Self Care During Grief-The Healing Power of Laughter

Laughter may seem like it's not a self care tool, but I'm here to tell you that it's one of the best self care tools that we can utilize when we're going through grief. Some people have a hard time expressing joy of any type when they're grieving because they feel like it's disrespectful to the person that's passed away, or it somehow means that the person you've lost was not important or meaningful in your life. I just want to dispel that myth and if we think about it, even logically for a minute, whoever it is that you've lost in your life, I'm betting that they would want you to learn how to move on and how to have an amazing full life even in their absence. They would want you to embrace laughter as a means to get back to living.

So let's explore a couple of ways that we can embrace laughter; first step is to be okay with laughing and be open to the idea that you can still have a sense of humor, even though you're going through grief. Understanding that laughter is some of the best natural medicine that you can use. Laughter is more effective than any anti depressant, or any medication that you can take. It actually is a natural remedy to your hormones being imbalanced and all the other effects that come along with grief.

So let's embrace laughter. Put yourself in a position to laugh. Watch funny movies, watch stand up comedians, if there are people in your life that are naturally funny, surround yourself with them.

Did you know that laughter is contagious? So if you get around people who are laughing, you actually are going to catch it just like how people transfer yawns back and forth. You don't even have to necessarily find something funny, if you get in a room of laughing people, chances are you're going to laugh. You can also catch laughter from yourself. That’s right, you can catch your own laughter. Do this experiment with me….find a place all by yourself, and think of anything funny or inspiring to laugh about. You can even fake laugh out loud and that will do the trick . You'll find after just a few seconds that you'll be genuinely laughing at yourself. The silly sound of you fake laughing becomes funny and genuine, real laughter is going to rise up from your belly.

So I want to encourage you every day, to be intentional to try to work laughter into your routine. Just be open to finding things funny. You know, there's a saying that we can either laugh or cry and I want to encourage you to just embrace laughter and receive all of its benefits. It's going to help release endorphins into your system, it's going to help reverse that nasty stress hormone cortisol is going to do a lot of amazing things, not to mention lifting your spirits and helping you emotionally.

For those of you that need a little help getting started, below are some of the cheesiest jokes I could find. Enjoy!

Q:What is an elf’s favorite type of music?

A:Wrap

Q:Why did the yogurt go to the art exhibit?

A: Because it was cultured.

Q: What do you call a fish without eyes?

A:Fsh

Much Love,

Kelli