healing laughter

onamatopoeia.wordpress.com

"i know why we laugh. we laugh because it hurts, and it's the only thing to make it stop hurting." - Robert Heinlein

there is a time and a place for laughter ... and it is everywhere. 

think about it ... think about the laughter at a funeral that breaks the tension, that lifts your heart, and actually relaxes you. 

peterblueberry.blogspot.com

but what is laughter? 

"Under certain conditions, our bodies perform what the Encyclopedia Britannica describes as "rhythmic, vocalized, expiratory and involuntary actions" -- better known as laughter. Fifteen facial muscles contract and stimulation of the zygomatic major muscle (the main lifting mechanism of your upper lip) occurs. Meanwhile, the respiratory system is upset by the epiglottis half-closing the larynx, so that air intake occurs irregularly, making you gasp. In extreme circumstances, the tear ducts are activated, so that while the mouth is opening and closing and the struggle for oxygen intake continues, the face becomes moist and often red (or purple). The noises that usually accompany this bizarre behavior range from sedate giggles to boisterous guffaws." How Stuff Works

sometimes when i am at my lowest, i am looking for compassion and love and commissary ... but what i sometimes get, and often need, is a joke or a smart-ass remark that snaps me out of my lowest low. 

www.integralhmc.org 

"laughter is the shorest distance between two people." - Victor Borge

there was a day that i was going to a really scary appointment. i was in the car and was paralyzed in fear. i literally could not get out of the car. i reached out, hoping for some encouraging words, some understanding ... what i got was the best text ever that said "try the door." i started laughing, and i was able to open the door and go inside the office building. 

"there is a thin line that separates laughter and pain, comedy and tragedy, humour and hurt" - Erma Bombeck

laughter is my favourite way to deal with stress. i can cry, i can be serious, i can face my problems. but i can also laugh about them. radical t calls me her "favourite headcase" which makes me giggle. 

ourjourneytoanewnormal.blogspot.com 

yesterday i was told that i was a good egg, but a scrambled egg. 

laughter has a place in therapy, in the classroom, in your friendships, in your family, in your relationships, and in your household. laughter is what makes living bearable. laughing is what gets us through the difficult times. laughter is healing. 

"sometimes crying or laughing are the only options left, and laughing feels better right now. - Veronica Roth

there are times when things are so intense that only a good laugh can release the tension. sometimes, given the choice between laughing and crying, laughter wins out. and sometimes both happen at the same time. 

"laughter and tears are both responses to frustration and exhaustion. i myself prefer to laugh, since there is less cleaning to do afterward." - Kurt Vonnegut

nurkose.net

if you haven't laughed today, watch something funny, or phone a friend who makes you laugh. it really does lighten your heart and make you feel good, no matter how hard things are. 

be kind to yourself, (and laugh!!)


xoxo

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