Laughter is a strong medicine for mind and body. It is a powerful antidote to stress, pain, and conflict. It also lightens burdens, inspires hopes, connects you with others, and keeps you grounded, focused, and alert.
There are many physiological and psychological benefits to laughter.
The Benefits of Laughter
Physical Health Benefits:
Boosts immunity
Lowers stress hormones
Decreases pain
Relaxes your muscles
Prevents heart disease
Mental Health Benefits:
Adds joy and zest to life
Eases anxiety and fear
Relieves stress
Improves mood
Enhances resilience
Social Benefits:
Strengthens relationships
Attracts others to us
Enhances teamwork
Helps defuse conflict
Promotes group bonding
Laughter is a catalyst for creativity, new discoveries, and enhanced relationships, with oneself and others. Laugh more and you will find that you become more relaxed, positive, creative, joyful, and balanced.
Try this simple exercise: Take a full breath in and then draw your shoulders up towards your ears. Hold your shoulders up close to your ears. Count to two and then as you exhale, move your shoulders down and up quickly as you laugh, “ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha”, for six or eight times in a row. Repeat several times. Notice the release of tension in your upper body, notice your renewed energy and freer flow of breath.
Enjoy the benefits of laughter and know that, with every laugh…you open new possibilities for the Universe.
The world goes by so bustlingly fast, a blur of action, words, and feelings. As human beings, we work so hard to take it all in, to make it all part of that story that is us.
So often we miss the opportunity to witness without action, to pause and be in the moment, to look into the eyes of those around us as they experience their own defeat and triumph, their own fears, their own hurt, their love, their joy and to be with it all, but act on none of it. Animals do it, especially cats. They are wonderful at exercising the witness mind.
Let go of rational thought for a moment and step away from the need to do. Pause, tapping into your animal instincts, and just watch. Meditate on what you see. Look into the eyes of those around you. Look beyond the surface…and even those who, in your mind, may have brought hurt or pain may reveal to you an underlying softness, a love, that they just can’t figure out how to put into action because they’ve put so much other stuff out there.
Look into their eyes and connect with that love and you just may have more love to hold onto as you go bustlingly through the fast-paced action that is the story of you.
Do what feels good. Not what feels good to the touch, but what feels good to the soul.
You know…that feeling that comes from way deep down, that bubbles up through your heart space and spontaneously makes the corners of your mouth turn up from the inside. The stuff that breeds butterflies in your belly, causes goose bumps to ripple on the skin, and parts the clouds in a heavy sky.
If you move from that place of good, you cannot help but to be a beacon of abundant joy.
The distance between despair and happiness is no farther than traveling from one moment to the next.
Although often it feels never-ending and all-encompassing, despair is fleeting, like a season.
Winter grays, chills, and presses down heavily upon the earth as if it will never move along and yet, somehow, even as memory serves to guide us, we forget that this is just a point in time.
And, suddenly, with such precision, in the next moment Winter lifts its heavy veil and Spring arrives.
And, so it is with despair and happiness, ever swift and cunning, they ebb and flow in and out of our lives just like the changing seasons.
How easy it is to get bogged down in the “what if’s”, to perceive experiences as negative, missed opportunities, or wasted efforts.
What if…instead we believed, truly, down to the core, that everything that happens — even all of these things that seem like mistakes, chances gone by, and dead ends — happens just as intended?
What if…instead of making New Year’s resolutions, we simply resolve to maintain resolve? Facing each moment with openness, acceptance, and love?
What if…instead of holding onto expectations and outcomes, we could see each day as a shiny, unwrapped gift, reveling in the thrill and wonder of that moment?
What if…it is all unfolding precisely as it should; every botch, bobble, and blunder just the next step in the great adventure known as YOU?
As a child, falling snowflakes and snow-covered landscapes meant a break from the routine, a chance to play in a different way, no cars rushing by, no one in a hurry to get anywhere, a chance to sip cocoa and enjoy meals together as a family because no matter who you were surrounded by they became family in a snow storm.
At some point we “grow up”. Snow becomes a nuisance, a hindrance from work, a blockade to accomplishing life. The critical plans for what we believe is the great work of our life come to a screeching halt and everything is all messed up, or so it seems at the time.
For as long as I can remember, I have always been drawn to life at the beach – to live someplace warm, where folks saunter around in flip flops or squish their toes in the sand as they stroll the beaches in quiet reflection, where the pace of life is slower, where by nature time pauses so that you can notice simple surroundings, breathe a little deeper, and reflect more on thoughts and actions.
Life seems so much more in the moment at the beach and maybe that is why I am drawn to it — sparkling water lapping up on the shore, warm sand reminding me to press down through the souls of my feet and feel the earth. Life seems to slow down to a gelatinous bubbling, like the colors floating in a lava lamp.
Oh, how different life at the beach is compared to the hustle and bustle of a big city — that is, until a big snow storm hits. When the snow comes, it is as if Mother Nature is saying, “Come on folks, slow it down!” Have you ever noticed how blankets of snow on hillsides are remarkably similar looking to dunes of sand? The sensation of snow crunching under the boots creates that earthly connection with your feet. Feel the snowflakes splash on your cheeks, like the surf curling up on your toes.
There is rarely a more peaceful and beautiful time than when snow is softly falling. Everything slows down. Branches stand in stillness as snow gathers at their edges. Animals tuck into nooks in tree bases, napping all snuggled together. Snow brings quiet reflection, contemplative movement, an invitation from Mother Nature to slow down, notice simple surroundings, breathe a little deeper, and reflect more on thoughts and actions.
So, the next time the snow begins to fall and seems to be getting in the way of the greatness you had planned for your day, perhaps it is simply an invitation to pause, go inside instead of outside, and allow a new greatness, perhaps your true greatness, to surface from within.
So whether it’s snow in your boots or sand in your toes, slowing down to notice it may bring the perfect opportunity to experience life a little more fully.
Monday Mindfulness 