Every month, weird patients come to see Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington, USA. They don’t come to treat any illness, do an exam, or see a doctor. They go to their monthly laughter session with the firm ambition to play down the little worries of everyday life. Among the members of this “Café du rire”, open to all but especially to the elderly, there are the 7,300 volunteers of the Sibley seniors’ association.
To pay the admission fees, all you have to do is to make laugh the other members by reciting a joke out loud. The exercise is not always easy at first. “But it’s the best medicine“, assures Joanne, 79 years and assiduous member, questioned by the Washington Post.
Jean, 89, opines: “I love coming with Joanne and I love jokes. I never imagined telling jokes in front of a group, and the first time I came I was really nervous. “, he confides.
Joanne, Jean and the other aficionados regain a little of their carefreeness by meeting each month with the same desire to share a moment of lightness. They also find a way to break loneliness and make new friends. And if “this laughter yoga” can help them stay healthy longer, then that will be more, they think.
Open to all senses of humor
Once the shyness of the beginning has passed, the tongues are loosened and the jokes burst forth with more or less restraint. “People often ask if jokes are censored or if there is a standard that defines which ones are acceptable. I answer that the members are adults and that since this club is self-managed by the members, it is open to all the types of jokes launched by its members, ”says Marti Bailey, club manager.
No specific code, in this Café du rire, we joke around and welcome all senses of humor. “No one ever complains about other people’s jokes and everyone comes back every time,” adds Marti Bailey.
>> To read also:5 liberating exercises to learn to laugh
