“The greatest force in the human body is the natural drive of the body to heal itself; but that force is not independent of the belief system... everything begins with belief.” Norman Cousins

Norman Cousins, 1915 -1990 was a legendary editor and author who explored the power of the belief system and the connection between mind and body in his book “Anatomy of an Illness,” which helped to usher in the holistic health revolution.
During his lifetime, Cousins fended off a life threatening disease and a massive coronary, both times using his own regimen of nutritional and emotional support systems as opposed to traditional methods of treatment.

Cousins is often described as the man who laughed his way to health, a simplified explanation of the controversial healing method the author/editor employed when he was diagnosed as having ankylosing spondylitis. This degenerative disease causes the breakdown of collagen, the fibrous tissue that binds together the body’s cells. Almost completely paralysed, given only a few months to live, Cousins ordered himself checked out of the hospital. He moved into a hotel room and began taking extremely high doses of vitamin C and also exposed himself to equally high doses of humour.
Slowly, Norman regained use of his limbs. As his condition steadily improved over the following months, he resumed his busy life, eventually returning to work full-time at the Saturday Review.

In December, 1980, some fifteen years after winning his bout with ankylosing spondylitis, Cousins suffered a near-fatal heart attack while teaching in California. As he was brought into the hospital on a stretcher following the attack, he sat up and said, “Gentlemen, I want you to know that you’re looking at the darnedest healing machine that’s ever been wheeled into this hospital.” As before, he made his body a personal laboratory. He refused morphine, changed his visiting schedule to ensure rest, and gradually improved. Cousins once again published his findings in “The Healing Heart” for millions to learn from and enjoy. These experiences reinforced some of his deepest convictions concerning the nature of the human being; generalizing from his own experience and research, he affirmed that “the life force may be the least understood force on earth” and that “human beings are not locked into fixed limitations.”

The last years of Cousins’ life, following his retirement from Saturday Review in 1978, were spent as a faculty member of the University of California at Los Angeles School of Medicine. There he taught ethics and medical literature and continued his research into the relationship of attitude and health. During the last year of his life, Cousins received additional awards, including the Albert Schweitzer Prize for Humanitarianism and the Japan Niwano Peace Prize. He received other awards including the Peace Medal from the United Nations. Cousins received nearly fifty honorary doctorate degrees and served as a diplomat during three presidential administrations. He spent his lifetime challenging the odds.

He died on November 30, 1990, following cardiac arrest, and having lived years longer than doctors more than once had predicted: ten years after his first heart attack, sixteen years after his collagen illness, and twenty-six years after his doctors first diagnosed heart disease.

Laughter is primitive, an unconscious vocalization. Laughter is part of the universal human vocabulary, a mechanism everyone has. Researchers have found that infants (as early as 17 days old) spontaneously laugh (Early Human Development 2006).

Modern neurophysiology informs us that laughter is linked with the activation of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, which produces endorphins after a rewarding activity. Research indicates that parts of the limbic system are involved in laughter. The limbic system is a primitive part of the brain that is involved with emotions and functions to assist us with basic survival.
Research findings on laughter and the brain:

•Neuroendocrine and stress-related hormones decreased during episodes of laughter, supporting a claim that humour can relieve stress.

•With deep, heartfelt laughter, it appears that serum cortisol (a hormone secreted when under stress) is decreased.

•Laughter has been shown to increase pain
tolerance and boost the body’s production of infection-fighting antibodies.

•Studies show that stress decreases the immune system. Humour can boost the levels of the immune cells.

•During laughter, natural killer cells, which
destroy tumours and viruses, increase, along with Gamma-interferon (a disease- fighting protein), T cells (important for immune system function) and B cells (which make disease-fighting antibodies).

•Laughter has been shown to lower blood
pressure.

•Laughter increases oxygen in the blood, which encourages healing.

Normally only considered a cliché, but “laughter may really be the best medicine”. Medical theories attribute improved over-all health and increased life expectancy to laughter.

“Laughter is a powerful way to tap positive emotions”.
Norman Cousins

Lynda Moss is a pscyhotherapist
at the Anam Kara Centre
in St.John’s.
Telephone 709-579-0006
www.anamkaracentre.com

Norman Cousins, 1915 -1990 was a legendary editor and author who explored the power of the belief system and the connection between mind and body in his book “Anatomy of an Illness,” which helped to usher in the holistic health revolution.
During his lifetime, Cousins fended off a life threatening disease and a massive coronary, both times using his own regimen of nutritional and emotional support systems as opposed to traditional methods of treatment.

Cousins is often described as the man who laughed his way to health, a simplified explanation of the controversial healing method the author/editor employed when he was diagnosed as having ankylosing spondylitis. This degenerative disease causes the breakdown of collagen, the fibrous tissue that binds together the body’s cells. Almost completely paralysed, given only a few months to live, Cousins ordered himself checked out of the hospital. He moved into a hotel room and began taking extremely high doses of vitamin C and also exposed himself to equally high doses of humour.
Slowly, Norman regained use of his limbs. As his condition steadily improved over the following months, he resumed his busy life, eventually returning to work full-time at the Saturday Review.

In December, 1980, some fifteen years after winning his bout with ankylosing spondylitis, Cousins suffered a near-fatal heart attack while teaching in California. As he was brought into the hospital on a stretcher following the attack, he sat up and said, “Gentlemen, I want you to know that you’re looking at the darnedest healing machine that’s ever been wheeled into this hospital.” As before, he made his body a personal laboratory. He refused morphine, changed his visiting schedule to ensure rest, and gradually improved. Cousins once again published his findings in “The Healing Heart” for millions to learn from and enjoy. These experiences reinforced some of his deepest convictions concerning the nature of the human being; generalizing from his own experience and research, he affirmed that “the life force may be the least understood force on earth” and that “human beings are not locked into fixed limitations.”

The last years of Cousins’ life, following his retirement from Saturday Review in 1978, were spent as a faculty member of the University of California at Los Angeles School of Medicine. There he taught ethics and medical literature and continued his research into the relationship of attitude and health. During the last year of his life, Cousins received additional awards, including the Albert Schweitzer Prize for Humanitarianism and the Japan Niwano Peace Prize. He received other awards including the Peace Medal from the United Nations. Cousins received nearly fifty honorary doctorate degrees and served as a diplomat during three presidential administrations. He spent his lifetime challenging the odds.

He died on November 30, 1990, following cardiac arrest, and having lived years longer than doctors more than once had predicted: ten years after his first heart attack, sixteen years after his collagen illness, and twenty-six years after his doctors first diagnosed heart disease.

Laughter is primitive, an unconscious vocalization. Laughter is part of the universal human vocabulary, a mechanism everyone has. Researchers have found that infants (as early as 17 days old) spontaneously laugh (Early Human Development 2006).

Modern neurophysiology informs us that laughter is linked with the activation of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, which produces endorphins after a rewarding activity. Research indicates that parts of the limbic system are involved in laughter. The limbic system is a primitive part of the brain that is involved with emotions and functions to assist us with basic survival.
Research findings on laughter and the brain:

•Neuroendocrine and stress-related hormones decreased during episodes of laughter, supporting a claim that humour can relieve stress.

•With deep, heartfelt laughter, it appears that serum cortisol (a hormone secreted when under stress) is decreased.

•Laughter has been shown to increase pain
tolerance and boost the body’s production of infection-fighting antibodies.

•Studies show that stress decreases the immune system. Humour can boost the levels of the immune cells.

•During laughter, natural killer cells, which
destroy tumours and viruses, increase, along with Gamma-interferon (a disease- fighting protein), T cells (important for immune system function) and B cells (which make disease-fighting antibodies).

•Laughter has been shown to lower blood
pressure.

•Laughter increases oxygen in the blood, which encourages healing.

Normally only considered a cliché, but “laughter may really be the best medicine”. Medical theories attribute improved over-all health and increased life expectancy to laughter.

“Laughter is a powerful way to tap positive emotions”.
Norman Cousins

Lynda Moss is a pscyhotherapist
at the Anam Kara Centre
in St.John’s.
Telephone 709-579-0006
www.anamkaracentre.com

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