. (giggles) 02:42.270 --> 02:43.103 Another six seconds. 02:43.103 --> 02:44.760 I just want you to count how many breaths you have 02:44.760 --> 02:46.610 between when she says start and stop. 02:54.120 --> 02:54.953 Okay, six. 02:54.953 --> 02:56.463 So, put a zero after that. 02:58.080 --> 03:00.990 And then last but not least, 03:00.990 --> 03:04.410 let's put on a scale of one to 10, your comfort level. 03:04.410 --> 03:07.840 With one, you're experiencing quite a bit of pain 03:10.920 --> 03:14.493 and the other you are just totally pain-free. 03:15.360 --> 03:17.970 And I want you to just kind of put that aside 03:17.970 --> 03:19.370 and we'll come back to that. 03:21.821 --> 03:22.654 Yay. 03:25.172 --> 03:27.600 All right, I'm so excited to talk about this. 03:27.600 --> 03:29.880 And this is something that I'm so passionate about 03:29.880 --> 03:31.560 and I'm just so appreciative 03:31.560 --> 03:33.630 that Wayne asked me to be part of this. 03:33.630 --> 03:35.680 And I'm just so excited 03:35.680 --> 03:38.340 that Wayne is so forth thinking 03:38.340 --> 03:43.246 about this whole concept of brain and how it can help people 03:43.246 --> 03:46.020 especially those with invisible disabilities, 03:46.020 --> 03:48.150 with chronic illness, but anybody, 03:48.150 --> 03:51.780 just anybody can improve their wellbeing through the brain. 03:51.780 --> 03:55.470 Now that being said, my background is in humor. 03:55.470 --> 03:57.720 I studied it in graduate school, 03:57.720 --> 04:01.020 convinced my advisors to let me be able to look at this. 04:01.020 --> 04:03.570 And it's very true what E.B. White said. 04:03.570 --> 04:05.850 That humor can be dissected as a frog can, 04:05.850 --> 04:08.130 but the thing dies in the process. 04:08.130 --> 04:11.190 And the innards are totally discouraging 04:11.190 --> 04:15.090 to any but the purely scientific mind. 04:15.090 --> 04:20.090 And that's because humor is, we know it when we see it. 04:20.580 --> 04:22.200 It's like, "Oh yeah, that was funny, 04:22.200 --> 04:24.720 or that made me feel good, or that made me laugh." 04:24.720 --> 04:29.550 But in terms of being able to measure it, 04:29.550 --> 04:32.940 that gets a little trickier. 04:32.940 --> 04:36.183 And there's a couple of different reasons for that. 04:37.650 --> 04:40.260 Actually, numerous reasons for that. 04:40.260 --> 04:42.600 When we're talking about, 04:42.600 --> 04:44.430 whoa, we're just zipping right through. 04:44.430 --> 04:48.063 I got to put this down before I get myself into trouble. 04:49.320 --> 04:50.153 Oh, we'll just go here. 04:50.153 --> 04:51.630 I'm a neurohumorist. 04:53.550 --> 04:54.796 I know what you're thinking, 04:54.796 --> 04:58.080 (scoffs) "Oh God, another neurohumorist." 04:58.080 --> 05:01.230 But when we're talking about humor, 05:01.230 --> 05:02.460 there are several components. 05:02.460 --> 05:07.460 We could be talking about the cognitive component. 05:09.330 --> 05:13.410 The part that engages the prefrontal cortex, 05:13.410 --> 05:16.830 the part that involves the prefrontal lobe. 05:16.830 --> 05:19.560 And this is the intellectual process. 05:19.560 --> 05:22.743 And that's what we refer to as wit. 05:23.610 --> 05:28.050 And then there is the emotional process. 05:28.050 --> 05:30.930 How does humor make us feel? 05:30.930 --> 05:34.743 And that is mirth. 05:35.580 --> 05:40.580 And then there is the physiological expression of humor. 05:44.070 --> 05:47.283 And that is laughter. 05:50.070 --> 05:51.090 Now, how many of you 05:51.090 --> 05:53.880 have ever experienced something intellectually 05:53.880 --> 05:57.003 and it was funny, but you didn't laugh out loud? 05:58.080 --> 06:01.080 'Cause you can certainly have wit without laughter. 06:01.080 --> 06:04.890 You can have wit and you can have the emotional feeling, 06:04.890 --> 06:06.330 but you might not have laughter. 06:06.330 --> 06:11.330 You can also have laughter and not necessarily have anything 06:12.420 --> 06:13.350 that caused it. 06:13.350 --> 06:15.900 Maybe you just were laughing at a response 06:15.900 --> 06:17.940 because you heard somebody else laughing. 06:17.940 --> 06:19.020 It was contagious. 06:19.020 --> 06:21.480 Or maybe you were practicing laughter for no reason. 06:21.480 --> 06:26.480 And so we can have these things individually, but in total, 06:26.727 --> 06:31.727 this is what I'm gonna be referring to today as humor. 06:32.190 --> 06:35.670 Groucho Marx said, "Humor is reason gone mad." 06:35.670 --> 06:37.722 Elaine Pasquale, who was a researcher said, 06:37.722 --> 06:40.620 "Humor is whatever people find funny." 06:40.620 --> 06:45.180 Now there's much more expansive kinds of definitions, 06:45.180 --> 06:46.860 and they go into a lot more detail. 06:46.860 --> 06:50.520 But for our purposes today, this will be enough. 06:50.520 --> 06:53.940 And so let's just, yeah, 06:53.940 --> 06:56.370 let's just leave that as it is there. 06:56.370 --> 07:01.370 So, when I was doing my research in graduate school, 07:02.070 --> 07:05.400 one of my mentors was a PhD, 07:05.400 --> 07:08.100 a nurse researcher, Vera Robinson. 07:08.100 --> 07:10.920 And she came up with five purposes for humor. 07:10.920 --> 07:12.870 And initially these were for healthcare, 07:12.870 --> 07:14.760 but I have found that these could be generalized 07:14.760 --> 07:16.170 I think for any situation. 07:16.170 --> 07:17.580 And I wanna give these to you 07:17.580 --> 07:19.122 so that you can be thinking about these 07:19.122 --> 07:22.350 as we come back later with some more examples. 07:22.350 --> 07:25.410 One was to establish relationships. 07:25.410 --> 07:29.460 Another was to relieve anxiety and decrease stress, 07:29.460 --> 07:33.540 to release anger in a socially acceptable way, 07:33.540 --> 07:36.210 to avoid or deny painful feelings, 07:36.210 --> 07:39.360 and to facilitate learning. 07:39.360 --> 07:41.370 And then she went a little deeper 07:41.370 --> 07:44.280 and we went into the functions and effects of humor. 07:44.280 --> 07:46.620 And that is the psychological, social, 07:46.620 --> 07:48.900 communication, and physiological. 07:48.900 --> 07:50.400 And so I wanna go into each of these 07:50.400 --> 07:51.360 in a little bit of detail 07:51.360 --> 07:53.670 because this will help you gain some understanding 07:53.670 --> 07:57.270 as to how humor can be of help 07:57.270 --> 07:59.340 in particular with those suffering 07:59.340 --> 08:02.016 from any kind of chronic illness, invisible disability, 08:02.016 --> 08:04.320 or whatever the case may be. 08:04.320 --> 08:06.990 Even if you are in a state of wellness. 08:06.990 --> 08:09.240 So psychologically, 08:09.240 --> 08:14.240 humor is recognized as a healthy coping mechanism. 08:15.810 --> 08:18.360 How many of you have ever been stressed out 08:18.360 --> 08:20.942 and found a way to deal with your stress 08:20.942 --> 08:23.133 in an unhealthy manner? 08:24.150 --> 08:26.220 Anybody here love chocolate? 08:26.220 --> 08:27.330 Do you love eating? 08:27.330 --> 08:29.430 And then for some people it might be smoking, 08:29.430 --> 08:31.140 it might be eating, it might be drugs, 08:31.140 --> 08:33.435 it might be retail therapy. 08:33.435 --> 08:35.790 There's a variety of different ways 08:35.790 --> 08:38.010 that we can deal with our stress. 08:38.010 --> 08:43.010 But humor is a positive psychological coping mechanism. 08:44.880 --> 08:49.290 Socially, it is a lubricant. 08:49.290 --> 08:51.121 It bonds people. 08:51.121 --> 08:53.640 It establishes relationships. 08:53.640 --> 08:56.613 It builds relationships, it builds rapport. 08:56.613 --> 08:59.430 And when we are thinking about persons 08:59.430 --> 09:00.930 who are suffering from an illness 09:00.930 --> 09:03.270 or an invisible disability, 09:03.270 --> 09:04.890 many times one of the factors 09:04.890 --> 09:08.040 that they're dealing with is isolation. 09:08.040 --> 09:10.350 And how can we use humor 09:10.350 --> 09:13.500 to help build those relationships and rapport? 09:13.500 --> 09:16.350 To help decrease that isolation? 09:16.350 --> 09:18.240 Third is communication. 09:18.240 --> 09:21.270 It's a great way to enhance communication. 09:21.270 --> 09:23.823 Whether you're trying to impart information, 09:24.930 --> 09:26.490 as one of the purposes was. 09:26.490 --> 09:28.560 Whether you're trying to convey anger, 09:28.560 --> 09:31.740 whether you're trying to convey frustration. 09:31.740 --> 09:33.360 A lot of times people will do this 09:33.360 --> 09:38.360 through the guise of humor because it's safe. 09:38.790 --> 09:42.510 Someone who is not comfortable, who doesn't feel safe. 09:42.510 --> 09:44.490 We're going back to the brain and safety. 09:44.490 --> 09:48.651 If you want a safe way to give someone a message, 09:48.651 --> 09:52.380 you can give it in the guise of humor. 09:52.380 --> 09:54.450 Because if that person responds 09:54.450 --> 09:57.138 the way you hope that they would respond, 09:57.138 --> 10:01.230 now you get a satisfactory response, 10:01.230 --> 10:03.510 you have a great engagement. 10:03.510 --> 10:06.450 But if they don't respond the way you hope 10:06.450 --> 10:08.220 that they would respond, 10:08.220 --> 10:12.127 the person still has a safety net because now they can say, 10:12.127 --> 10:12.960 "Oh, that's okay. 10:12.960 --> 10:15.630 I was only joking. I was just kidding." 10:15.630 --> 10:20.160 And it gives them the ability to save face. 10:20.160 --> 10:21.243 I remember once, 10:22.080 --> 10:24.570 this is more of a healthcare professional example, 10:24.570 --> 10:26.310 but I was taking care of a gentleman 10:26.310 --> 10:31.310 when I was doing hands-on nursing and he had cancer 10:32.010 --> 10:34.560 and the surgery was going to necessitate 10:34.560 --> 10:36.630 the removal of his testicles. 10:36.630 --> 10:38.760 And so going in before the surgery, 10:38.760 --> 10:42.450 I went in and I asked him, as nurses are trained to do, 10:42.450 --> 10:45.597 can you explain the surgery to me as you understand it? 10:45.597 --> 10:48.217 And he looked at me and he slapped his leg and he goes, 10:48.217 --> 10:51.120 "Yup, sounds like the doc's gonna change me 10:51.120 --> 10:53.640 from a rooster to a hen." 10:53.640 --> 10:56.340 And that was really funny and I laughed, 10:56.340 --> 10:58.440 but there was something that was just in the back of my head 10:58.440 --> 11:01.380 that said, "Sounds like there might be an issue here," 11:01.380 --> 11:03.090 because that was not normally 11:03.090 --> 11:05.340 the way he interacted with people. 11:05.340 --> 11:07.770 And so I busied myself about the room 11:07.770 --> 11:09.780 and just continued to chat with him. 11:09.780 --> 11:11.550 And within less than 30 seconds, 11:11.550 --> 11:12.900 he was asking me questions 11:12.900 --> 11:17.070 about his sexuality after the surgery. 11:17.070 --> 11:19.800 So it was his way of staying safe 11:19.800 --> 11:21.990 and communicating at the same time. 11:21.990 --> 11:23.100 So lots of different ways 11:23.100 --> 11:24.810 that humor comes into communication. 11:24.810 --> 11:25.950 And in terms of business, 11:25.950 --> 11:27.990 when I do business talks and leadership talks, 11:27.990 --> 11:30.750 we also talk about the importance of humor in negotiation 11:30.750 --> 11:33.060 and dealing with difficult people. 11:33.060 --> 11:34.200 And then most importantly, 11:34.200 --> 11:36.368 what I wanna cover in the time that we're here together 11:36.368 --> 11:39.180 is the physiological effects. 11:39.180 --> 11:42.300 Because there are so many wonderful, wonderful, 11:42.300 --> 11:44.940 positive physiological effects. 11:44.940 --> 11:49.940 Humor is designed wonderfully for acute stress. 11:50.370 --> 11:53.490 It's very good for dealing with the adrenaline 11:53.490 --> 11:56.520 and in dealing with that short-term response. 11:56.520 --> 12:01.520 But what I'm hoping to help inspire you to do 12:02.490 --> 12:05.370 is not only use humor for the short term, 12:05.370 --> 12:08.430 but you start building it like a muscle 12:08.430 --> 12:11.490 so that you can increase your bandwidth 12:11.490 --> 12:15.840 so that you can be more resilient. 12:15.840 --> 12:18.990 And this isn't the only tool that you need in your toolbox 12:18.990 --> 12:21.300 to build resilience, but oh my goodness, 12:21.300 --> 12:22.357 I tell audiences, I said, 12:22.357 --> 12:24.330 "What if I could give you a tool 12:24.330 --> 12:26.430 that didn't require you to break a sweat? 12:26.430 --> 12:28.470 Didn't require you to break a bank. 12:28.470 --> 12:30.240 You don't have to be coordinated, 12:30.240 --> 12:31.710 you don't have to spend a lot of money, 12:31.710 --> 12:33.880 you don't have to have any special skills. 12:33.880 --> 12:36.360 Would you be interested?" 12:36.360 --> 12:38.400 And so much of what we want people to do 12:38.400 --> 12:39.487 and be compliant with, we say, 12:39.487 --> 12:42.240 "Well, we want you to eat a very special restricted diet. 12:42.240 --> 12:44.280 We want you to do these kinds of exercises 12:44.280 --> 12:45.960 and I know it's gonna be uncomfortable 12:45.960 --> 12:46.800 and you're gonna sweat a lot 12:46.800 --> 12:47.700 and you're gonna feel miserable, 12:47.700 --> 12:50.124 but it's gonna be so good for you." 12:50.124 --> 12:52.767 And hopefully they will do that. 12:52.767 --> 12:55.380 But here is something that I would think 12:55.380 --> 12:57.660 that the compliance would be so much higher 12:57.660 --> 12:59.160 because it is fun. 12:59.160 --> 13:03.720 Now that being said, that's almost counterproductive to this 13:03.720 --> 13:04.860 because I don't know about you, 13:04.860 --> 13:07.267 but my mom when I was growing up, my mom said, 13:07.267 --> 13:10.230 "If it feels good, it's either illegal, 13:10.230 --> 13:12.120 immoral, or fattening." 13:12.120 --> 13:13.980 And there is this feeling that, 13:13.980 --> 13:17.490 well, if it feels good and it's easy and it's fun, 13:17.490 --> 13:21.570 then it can't really be that good for you. 13:21.570 --> 13:26.570 And I am here to tell you that humor is power. 13:26.940 --> 13:30.891 And the power comes in the intentional, 13:30.891 --> 13:34.867 purposeful, and repeated use. 13:36.484 --> 13:40.410 You develop a habit, you do it over and over again. 13:40.410 --> 13:42.975 Neurons that fire together, wire together. 13:42.975 --> 13:47.530 So I'm going to ask you to participate 13:48.600 --> 13:51.843 in a bit of research here. 13:52.740 --> 13:55.953 And if you do not wish to participate, you are excused. 13:56.910 --> 13:59.940 But what we're gonna do is we are going to do 13:59.940 --> 14:04.890 a 60 second laughter meditation. 14:04.890 --> 14:07.380 Normally with audiences I do this for two minutes. 14:07.380 --> 14:08.850 We've got a short amount of time 14:08.850 --> 14:10.320 and we're at a higher altitude. 14:10.320 --> 14:13.480 I think I might keel over if I do this for two minutes. 14:13.480 --> 14:16.200 We're gonna start out with laughter for no reason 14:16.200 --> 14:18.720 and most likely for the majority of you, 14:18.720 --> 14:21.090 it will be become true spontaneous laughter. 14:21.090 --> 14:22.470 Again, if you don't wanna participate 14:22.470 --> 14:26.100 or you start feeling tired or lightheaded, stop. 14:26.100 --> 14:27.780 But otherwise, I would like for you 14:27.780 --> 14:29.520 to try to do it for the 60 seconds 14:29.520 --> 14:32.520 and then we'll come back and discuss our findings 14:32.520 --> 14:34.440 and our research here. 14:34.440 --> 14:37.410 So Heidi, you're gonna time us for 60 seconds. 14:37.410 --> 14:39.210 Tell us when to start. 14:39.210 --> 14:41.403 Go? Or no? 14:43.200 --> 14:44.573 Oh yeah, real funny. 14:46.291 --> 14:49.291 (everyone laughing) 15:50.520 --> 15:52.380 Oh, I feel like "When Harry Met Sally." 15:52.380 --> 15:53.780 I'll have what she's having. 15:53.780 --> 15:55.440 (audience laughing) 15:55.440 --> 15:59.010 Heidi, I want you to give us a six second count. 15:59.010 --> 16:00.753 I want you to check your pulse. 16:02.400 --> 16:03.423 Ready? 16:04.590 --> 16:05.423 Begin. 16:10.658 --> 16:12.900 Okay, mark your pulse now where it is 16:12.900 --> 16:14.500 compared to where it was before. 16:15.930 --> 16:17.040 Let's do one more six second 16:17.040 --> 16:19.230 and we're gonna count respirations while we got Heidi here. 16:19.230 --> 16:20.103 Ready? 16:21.060 --> 16:23.370 Okay, will you give us another six seconds? 16:23.370 --> 16:25.710 Okay, respirations. 16:31.590 --> 16:32.880 Okay, mark your respirations 16:32.880 --> 16:34.290 compared to where they were before. 16:34.290 --> 16:36.450 And then just do a self-assessment. 16:36.450 --> 16:37.770 Where is your mood now 16:37.770 --> 16:40.920 compared to where it was when we first started? 16:40.920 --> 16:42.960 Where's your level of alertness? 16:42.960 --> 16:44.660 And where's your level of comfort? 16:45.600 --> 16:47.700 This is just a little self-assessment for you. 16:47.700 --> 16:50.280 I'd love to hear what your findings are later. 16:50.280 --> 16:53.430 Afterwards, I'm gonna be at the table in the next room. 16:53.430 --> 16:54.990 But just the beginning of showing people 16:54.990 --> 16:57.870 because so many times I can show people what the research is 16:57.870 --> 16:59.700 and oh gosh, when I have groups 16:59.700 --> 17:01.290 that have doctors in the audience, 17:01.290 --> 17:02.800 they love to see the research. 17:02.800 --> 17:05.253 In an effort to make you happy. 17:06.988 --> 17:08.359 Our friend Lee Berk, 17:08.359 --> 17:10.500 Heidi and I are great friends with probably 17:10.500 --> 17:13.590 the leading psychoneuroimmunologist in the world. 17:13.590 --> 17:15.120 And he said, "If we took what we know now 17:15.120 --> 17:16.340 about laughter and bottled it, 17:16.340 --> 17:19.770 it would require FDA approval." 17:19.770 --> 17:20.820 So the next two slides 17:20.820 --> 17:22.650 are not really intended for you to read. 17:22.650 --> 17:25.140 If you want these on a PDF, just email me. 17:25.140 --> 17:27.990 My email address is Karyn@KarynBuxman.com 17:27.990 --> 17:29.820 But you'll see here that we have study, 17:29.820 --> 17:31.290 after study, after study. 17:31.290 --> 17:34.830 Studies that show increase of longevity of life. 17:34.830 --> 17:39.060 We have studies that show an effect on the immune system. 17:39.060 --> 17:44.060 We have studies that show the effect on cholesterol. 17:44.101 --> 17:47.580 We have studies on the effect of blood glucose. 17:47.580 --> 17:49.860 We have studies on the effect of renin. 17:49.860 --> 17:52.348 We have studies on the effect of angiotensin. 17:52.348 --> 17:57.348 We have more studies in terms of expression of gene, 17:57.810 --> 18:02.130 blood pressure, the cardiovascular system, pain tolerance, 18:02.130 --> 18:04.140 the psychological wellbeing. 18:04.140 --> 18:09.140 There's all of these and more that the science is very new, 18:09.420 --> 18:11.700 but it's gaining momentum. 18:11.700 --> 18:13.890 And so what I'm really wanting you to understand 18:13.890 --> 18:16.320 is that this really, really is good for you. 18:16.320 --> 18:18.994 And I'm not necessarily wanting you to just wait 18:18.994 --> 18:20.460 for it to happen. 18:20.460 --> 18:22.650 I want you to make it happen by choice. 18:22.650 --> 18:23.730 Now, here's one of the issues. 18:23.730 --> 18:25.920 People will say, "But you don't understand. 18:25.920 --> 18:27.960 There's nothing funny happening in my life. 18:27.960 --> 18:29.850 There's nothing funny happening where I work." 18:29.850 --> 18:32.460 And if that is your belief, that's your truth. 18:32.460 --> 18:36.106 However, if you start assuming that humor is there, 18:36.106 --> 18:38.070 you will start to see it. 18:38.070 --> 18:41.160 You will be activating the reticular activating system 18:41.160 --> 18:44.490 and you will start seeing things on a more conscious, 18:44.490 --> 18:46.474 rather than non-conscious basis. 18:46.474 --> 18:50.520 It's more important about seeing funny than being funny. 18:50.520 --> 18:51.667 Some people are concerned, they're like, 18:51.667 --> 18:53.070 "Well, but I'm not funny." 18:53.070 --> 18:56.070 Great. You don't ever have to be funny. 18:56.070 --> 18:58.200 The whole point of this is to appreciate humor 18:58.200 --> 19:00.150 and if you're in a position of leadership 19:00.150 --> 19:03.300 to appreciate humor in others and help build that up, 19:03.300 --> 19:04.985 help them show their level. 19:04.985 --> 19:08.133 I have examples of things that I have seen around 19:08.133 --> 19:11.010 or that Heidi has shared with me that we have seen around. 19:11.010 --> 19:14.116 These are just examples of humor in our environment. 19:14.116 --> 19:18.000 I love the fact that we have cameras on our phone now 19:18.000 --> 19:20.070 because humor is abundant and everywhere. 19:20.070 --> 19:22.530 I'm just gonna share with you a couple of things we've seen. 19:22.530 --> 19:24.750 I found this up in Maine 19:24.750 --> 19:27.030 and I was getting my first lobster roll 19:27.030 --> 19:29.250 when I looked on the counter and I realized 19:29.250 --> 19:33.180 that this blender is actually a fish bowl with a fish. 19:33.180 --> 19:35.310 Now, nurses love body fluids, death and dismemberment, 19:35.310 --> 19:37.410 so I thought this was really hysterical. 19:37.410 --> 19:38.970 But haven't you ever felt like that? 19:38.970 --> 19:41.400 Like you're in a blender and at any given moment, 19:41.400 --> 19:43.800 someone's going to push the button 19:43.800 --> 19:46.618 and you are about to be fish food or chips. 19:46.618 --> 19:49.247 Heidi took this picture in San Francisco 19:49.247 --> 19:52.920 or San Diego I mean, and this is an actual Fitness. 19:52.920 --> 19:55.680 This is somebody who's riding an escalator up 19:55.680 --> 19:58.500 so that they can spend their hard-earned dollars 19:58.500 --> 20:00.270 on a StairMaster. 20:00.270 --> 20:03.990 But again, it's the absurdity of things in our lives 20:03.990 --> 20:06.450 that provide us the humor. 20:06.450 --> 20:08.820 My coffee shop has unattended children 20:08.820 --> 20:12.420 will be given an espresso and a free puppy. 20:12.420 --> 20:14.970 A medical office that I toured, 20:14.970 --> 20:16.457 this was their stress reduction kit. 20:16.457 --> 20:18.603 Bang head here. 20:19.647 --> 20:20.730 I don't even know 20:20.730 --> 20:23.040 what this means, (audience laughing) 20:23.040 --> 20:24.810 but I thought it was pretty darn funny 20:24.810 --> 20:26.223 so I took a picture of it. 20:27.390 --> 20:28.410 This I threw in 20:28.410 --> 20:32.700 because this is a 99-year-old mother of three, 20:32.700 --> 20:34.890 grandmother of I think about seven, 20:34.890 --> 20:36.990 great-grandmother of about 27. 20:36.990 --> 20:39.600 She's holding up a letter that she got from the hospital 20:39.600 --> 20:41.982 letting her know that she's pregnant. 20:41.982 --> 20:44.100 (audience laughing) 20:44.100 --> 20:46.230 So finding the humor around you. 20:46.230 --> 20:48.960 This last one, it's not that George Clooney is so funny, 20:48.960 --> 20:51.630 it was just more or less where he was. 20:51.630 --> 20:55.680 I was in for my annual exam with my GYN 20:55.680 --> 20:57.780 when I happened to look up on the ceiling 20:57.780 --> 21:01.584 and there's George Clooney. (audience laughing) 21:01.584 --> 21:03.750 I have to tell you, I didn't know whether to laugh 21:03.750 --> 21:05.553 or be totally creeped out. 21:07.080 --> 21:08.550 But the truth is that neurons 21:08.550 --> 21:10.440 that fire together, wire together. 21:10.440 --> 21:13.284 The more you use humor, the easier it will become. 21:13.284 --> 21:17.460 Practice it, gain the physiological benefits. 21:17.460 --> 21:20.970 And remember, one of my favorite authors is Viktor Frankl. 21:20.970 --> 21:23.310 And Viktor Frankl said. 21:23.310 --> 21:25.770 How many of you do not know who Viktor Frankl is? 21:25.770 --> 21:28.140 He wrote a book called "Man's Search for Meaning". 21:28.140 --> 21:29.130 If you've not read that, 21:29.130 --> 21:32.190 put that on your recommended reading list. 21:32.190 --> 21:33.723 And he was a prisoner of war, 21:35.160 --> 21:37.440 he was in a German concentration camp. 21:37.440 --> 21:39.045 And he said, "Between stimulus and response, 21:39.045 --> 21:40.530 there's a space. 21:40.530 --> 21:43.710 And in that space is our freedom and our power 21:43.710 --> 21:45.060 to choose our response. 21:45.060 --> 21:48.840 And in our response lies our growth and our happiness." 21:48.840 --> 21:51.600 Stimulus, response. 21:51.600 --> 21:53.220 Stimulus, response, stimulus. 21:53.220 --> 21:56.880 It might seem that it's just so short, 21:56.880 --> 21:58.290 but you do have a choice. 21:58.290 --> 22:00.300 There's many mechanisms that you can put in 22:00.300 --> 22:02.160 between the stimulus and response, 22:02.160 --> 22:05.964 but I'm hoping that next time you have that situation 22:05.964 --> 22:10.200 that you will choose humor by choice 22:10.200 --> 22:14.790 and not let it happen by chance and experience the benefits. 22:14.790 --> 22:17.370 Yay, time's up. Thank you. 22:17.370 --> 22:19.584 (audience applauding) 22:19.584 --> 22:20.759 Woo. 22:20.759 --> 22:23.342 (upbeat music) 22:35.622 --> 22:40.622 (ambient music) (logo whooshing)