LENNY'S MESSAGE

It's simple: "Laugh goes on!"

The term 'wellness' covers a wide range of emotional and physical situations involving individuals and organizations alike. Our program offers a healthy, non-threatening and much-needed prescription of therapeutic humor and laughter while also delivering a serious message. The feedback we've received is powerful and poignant.

Listen to Lenny's recent 20-minute podcast interview with Alan Smith on UnBreakYourHealth.com discussing healthy humor and laughter!

Lenny is a Past President of AATH - The Association for Applied and Therapeutic Humor. The mission of this international organization (founded in 1987) is "To serve as the community of professionals who study, practice and promote healthy humor and laughter."

The emerging field of therapeutic humor gains increased recognition and respect with each new research study. Humor, laughter and a positive attitude have been shown to cause behavioral changes known to reduce stress hormone levels and boost the body’s immune system response. This, in turn, helps to fight the effects of chronic illnesses such as cancer and heart disease.

To address the immediate concerns and personal challenges of wellness audiences, Lenny's fun, motivational presentation emphasizes the importance of humor in the healing process (see below).

To address the strategic needs and organizational challenges of hospital management, nursing and administrative staffs, Lenny's interactive and informative 'think-shops' focus on creative thinking, personal growth and development - and reducing stress in the workplace.

LAUGH GOES ON: HUMOR IN THE HEALING PROCESS

Speaking from first-hand experience, Lenny attests, "If you're going to have a heart attack, you might as well find some humor in it - and I made sure that I did!”

Lenny believes that people going through the healing process need a break from the barrage of what he calls ‘symptom seminars and mold spore speakers.’

He explains, "A lot of people are ‘hurting,’ both literally and figuratively. They're coping with a wide variety of life challenges such as a serious illness or a recent loss. I think there comes a point where the intense, medical techno-jargon creates a genuine sense of numbness. Every so often, people just need to relax, have a few good laughs and forget about things for a while... or at least look at them from a different, lighter perspective."

HOW TO USE THE PROGRAM

Countless times, we’ve heard, "Our people are under a lot of stress and they really could use an opportunity to lighten up a bit and have a few laughs!" As a result, a number of organizations have invited us to speak at their meetings, training sessions, conferences and conventions for the simple fact that our program sounded like something fun and different - and it is!

We’re flexible - so bend us! For "The Wellness Community," we customized a presentation entitled, 'Humor, Laughter, Life and Cancer!' A similar program was developed for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society's Southwestern Ohio chapter. Both events were emotionally-charged with lots of laughs, lots of tears, lots of hugs, lots of people and a very positive release of energy. The intensity of those moments will resonate for a long, long time.

THE FORMAT

Forget the medical textbook terminology! Forget the statistics, charts and graphs! And most of all - Forget the podium!

Our interactive learning environment dynamically utilizes cartoons, movie excerpts, music, plus the wit and wisdom of people throughout history to emphasize fundamental concepts. Most people want to learn, but they also want to be entertained and have some fun! So, why not give them both? The essence of our program is very serious, but we subscribe to the theory that learning can be and should be fun!

Cancer isn’t funny - but life is - and people certainly are! Many of the images in our program were created by a very talented cartoonist who bravely endured two seperate bouts with cancer over a ten year period. She considered her cartooning to be her most valuable 'therapy,' her way of dealing with the frustration, the pain, and yes, the humor of the experience. Her brilliant work conveys an insightful, first-hand perspective which translates across the board to all sorts of other challenging situations faced by audience members.