“I don’t laugh much anymore.”
Those words from a dear friend I called to wish ‘happy birthday’ today were like a dagger to my heart.
Recent years have not been easy for ‘Sally’. We’ve been pals all our lives: our mums had ‘play dates’ for us when we were tots in nappies. Sally – like me – has celebrated her half-century. We both chased careers. Together we’ve cared for and lost our parents, both becoming ‘orphans’ in the past year. She lives alone in another state. While I didn’t think divorce and raising 2 kids alone was a blessing at the time, it has been: so too opening my heart to The Nice One. I’m blessed to have my family.
I’m blessed also to have had the practice and power of laughter yoga to get me through some really bleak times.
No matter what country we grow up in, no matter what language we speak, laughter is universal.
Whether it’s a chortle, a chuckle, a coo, a gurgle or a full-belly laugh, laughter is part of a baby’s experimentation in making sounds and communicating. It’s as natural as breathing.
And once she discovers how to laugh, she laughs ‘just because’… because it feels good, it sounds good, it’s a fun sound to make.
How is it that we can get so caught up in the seriousness of life, we forget (or lose) something as natural as breathing?
Sadly true. While so many of us yearn to be happier and healthier, depression, negativity and a feeling of isolation prevail.
Simulated laughter exercises as practiced in laughter yoga are known to lift mood, encourage positivity and break down the walls of loneliness.
You don’t have to feel happy. You don’t have to know a joke. You need to give yourself permission to have a go.
Sally’s not ready. Are you? Find a community laughter club anywhere in Australia at this link.
(c) Heather Grant-Campbell aka Heather Joy