When you take care of your body, you also nourish and heal your soul. In our religious tradition, we recognize the link between spiritual wellbeing and bodily health. Beyond our basic physical needs are the needs of the spirit. In Proverbs 17, we read, “A cheerful heart is a good medicine, but a downcast spirit dries up the bones.” In Sirach 30, we can find a program for guarding our health by promoting a cheerful outlook: “Do not give yourself over to sorrow, and do not afflict yourself deliberately. Gladness of heart is the life of man, and the rejoicing of a man is length of days.”

Research supports the belief that our physical wellbeing and emotional wellbeing are in fact connected. The idea that laughter promotes good health first received widespread attention through Norman Cousins’ 1979 best-seller, Anatomy of an Illness. But centuries earlier astute observers had ascribed physical benefits to humor. Thomas Sydenham, a seventeenth-century British physician, once observed: ‘The arrival of a good clown into a village does more for its health than 20 asses laden with drugs.’”

Humor’s impact on actual healing has not been scientifically confirmed, but many people have experienced a benefit from laughter and a cheerful attitude. According to Lee Berk, M.D., and Stanley Tan, M.D., both of the Loma Linda School of Medicine, California, laughter “activates T lymphocytes and natural killer cells, both of which help destroy invading microorganisms. Laughter also increases production of immunity-boosting gamma interferon and speeds up the production of new immune cells. And it reduces levels of the stress hormone cortisol, which can weaken the immune response.”

Get together with some friends for a conversation about the health benefits of humor. Here is a discussion plan for your visit:

First, observe from your own experience,

• Ask yourself and a non-family member: What makes you laugh? What makes you “stress out”?
• What do you do to relieve stress?
• List ways a family member’s physical condition or emotional state affects the family.
• What do you do for fun? Play games? Cultivate hobbies? Read? Go to the movies? Hike? When did you last take the time to do one of these things?
• Have you ever witnessed someone who seemed to be healed by a cheerful heart?

 Next, discern how to apply these insights to improve your health:

• How important is it to you to take care of your health?
• How are you prevented from doing things that you enjoy?
• Why is it important – and difficult -- to schedule personal fun time?

Possible actions you and your friends can take to improve your health:

• Create a library of books, movies and music that lift your spirits. Start a book club or movie night.
• Organize a walking group in your neighborhood or a fitness group in your parish.
• Get a physical checkup. Encourage those you love to do the same.

End your get-together in prayer: Lift up our hearts, O Lord, as we place our trust in you. Give us a Spirit of cheer, and make us joyful witnesses for you. We are filled with gratitude for your gifts to us. (Name what you are thankful for.) We pray also for the following intentions…. Amen.