With so much going on in the world I sometimes wonder about whether it is appropriate to laugh and make jokes. The more I have thought about it, the more I think that we need laughter more than ever right now.
With so much going on in the world I sometimes wonder about whether it is appropriate to laugh and make jokes. The more I have thought about it, the more I think that we need laughter more than ever right now.
Alexander Jewish Family Service Friends –
With so much going on in the world I sometimes wonder about whether it is appropriate to laugh and make jokes. The more I have thought about it, the more I think that we need laughter more than ever right now. The famous actor and comedian John Cleese says:
“Laughter connects you with people. It’s almost impossible to maintain any kind of distance or any sense of social hierarchy when you’re just howling with laughter. Laughter is a force for democracy.”
A while back, a friend of mine told me her cousin was getting certified in Laughter Yoga. At the time, I had never heard of it and started giggling at the concept. Later, I found out it was a real thing. Laughter yoga is a modern exercise involving prolonged voluntary laughter. This type of yoga is based on the belief that voluntary laughter provides similar physiological and psychological benefits as spontaneous laughter. Still skeptical I was surprised to find that a session involving laughter yoga was included in a weekend retreat that I was attending (before COVID of course). I decided that it wasn’t fair to judge something until I give it a try so I signed up for the session. I have to say that at first it felt a little silly to laugh on cue in a class, however, the more the instructor led us through the exercises the more my spirit was lifted. The laughter seemed to be producing a better mood and my laughter started to become more spontaneous.
William James said it this way:
“We don’t laugh because we’re happy, we are happy because we laugh.”
I have come to believe that this is true. There is something wonderful about spontaneous laughter that comes from an unplanned and unpredicted event tickling us in an unexpected way – these moments are wonderful and joyous but we don’t just need to just sit and wait for the next one to occur. We can intentionally bring some joy and laughter into our life every day.
Cathy Fenwick: author, educator, therapist and well-known international speaker says:
“Your body cannot heal without play.
Your mind cannot heal without laughter.
Your soul cannot heal without joy.”
Recently, as I saw friends post pictures of the bluebonnets in bloom I was reminded of the quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson who observed that the:
“Earth laughs in flowers.”
As spring explodes in beautiful colors around us, I hope that you will consider scheduling some time for fun and laughter into your week. When we nourish our souls through laughter and moments of joy we can bring a more open heart to our work with clients and to our relationships with family and friends.
T-T-T-That's all folks!
Carl E. Josehart, MSW (he/him/his)
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