Living on The Smile Side of Life: Wellbeing for U!

A Story of Reinvention, Persistence, and Laughter In 2010, Noreen Braman—who had already reinvented herself in 1997 after a contentious divorce—was reeling from a corporate downsizing, dealing with a economic recession of historic proportions, and facing her own midlife issues. Soon her skills as a strategic communications professional, humorist and performer would send her in a new direction. By the end of that year, she became a certified Laughter Yoga Leader, had her mind blown at a conference called "Can Humor Save the World" and studied the Psychology of Laughter (Here's an article by the teacher of that course) at Rutgers University. In 2012 she added certification in Laughter Wellness, studied the Science of Happiness through UC Berkeley in 2016, joined the Association for Applied & Therapeutic Humor (AATH) and has been presenting laughter for the health of it through her Smile Side of Life Laughter & Happiness Club presentations ever since. She continues to add to her knowledge base through continuing education and certifications, workshops, conferences and seminars. Noreen credits Dr. Paul McGhee's book "Humor as Survival Training for a Stressed Out World" as well as Linda Richman's "I'd Rather Laugh: How to Be Happy Even if Life has Other Plans for You," for helping her understand the importance of humor and laughter to all humans. With the physical and emotional health benefits that come with humor, laughter and mindfulness, Noreen deals with her fibromyalgia and thyroid disease with humor, reminding us all that yesterday's problem can be today's funny story. She was featured on EBTV3's Wellness Spotlight, and attended AATH's conference in Philadelphia, "Staying Alive: Keeping Your Brain Healthy & Active With Humor" thanks to a Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA)-funded Stellar Volunteer Scholarship from the AATH (Association of Applied and Therapeutic Humor. Noreen has presented at the Paint the Mall Purple event in Freehold and The Recovery 360 Conference, Hispanic National Bar Association Convention in Philadelphia, Morristown Medical Center, the NJAJ Boardwalk Seminar, and others! She has presented laughter for the health of it to lawyers, professional mediators, technology employees, dentists, banking professionals, caregivers, cancer survivors, seniors, children, mental health support groups and more! In April 2019, She was Keynote speaker for the Society of Emotional Intelligence's conference in Orlando, ans will be teaching a class on the physical & psychological benefits of laughter at the Osher Lifelong Learning Center at Rutgers University and Brookdale Community College's Women's Conference, among others, in 2021.