The beauty of using humor and keeping a sense of lightness and playfulness in our life is that it helps us deal with life as it is -- the ups and downs, the unexpected changes, and the frustrations we may encounter.

Meditation can essentially be seen as emotional weight-lifting for the mind. If we do meditation in the morning and focus on the feeling of laughter, then we can carry that feeling throughout the day.

It feels good to laugh once in a while. Everyone knows that. But laughter as a health-promoting exercise is not as widely practiced, despite the fact that scientists have long known about the potential healing effects of good humor.

This year made me realize that I've accumulated a whole arsenal of wonderfully powerful tools and techniques that can help me through difficult times if I choose to use them. Things like prayer and faith, meditation and yoga, music, vitamins, love, persistence, honesty, communication, and trust.

Physical therapist Joe Gallagher's patient, a former New York Giants football player now in his 80s, was lying on the floor, stretching to regain flexibility after two total knee replacements. Progress was slow and painful, so Joe went to a reliable resource in his PT toolbox: humor.

People have long said that laughter is the best medicine, and we know now of its many positive physiological effects. There is plenty of evidence on why we should laugh, so why don't we?

If health and wellness are your goals, skip irony, bypass sarcasm and make the conscious choice to add more joyous laughter into to your day.

Are you really, truly capable of laughing at yourself? If so, it's a good sign that you have an optimistic personality and a good sense of humor, a...