Hahaha…. hehehehe heeee heeeee heeee… hahahaha…. (laughter)  That’s the sound of me pumping happy chemicals round my body… That’s the sound of me feeling good… That’s the sound of me giving myself a daily dose of self-love!

Yes, laughing daily really is a gift to our body, our mind and our very dear soul. So if you’re ready to embrace the joy and healing that comes with a good old hearty laugh, then have fun listening to this latest episode on I Love Me The Podcast!

 

I need to ask..

When was the last time you had a really good belly laugh?

Where you couldn’t stop yourself laughing?

Where you laughed so hard that your belly actually started to hurt?

Do you remember such a time?

In today’s fast-paced, pressure-filled world it’s way too easy to get bogged down in the serious aspects of daily living…

So much so, that we practically forget how to laugh.

And over the years the general population has only become more serious..

German psychologist Michael Titze found that back in the 50s adults laughed for an average of 18 minutes a day.

Fast forward to today, and we’re lucky to squeeze out a minute or two of laughter.

Laughter really is disappearing from most people’s lives at a alarming rate…

… because life just keeps getting busier, there are more financial pressures placed upon us or self-created, so we’re getting more stressed, we worry more, with the advancements in technology we’re becoming more disconnected… and this is leading to isolation, sadness and in rising rates, depression.

Yet, in order to relieve us of life’s stresses, all we need to do is laugh!

It sounds so simple.

But in laughing, especially when we really let ourselves go, we trigger off a cocktail of happy chemicals in the body that boosts our mood and wellbeing.

Endorphins – the body’s natural painkillers – they flood our system when we laugh, reducing pain and leaving behind a sense of euphoria.

Dopamine – the feel-good neurotransmitter – enhances our mood, while serotonin then regulates our mood, helping us feel happy and relaxed.

Not only that, laughter lowers the stress hormone cortisol, helping us release all that pent up stress and anxiety.

But laughing does more than help our mental state and lift our spirits…

This delightful chemical reaction strengthens our immune system and improves our cardiovascular health.

When we laugh, we let in more oxygen and this feeds the cells in our blood and in our brain.

And these chemical effects are instant!

In this way, laughing really is the antidote to all that stress and worry and depression we experience as part of daily life.

This is why laughter is often used in medical centres to help bring relief and physiological changes to people, especially children in hospital settings.

Because when we laugh, we instigate healing.

Not only do people who laugh regularly rarely get a cough, cold or flu…

We can actually shorten our recovery time after illness by laughing, because of the potent boost it gives our immune system.

Scientists are convinced that laughter has both preventative and therapeutic value.

Hence why we want to use this free medicine, to clean out the cobwebs of stress that choke up the body, so we can feel lighter, healthier, and refreshed…

Both physically and mentally.

Not only do we stay healthier when we laugh a lot, our body gets a wonderful massage.

Our facial muscles, but also our diaphragm and abdomen get a beautiful workout, with some describing laughter as ‘internal jogging’.

Dr William Fry from Stanford University in the US, claims that one minute of laughter is the equivalent of ten minutes on the rowing machine!

He describes laughter as a mild and extremely pleasant aerobic exercise.

Now.. I’m a big believer that when it comes to looking after ourselves, we want to do things that feel good.

That is at the centre of self-love.

So if hitting the gym or playing sport aren’t really your thing – if they feel too much like a chore – then treat yourself to a daily belly laugh, and give yourself a lovely workout that way.

Let the way you care for your body come from a place of love, as opposed to obligation.

Because there are always more loving ways we can support ourselves in staying well.

Each time we laugh, we feel better.

Our step becomes a little bouncier.

The world seems brighter and friendlier…

And we’re able to approach life more positively.

In terms of relationships…

It’s more pleasurable to be around someone who you can enjoy a laugh with.

And it’s in laughing together, that we’re able to connect on a deeper, more intimate level.

The simple truth is..

We automatically lighten our minds, and lighten our loads, when we invite laughter into our lives.

And that’s why I encourage everyone to laugh.

No matter what you’re experiencing in life, see if you can laugh a little each day.

And then a little bit more.

And simply notice how that changes how you feel overall.

What if you’ve lost your natural ability to laugh?

How do you invite more laughter into your life?

There are so many different ways…

You can go see a comedy show, watch a comedy skit on the internet, tell jokes, have a laughter match with someone to see who can laugh the loudest and the longest, do a Laughter Yoga class…

Yes, there is such a thing.

If you listened to last week’s episode where I shared my journey out of depression, one of the activities I began, was weekly Laughter Yoga classes.

Now, don’t worry – there are no down dogs.

Just people meeting in a park to do some fun, gentle stretches, breathing and movements while laughing.

All in the name of exercising their laughter muscles, so they can feel good.

Laughter groups began in Mumbai in the early 90s.

Dr Madan Kataria was studying the medical benefits of laughter, and he decided to put his research into practice.

So he developed Laughter Yoga classes.

A place where people could meet to laugh, and reap all the wonderful benefits of laughing.

As I discovered when I began back in my 20s…

What often begins as fake laughing, soon becomes real laughter, as everyone gets in on the action.

And as you’ll find..

Laughter is infectious.

If you laugh enough, it will trigger off laughter in those around you.

And this is what you see at Laughter Yoga sessions.

Now while I enjoy these classes, what I enjoy even more, is how I feel afterwards.

Enlivened.

Happy.

Care-free.

Maybe even a little ‘high’ – due to that hit of happy chemicals.

I also found that these laughter sessions can be a great way to form social connections and make friends.

So if this sounds like it might be worth a try…

There are clubs world-wide, so all you need to do is google Laughter Yoga and you’re bound to find one near you.

Simply have a look here on the International Laughter Yoga website.

Oh, and these classes generally run on donation, to make them more accessible.

Now while you may like to attend a weekly Laughter Yoga class to start exercising those laughter muscles, I recommend engaging in daily laughter.

One of the exercises I teach, especially to my clients who experience depression, is to laugh for 2-minutes straight, every day.

Because this is the quickest way to change our mental state, and move our body into a state of healing.

To do it, simply pop your phone timer on for 2-minutes, and then just start laughing.

Whether it’s a fake laugh or a real laugh doesn’t matter, because the physical action of laughing still stimulates the release of those feel-good hormones.

Medical research shows that even if you ‘pretend’ to laugh or act happy, your body will still produce the same cocktail of happy chemicals.

Which is pretty cool, right?

So regardless of how you laugh, you still get to benefit from the same set of physiological changes in the body.

And chances are once you’ve been fake laughing for a while, it’ll turn into a real laugh anyway.

So it’ll feel less awkward.

What’s great about this, is that you don’t need to rely on a sense of humour to get in a daily dose of laughter.

Instead, we simply laugh.

We laugh for no other reason, than because it feels good.

And doing things that make us feel good, is an act of self-love.

Now, if you find yourself thinking:

‘Oh, I’m too busy to laugh’, then you need to laugh for longer than 2 minutes each day.

Feeling you don’t have time to laugh is a sure sign that you are laughter deprived.

But what if I don’t feel like laughing?

What if laughing feels fake?

Well… if you haven’t laughed for a while, this will probably be the case.

Rest assured, that even if your laughing feels awkward or in-genuine, that’s ok.

You’re still getting the juicy benefits, and like anything that you haven’t done for a while, it’ll stop feeling rusty once you’ve made it a regular practice.

Laughter is portable, immediate therapy.

It’s free.

It charges up the battery of our soul.

And it makes life fun again.

Spiritually, laughter allows us to transcend what we normally think about and react to.

It helps us access a deep aspect of ourselves – what I like to refer to as our True Self – which is not upset by our life circumstances.

In this way, laughing helps us rise above the negative thinking patterns, limitations and fears of the egoic mind, so we can lean into a more loving way of being with ourself.

A more loving way of moving through life.

The more we laugh, the easier it is to let go of our life-load and connect into the playful part of ourselves.

The part that feels lighter, more relaxed… is able to see the easiest way through life’s challenges.

Yes, laughter helps us take life less seriously.

We are born with the gift of laughter, it’s being serious that we learn.

But once we can start to reconnect with our playful side, we start to feel lighter, more able, more free.

So, this week I invite you to take your daily dose of laughter.

Treat laughter like a daily supplement that supports your mind and body in functioning well.

If you’re not laughing at least a couple of times a day, it’s a pretty sure sign that you’re stressed.

So simply start to notice how much you laugh.

And if it’s not much, or not at all…

Then give the Laughing for 2-minutes-a-day exercise a go.

As you start to do this, you’ll start to notice it’s easier for you to naturally laugh at other times of the day too.

Kick start your day with a dose of laughter…

And after you listen to next week’s episode, you may even like to trade in your daily coffee for a daily laugh.

Yes, in episode 34 I’ll be sharing why I don’t drink coffee anymore, and why you may want to reconsider this popular beverage of choice.

OK, it’s time to get laughing.

Thanks for listening, and if you’re loving what I’m sharing here on I Love Me The Podcast, and want to dive deeper into self-love…

Simply take a peek at my online school Gettingnaked.com.au where I teach you how to strip off the layers of childhood conditioning, keeping you from falling in love with you.

Sign up for your FREE Self-Love Starter’s Kit there, and if you do enrol in any of my programs, know that a percentage of profits go to planting trees, so together we can re-robe Mother Earth.