Happily Ever Laughter: The Magic of Adding More Humor to Your Life
I have some important advice to give you before starting today’s blog: You should always test psychics with a knock knock joke. If they say, “Who’s there?” then get up and leave.
Okay, maybe I’m not a bona fide comedian, but I hope that joke gave you a chuckle… because adding more laughter to your life is one of the most transformative steps you can take! A chuckle a day is proven to not only help keep the doctor away, but also transform your outlook, strengthen your relationships, advance your career, and enhance your connection with the Divine.
As I teach you in my new book, The Map: Finding the Magic and Meaning in Your Life, the power to change your external reality comes from within. In the book, I guide you in an exploration of the inner-landscapes of your subconscious, which is what really shapes your outer world. Since most of us tend to get wrapped up in what’s going on in our outer world, it’s extremely difficult to see that it’s actually our thoughts, feelings, and beliefs about what’s going on that are ultimately shaping our outlook. When we shift that internal world, we unleash the powers of perception to transform what has been, what is, and what will be!
One phenomenally powerful way to shift your internal world is to laugh! Even more powerful than smiling, a hearty chuckle enables you to instantly detach from any difficulties you’re experiencing so you can transform your perceptions. The more you laugh, the more you harness the power of the present to shift your consciousness and create lasting change in your life and the lives around you. Laughing has so many significant benefits that I’m surprised they haven’t found a way to put it in a jar and sell it for a thousand dollars.
Here are some reasons to start laughing more:
Laughter changes your perspective: According to research, stressful events can be altered by whether you view something as a “threat” or a “challenge.” Humor and laughing can give us a more light-hearted perspective and help us view events as “challenges,” thus making them less threatening and more positive. Laughter brings the focus away from anger, guilt, stress and negative emotions to them alongside other “mere distractions.” It makes you cheerful and puts you in a positive frame of mind.
A good chuckle does the body good: Tons of studies have shown that laughter really is a form of medicine. It’s been shown to strengthen the immune system, reduce food cravings, and even increase your threshold for pain. Laughter reduces levels of stress hormones such as cortisol and increases health-enhancing hormones like endorphins. Laughter is also a surprisingly great workout. A good belly laugh exercises the diaphragm, contracts the abs, and even works out the shoulders, leaving your muscles more relaxed afterward. It even provides a good workout for the heart. Laughing 100 times is the equivalent to 10 minutes on the rowing machine or 15 minutes on an exercise bike! Yowza!
Those who giggle together, stay together: Laughter improves your relationships and bonds people together. Laughter establishes (or restores) a positive emotional climate and a sense of connection between people. It really is the glue that keeps people together, especially when it comes to your intimate relationships. It synchronizes the brains of speaker and listener so that they’re emotionally attuned. In fact, some scientists believe that the major function of laughter is to bring people together, and all the health benefits of laughter may result from the social support that it stimulates. Laughter is contagious, so if you bring more laughter into your life, you can most likely help others around you laugh more. As a result, you can diminish their stress levels!
You can laugh your way to success: It’s true! Laughter can actually improve your job performance, especially if your work depends oncreativity and solving complex problems. By decreasing your stress level, it enables you to more easily concentrate and focus. With the positive outlook that comes from giggling, you’re also going to feel more energized, creative, and inspired. And, with the impact laughter has on social bonds, it enhances your relationships in the workplace, creating win-win experiences for everyone. So, if you want a raise, it wouldn’t be such a bad idea to come up with some jokes to share with your boss! (Though you might want to skip the psychic joke I told at the beginning!)
Laughing is sacred: A recent study showed that pre-school-aged children laugh up to 400 times a day, but by the time we reach adulthood, we laugh a mere 17 times per day on average! What happened?? Laughter is a Divine gift, and we were all born to laugh A LOT. Many of us have become caught up in being serious and have forgotten that laughter is an innate part of who we are. Laughing enables us to lighten up, live in the moment, and see the big picture. It moves us out of the ego and into the realm of connection, which is where we’re able to co-create with the Divine.
All this and more is yours for FREE: Best of all, laughter doesn’t cost a thing and it’s highly contagious. Forget all those how-to books, seminars on getting rich quick, fancy clothes, and spa vacations, laughing more can give you the same results and more for free!
Exercises:Increase your laughter quotient: How can YOU add more laughter to your life? Perhaps go to a comedy club, spend more time with children or animals, rent a funny movie, exchange jokes with friends, etc. Studies show the positive effects of laughter whether it’s real or fake. So, you can in fact fake it until you make it and just decide to laugh in the car on the way to work. (Just don’t get too doubled up that you miss a stop sign!)
Find the humor in your every day life: Make a list of all the things you usually perceive as frustrating and tend to complain about. It could be as simple as traffic or as complex as an argument with someone. Then for each one, look for a way to find humor in the experience. Notice how you might look back on it and laugh about it. Or, imagine how you might tell your friends about the experience with added ridiculousness that you all laugh about. When you choose to laugh and see humor in the various frustrating elements of life, you’ll become less stressed and more connected with the Divine to create a better experience. You’ll bring more to laugh and smile about into your life!
The Landscape of Laughter: Here’s a way to easily bring laughter into your life no matter what might be going on. Think of a time when you laughed hysterically. In your journal, describe that experience. Then close your eyes and chuckle as you picture that experience as a landscape taking on elements of the outside world. Perhaps to you, laughter is a circus full dancing bears and upbeat music. Or, maybe it’s a field full of colorful flowers. Let you imagination flow. By using metaphors and your imagination to create an inner landscape that represents laughing, you’ll find it’s MUCH more easy to connect with the emotions you feel when you do it. Whenever you want and no matter what frustrations might be happening in your life, you can just picture that landscape to experience the power of laughter. I also recommend creating an anchor to remind you to laugh every day. Just find a picture or object that reminds you of the inner landscape of laughter and put it in a location you see every day!
Click HERE to Connect with your Daily Horoscope!
In service and love, Colette
P.S. Feel free to post your favorite joke or funny story so we can all share some laughs!
