How My Laugh Came Back to Me in the Middle of Stress

This past week was a test of "walking what I talk" around laughter yoga. I experienced significant challenges on many fronts - in two of my closest relationships, transportation, finances and work. STRESS ensued.

Because I laugh alot, my attention is more in the moment and I honestly don't stress out much. But when all of these intense challenges happened within 24 hours, did this laughter yoga teacher go ha-ha-ing off to breathe, laugh and smile? Nope. I knew it would surely help. I just wasn't up to it. 

Ironically, at the same time, I was finishing up the advertising for the next laughter yoga event, all about stress relief and how chronic stress is optional when we make a practice of laughing. I wondered how that "theme" was going to be real for me this week?  

You know the phrase, "The more you laugh, the more you laugh"? Here's another observation: The more you laugh, the easier it is to access your laughter when things get stressful. 

Jeffrey Briar, one of my laughter heroes, reported in Yoga Journal that he could laugh himself out of stress in 20 seconds. He's also been leading laughter yoga since 2005 and started a laughter club that meets on the beach daily. That's alot of regular laughter!

My laughter caught me by surprise in the midst of my stress. Jon (my sweetie who is also a laughter yoga teacher), is fascinated by the many uses for milk crates. He gets them for free at work, so has many. So far, he's created a lake fountain, a tiered composting bin, step stools, boat trailer props - the list goes on. This week when Jon and I were reviewing our stressful situations, he also enthusiastically reported a new use for milk crates to help our latest exercise endeavor. I spontaneously busted a gut laughing about it.

That wasn't the end of my stress but it was the beginning of me laughing with it. I found out how the "laugh for stress relief" theme was real for me this week. Even though I was cringing with stress, I could also easily access my hearty laughter from years of practicing laughter yoga. THEN I was able to employ a few laughter techniques I know to help relieve stress. 

One of my favorite mood-boosting tricks comes from research about smiling. You can easily "force" a smile if needed. Here's how: put a pen between your upper & lower teeth, push it back into your jaw, and hold it there for two minutes. Like laughter, your brain doesn't know the difference between a real and "intentional" smile, so you get all of the mood changes as if you'd really been smiling non-stop for 2 minutes. Try it!

Most of my challenges are still there. However, they are no longer causing my body to release stress hormones, my mood to be "fight or flight", my relationships to center around the past, and my perception of the world to be bleak. 

Shameless plug: Come loosen the grip of stress! March 15th - a FREE laughter yoga session about stress relief. You'll learn a few stress-busting tricks, laugh alot and maybe have some soothing hot tea. Click here for information!