The Power of Laughter
We have all hear of "The Power of Now" and "The Power of Intention" but few of us have thought about the power of laughter. I don't know about anyone else but I struggled with being too serious for much too long while forgetting how to see the humor in life and all of the situations we find ourselves in. Although I am not one to sugar coat everything I now understand the power of humor and of laughter. Whenever I can stand back and see the lightness of an interaction or experience I feel more empowered and less of a hostage.
I was an abused child. For years my mother slapped me, hit me with objects and called me names I would not repeat in mixed company. For years I held on to the severity of the abuse and relived it with anger and venom. As time passed I began to understand that I was literally poisoning myself and that no matter what reliving this old story was weighing heavily on me. My sister who seems to find the humor in almost anything would make a joke out of my mom's behaviors and put a very funny spin on it. It was when I realized that the abuse was over and that I did not have to carry it around with such seriousness as to give it power that I started to see the humor in it much like a comedian would joke about "getting our asses kicked" and our parents threatening us to call the police versus these days when DCFS is called into homes where children report their parents for some minor infraction. Now I can see the humor and I understand that seeing it from that place of lightness can be not just healing but help in moving us forward, beyond the abuse and beyond reliving every moment knowing how self-loathing it is to continue to replay that old story when it is more beneficial to let it go.
At the Optimum Health Institute they have a morning exercise that included "forcing the laughter" out where the participants lay down and simply laugh. As one might guess the laugher of others becomes contagious and before you know it the room is filled with laughter and people who look just a little less stressed and smiling from ear to ear. The magic of laughter comes through and it is the intentionality that makes things feel lighter, less severe. Taking the time to laugh and find the humor in situations helps us to stay healthier and more aligned with our spirit. It is not natural to take things so badly and the truth is that it does not do much good. If we can lighten up we can live a life with less stress and with less complication. If we can find the humor in others and in situations we can better navigate through it all.
Laughing even when we don't feel it is healing. Laughing when we truly cannot change the circumstance is refreshing. Laughing at what was once so serious helps us to cure from that past and start to give ourselves permission to be happy in spite of the things that are bound to come our way. I have often heard others say: "I laugh because I just cannot cry anymore". I think that we should laugh because it is time to stop crying.
Prompts:
1. Think about something you use to deem serious and is now something you can laugh at. Why can you now laugh about it?
2. Create a funny story based on an experience you once had that you could not see the humor in but now you do.
3. Give some reasons why it is better to see the humor in things and laugh about it:
4. Write a mantra about keeping your sense of humor.
Example:
I experience life with a sense of joy and laughter.
I am more of how I perceive life and my willingness to laugh.
I see the light inside the dark space and I prefer it.
I was an abused child. For years my mother slapped me, hit me with objects and called me names I would not repeat in mixed company. For years I held on to the severity of the abuse and relived it with anger and venom. As time passed I began to understand that I was literally poisoning myself and that no matter what reliving this old story was weighing heavily on me. My sister who seems to find the humor in almost anything would make a joke out of my mom's behaviors and put a very funny spin on it. It was when I realized that the abuse was over and that I did not have to carry it around with such seriousness as to give it power that I started to see the humor in it much like a comedian would joke about "getting our asses kicked" and our parents threatening us to call the police versus these days when DCFS is called into homes where children report their parents for some minor infraction. Now I can see the humor and I understand that seeing it from that place of lightness can be not just healing but help in moving us forward, beyond the abuse and beyond reliving every moment knowing how self-loathing it is to continue to replay that old story when it is more beneficial to let it go.
At the Optimum Health Institute they have a morning exercise that included "forcing the laughter" out where the participants lay down and simply laugh. As one might guess the laugher of others becomes contagious and before you know it the room is filled with laughter and people who look just a little less stressed and smiling from ear to ear. The magic of laughter comes through and it is the intentionality that makes things feel lighter, less severe. Taking the time to laugh and find the humor in situations helps us to stay healthier and more aligned with our spirit. It is not natural to take things so badly and the truth is that it does not do much good. If we can lighten up we can live a life with less stress and with less complication. If we can find the humor in others and in situations we can better navigate through it all.
Laughing even when we don't feel it is healing. Laughing when we truly cannot change the circumstance is refreshing. Laughing at what was once so serious helps us to cure from that past and start to give ourselves permission to be happy in spite of the things that are bound to come our way. I have often heard others say: "I laugh because I just cannot cry anymore". I think that we should laugh because it is time to stop crying.
Prompts:
1. Think about something you use to deem serious and is now something you can laugh at. Why can you now laugh about it?
2. Create a funny story based on an experience you once had that you could not see the humor in but now you do.
3. Give some reasons why it is better to see the humor in things and laugh about it:
4. Write a mantra about keeping your sense of humor.
Example:
I experience life with a sense of joy and laughter.
I am more of how I perceive life and my willingness to laugh.
I see the light inside the dark space and I prefer it.
Comments
Post a Comment