Force Yourself to Laugh! Please!
There is a magical and healing place in San Diego California where you go to cleanse every part of who you are: physical, emotional and spiritual. It is called the Optimum Health Institute and is a place where you commit to a week or two of raw foods only and wheat grass juice daily. Every day they offer Yoga classes, organic food prep classes, meditation and a morning and evening exercise class that involves a part where crawl on the floor as if you are a baby again, then lay on your back and force yourself to laugh. Everyone begins slowly but soon there is a roar of laughter in the room because just like crying it is contagious to hear others laugh. The roar of laughter reminds us that laughter is healing and whether we feel like laughing or not we can force ourselves to do it and in many cases feel the joy that laughter brings to each of us.
OHI is not the only place where one can laugh or feel the joy of laughter. We can do this on a daily basis at home as part of our self-work and self-loving, incorporating it into our time of meditation, reverent silence or prayer. Most of us know of the laughing Buddha and I actually have one in my Den in my home. It is a reminder for me to laugh and that laughter is literally healing and something we should do every day. Laughter opens up our heart and it brings us into that child like place when nothing mattered but that very moment, with that little toy car and our imagination. When we laugh we honor that little person inside of us that still wants to be naively happy and that still wants to feel that kind of abandon. Every time we laugh we say yes to all that is and may bring us to that place of laughter.
I have often shared this notion of living with intention. There are things in our life that we do only when we think to do them. Things, actions, acts that we should do because whatever it is we benefit greatly from it. Yet we would not do those things if we did not live with that intention. Laughter is a part of living with intention and doing things that bring that kind of joy to our spirit is a part of that intentional living. For some of us it is dancing, others it is telling a joke or playing a board game while for others it is playing baseball. Where we find our joy is where we find our laughing Buddha inside of us and where we access our down to our gut laughter. Doing the things we love is one way to manifest a smile and to elicit that laughter, the kind of joy that is spontaneous and real. Putting ourselves in that place of intention and doing is what helps us to bring that kind of happiness and laughter to our lives.
For a long time I was inside a relationship. I was so inside of it that I completely forgot about myself and what would make me feel whole and complete. I did not laugh inside the relationship because there was nothing to laugh about and at ever turn I felt demeaned and diminished. Nothing I did was enough. When I would go out alone or spend time with my family was the only time I would laugh with a sincerity of heart. I felt it because I was not in the presence of the woman who I allowed to take my joy and who was abusive towards me. I found my laughing Buddha but only when I was not in her presence or in the presence of her not so nice mother, who was identical to her in her behavior. When I walked out of the relationship I did not do so in a nice way and I am not proud of that. I totally went off the deep end and used some choice words, referring to her mother as "a royal bitch" that she sold as perfect. Yet in the end it was the only way I could get back my joy and laughter and so today I thank Goddess for the strength to let go of her and her crazy mom. Sometimes it take a drastic decision on our part to get our joy back and sometimes it means letting go of people who stomp on our happy face.
Where in your life is your laughter? When was the last time you laughed? How will you bring that kind of child like joy back into your life? What or who is impeding your laughter and your absolute happiness? By the time you respond to these questions you will be clear as to how to get that laughing voice back and you will once again feel that kind of intentional living. I encourage each of you to find that Buddha inside that feels and brings the light of joy to the world and to your inner self. I want to advocate for leaving any situation that is taking away your right to be happy and to laugh often and when you want to laugh. Try laughing intentionally. Lay down and grab onto your toes with your hands, like a newborn baby, and laugh until it starts to feel natural or until you cry. You may not remember the last time you laughed that loudly but what I know is that if you are reading this, it is time for you to laugh and laugh and laugh some more.
OHI is not the only place where one can laugh or feel the joy of laughter. We can do this on a daily basis at home as part of our self-work and self-loving, incorporating it into our time of meditation, reverent silence or prayer. Most of us know of the laughing Buddha and I actually have one in my Den in my home. It is a reminder for me to laugh and that laughter is literally healing and something we should do every day. Laughter opens up our heart and it brings us into that child like place when nothing mattered but that very moment, with that little toy car and our imagination. When we laugh we honor that little person inside of us that still wants to be naively happy and that still wants to feel that kind of abandon. Every time we laugh we say yes to all that is and may bring us to that place of laughter.
I have often shared this notion of living with intention. There are things in our life that we do only when we think to do them. Things, actions, acts that we should do because whatever it is we benefit greatly from it. Yet we would not do those things if we did not live with that intention. Laughter is a part of living with intention and doing things that bring that kind of joy to our spirit is a part of that intentional living. For some of us it is dancing, others it is telling a joke or playing a board game while for others it is playing baseball. Where we find our joy is where we find our laughing Buddha inside of us and where we access our down to our gut laughter. Doing the things we love is one way to manifest a smile and to elicit that laughter, the kind of joy that is spontaneous and real. Putting ourselves in that place of intention and doing is what helps us to bring that kind of happiness and laughter to our lives.
For a long time I was inside a relationship. I was so inside of it that I completely forgot about myself and what would make me feel whole and complete. I did not laugh inside the relationship because there was nothing to laugh about and at ever turn I felt demeaned and diminished. Nothing I did was enough. When I would go out alone or spend time with my family was the only time I would laugh with a sincerity of heart. I felt it because I was not in the presence of the woman who I allowed to take my joy and who was abusive towards me. I found my laughing Buddha but only when I was not in her presence or in the presence of her not so nice mother, who was identical to her in her behavior. When I walked out of the relationship I did not do so in a nice way and I am not proud of that. I totally went off the deep end and used some choice words, referring to her mother as "a royal bitch" that she sold as perfect. Yet in the end it was the only way I could get back my joy and laughter and so today I thank Goddess for the strength to let go of her and her crazy mom. Sometimes it take a drastic decision on our part to get our joy back and sometimes it means letting go of people who stomp on our happy face.
Where in your life is your laughter? When was the last time you laughed? How will you bring that kind of child like joy back into your life? What or who is impeding your laughter and your absolute happiness? By the time you respond to these questions you will be clear as to how to get that laughing voice back and you will once again feel that kind of intentional living. I encourage each of you to find that Buddha inside that feels and brings the light of joy to the world and to your inner self. I want to advocate for leaving any situation that is taking away your right to be happy and to laugh often and when you want to laugh. Try laughing intentionally. Lay down and grab onto your toes with your hands, like a newborn baby, and laugh until it starts to feel natural or until you cry. You may not remember the last time you laughed that loudly but what I know is that if you are reading this, it is time for you to laugh and laugh and laugh some more.
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