The Omicron Variant of COVID-19 Is Here, and Anxiety is Rising

Joy in the Journey Group Says Laughter Helps with Covid Stress

VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / December 20, 2021 / The financial stresses, isolation, and fear of the recently discovered Omicron variant of COVID-19 have left many people feeling anxious, depressed, and fearful of what lies ahead.

Joy in the Journey believes laughter is how to deal with pandemic angst - and founder Wendy Farha knows that firsthand. "We have very little control over the things that happen to us," Farha says, "but we have absolute control over our reactions, our perspective, and our attitude towards conflict."

A survivor of breast cancer and clinical depression, Farha's experience using humor to rise above life's difficulties was the inspiration for Joy In The Journey. The belief behind the comedy and the music is that laughter can affect our physical, emotional, and mental health and well-being. "I wasn't always a joyful person," Farha says. In 2000, she hit bottom and was diagnosed with clinical depression and wanted to take her life - but the combination of prescription medicine and an eager search for laughter in the everyday became a salvation.

In 2009 Farha got another "gut punch"; she was diagnosed with breast cancer. "By then," Farha says, "comedy had become a part of my daily life. After my bilateral mastectomy, I told everyone I'd had a corporate downsizing...a double-double if you will." Farha's sense of humor also sustained her through 18 months of subsequent treatments.

In a recent article for The New York Times, Dr. Michael Miller, a cardiologist at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore, says humor is a winning strategy to stay healthy in the face of the pandemic crisis."Heightened stress magnifies the risk of cardiovascular events including heart attacks and strokes," he adds, "having a good sense of humor is an excellent way to relieve stress and anxiety and bring back a sense of normalcy during these turbulent times."

After a Joy in the Journey performance, Wendy Farha frequently hears from audience members who felt the benefits of a good laugh. Farha recalls, "We did a Christmas show one year, and an older couple was in the audience. The husband had been diagnosed with cancer that afternoon. They decided to come to the show anyways and had a marvelous time. It was therapeutic for them."

Joy in the Journey Group is touring the continent and making people laugh every night. Farha says, "walking through clinical depression and breast cancer taught me resilience and optimism; and that's what Joy In The Journey aims to bring to everybody who experiences it. Humor helped save me from wanting to die, and now it motivates us to continue helping others laugh."

ABOUT JOY IN THE JOURNEY GROUP

Breast cancer survivor, singer/songwriter, comedian, and inspirational speaker Wendy Farha performs in live events across North America with Joy In The Journey. Sharing songs, comedy, and a life story of overcoming clinical depression and cancer, their performances aim to bring light to audience members through encouragement, inspiration, and their namesake: joy. Creator, Farha, has been featured on the TV show 100 Huntley Street, CBC TV, and in the documentary film "Beauty and the Breast." She has written over two hundred songs and has produced eight albums. For more information, visit Joy In The Journey on Facebook, Instagram, or YouTube. For additional information, visit www.wendy.ca.

CONTACT

Wendy Farha
[email protected]
(604) 652-2020

SOURCE: Joy In The Journey Group