So my job,
As I see it in this moment,
Is to have you feeling better than you do right now by the end of this meditation.
Game plan?
Okay,
First,
Notice how you feel right now,
Because it's going to change.
We're going to be checking in several times just to keep track of what's changing.
Anything tight,
Tired,
Energized,
Comfortable,
Maybe interested or excited,
Just notice.
How are you feeling right now?
Now,
If your eyes aren't closed,
Close them.
And I want you to now imagine a time when you laughed so hard it hurt.
A time when you laughed so hard you squealed,
Please stop it.
A time when you laughed so hard maybe you snorted in front of everyone and you couldn't get your breath.
Now,
Remember how that felt?
Do you remember how you felt afterwards?
Did you know that a good laugh will physically create a global relaxation in the body that lasts at least 45 minutes after you're done laughing?
Laughter also helps keep you from getting sick.
It strengthens your immune system.
And it also helps you sleep better.
Ever have trouble falling asleep when you want to?
Laughter helps.
Kind of makes you want to laugh,
Doesn't it?
Okay,
So let's do a little 10-second exercise I call the three-bounce chuckle that mimics the end of a big laugh,
Kind of like the one we just imagined,
But it's simple and easy.
It's actually a diaphragmatic exercise,
But it's kind of fun.
And it also tends to lead to real laughter because it sounds funny.
And it's something you can do at any point in your day.
So it goes like this.
You make a big,
Huge,
Fake smile so that you can see teeth.
You're not having to think of anything funny.
Just hold the big,
Fake smile.
Breathe all the air out.
And then at the end,
Squeeze out what I call three-bounce chuckle.
This is where we mock the end of a big laugh,
Like when you have no air.
And by the way,
That's part of the power of this.
We rarely get to that point in our day.
But by squeezing out the air,
It activates and accesses a whole system of well-being in the body.
And then you squeeze out the three-bounce chuckle,
After which you will need to gasp in air if you did it right.
Squeezing out all the air is key to this exercise,
And I will now do it so you can hear it and hear how silly it is.
It goes like this.
I have a big smile.
Yeah,
It's an interesting sound as you're squeezing that out.
So try it with me now.
Big teeth smile,
Squeeze all the air out,
And then squeeze out whatever your three-bounce chuckle sounds like.
And you might have two bounces or four bounces,
But just give it a shot.
Okay,
Do it again.
Oh,
Okay.
Whether you did it with me or you're just listening,
Take a moment now and just notice how you're feeling.
And if you did that with me,
Do you feel warm,
Pleasant energy,
Maybe in your face,
Hands,
Arms,
Front of the chest?
That's endorphins.
Endorphins are feel-good hormones.
That's what we get after working out.
It's nature's euphoria.
And yes,
It is available in 10 seconds.
And just imagine if you laughed for 30 seconds,
You get three times more.
Now,
Keep feeling that as I tell you that laughter also stops cortisol,
The stress hormone,
On a dime.
Cortisol is what makes you feel really icky and tense and anxious,
Making it harder to focus and get work done.
So laughter cannot only stop cortisol,
But it replaces it with euphoria.
Good deal?
I think so.
Let's try it again.
We'll do the three-bounce chuckle,
And then you'll notice I laugh always afterwards because the sound of it sounds like a comical cat.
So we'll do a three-bounce chuckle,
And if you go into laughter,
Go ahead,
Go into laughter.
If you're laughing at the sound of my voice,
Do that.
Or you can just keep doing the three-bounce chuckle over and over again,
And you get all the same results of laughter.
Here we go.
And if you've been laughing with me,
Now we'll take a big breath in with a big sigh out on sound.
Once you start laughing,
It gets hard to stop.
Again,
Big sigh out on sound.
By the way,
If kids are around,
They love this.
Now notice what you feel in the body.
Lots of vibration,
Lots of endorphins.
And let me tell you,
I am a mindfulness meditation and body language coach,
And I was surprised to discover that the benefits you get from deep meditation in the brain,
You get from a good laugh.
Mm-hmm.
It's called gamma waves.
They help you focus and perform at a high level.
It's what we commonly call being in the zone or being in a flow state.
So that,
For example,
When you have too much to do,
You're feeling stressed,
You are better able to handle all of it with efficiency and grace.
Laughter helps you get that.
Okay,
Another three-bounce chuckle.
Here we go.
Even if you just do that once,
It can shift your mood.
So let's try it again.
Here we go.
Laughter.
Okay,
Now how are you feeling?
How do you feel in the body now?
You might have more than just endorphins.
You might have some positive emotions in the body.
You might feel joy.
So endorphins help you feel good.
They also help you get focused.
And they also give you energy.
Think about that.
This can be better than a cup of coffee.
Coffee can help contribute to feeling more stressed.
Laughter does the opposite.
So you not only get less cortisol,
More energy,
Focus,
It lowers your blood pressure,
It strengthens your immune system,
Which I already mentioned.
It lowers blood sugar levels and type 2 diabetes.
Laughter also increases good cholesterol levels.
It increases pain tolerance,
Meaning when you have pain,
It doesn't feel like it's much of a problem.
And it's also good for your heart.
It helps blood vessels function better.
And as I mentioned,
It helps you sleep better.
That's worth repeating.
And yes,
A fake laughter has the same results that I just listed as real laughter.
Okay,
Try it one more time.
Here we go.
Let's do it again.
The three bounce chuckle.
Laughter Okay.
All right.
How are you feeling?
So take a moment to reflect on how this made you feel and start to think of how you can incorporate this into your daily routine going forward.
What if you did this before getting out of your car?
What if before you walked in the door getting home from work at night,
You did a three bounce chuckle?
What if you did it before a meeting?
Just a three bounce chuckle.
So just think of where in your day this might be helpful.
Maybe a time in your day when you're tired and you can't take a nap and you don't want to drink coffee.
Perfect.
Add a little laugh break.
And just remember,
Laughter is free.
It's always available.
It has no calories and it makes you feel better.
Come on.
What's not to like?
Apply liberally.
And now we're going to do a short laugh for the road.
Okay,
Here we go.
Have a beautiful day or evening.
Feel the flow and allow it to spread and shift your thoughts and feelings into a good place.
