Some of you have read about my dear friend Leah, mother of 5, who was recently diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Leah has been doing every treatment/therapy under the sun (painting therapy, energy healing, diet intervention, guided meditation, tinctures, chemotherapy, etc.) and is doing remarkably well. Just last week I went to spend a couple of days with her and a woman came over to facilitate a laughter yoga session. I did not realize that laughter has incredible healing properties, including; releasing stress which strengthens your immune system, strengthening and massaging your core muscles, oxygen intake through the inhalation and exhalation, etc. The class consisted of different exercises meant to inspire laughter. We laughed and laughed until we cried. After the class I felt exhilarated (and a little light headed) and Leah felt great too.
So, of course, I thought of YOU and the importance of using laughter as a way to manage and deal with the challenging times you might have with your special child. I have worked with parents that tell me that laughter is their main coping mechanism when they come home to find all the canned food in the pantry lined up in rows around the house (can you relate?!). And so, here are:
3 strategies in using laughter to relieve stress/regain perspective and help you deal with challenging times
*Surround yourself with people who make you laugh. This is HUGE. Invite and keep people in your life who laugh easily and make you laugh. Use these friends as a resource – the more people like this you have in your life the more easily laughter will seep in!
*Set up ‘laughter sessions’ in your daily life. This can be coupled with creating time just for YOU that I have written about in previous blogs. Use this time to watch some of your favorite comedies or clips from stand up comedians. You can even have a friend make you a good collection and watch a little bit each day. Here is one funny clip from a ‘Friends” episode to get you started (I had a good laugh):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOme6ef747U
*Decide to laugh. What? Decide to laugh? Yup. Decide to search for the little and funny things that happen each day (like when my 5 year old was eating a cucumber and painting with a brush and stuck the cucumber in the water and the brush in his mouth!). You will be surprised how many funny things happen like that each day. Take this moment and milk it- laugh, even it it feels forced at first. Sometimes in laughter you have to fake it until you make it- so go for it and egg yourself on.
Laughter is key in dealing with challenging situations. This is one reason why I am so excited to reveal my upcoming FREE teleseminar. SAVE THE DATE for this teleseminar, titled: