The value of laughter

Planning for our monthly newsletters has become an important component of my own self-care, as it offers additional motivation for self-reflection or information seeking that I believe may be helpful to myself and our broader Intentional Therapist community. In consideration of the ongoing COVID-19 challenges and our efforts to encourage a playful approach to self-care, I thought it might be a good time to bring some laughter to our newsletter.

Many of you might already know about the physical, social, and mental health benefits associated with laughter. If you would like to know more, check out this article from positivepsychology.com. 

But did you know that you can bring more laughter into your life in an intentional way, beyond just watching cat videos? The article offers a variety of examples of how to do this, including:

• Find laughter and follow it
• Ask about humorous stories and share them with others
• Make a list of what makes you thankful and happy, which can lead to smiling and laughter
• Spend time with people who have fun and can laugh at themselves
• Create opportunities to laugh and schedule it in
• Don't take yourself too seriously - practice laughing at yourself and your mistakes

In order to get the ball rolling I thought I’d share a couple of humorous moments (including at my own expense!) that continue to make me smile:

I was at the zoo with a friend of mine. While watching the penguins he sneezed, which sent his glasses flying into the penguin enclosure. I can always trust this image to bring a smile to my face!

When I was a young adult, I got all dressed up to go to my first disco/night club (yes, I realize I’m dating myself). As I was leaving the women’s washroom another woman came up to me and said “I believe there’s something wrong with your dress” and pointed to my backside. To my horror, I had tucked my dress into the back of my pantyhose! Thankfully she caught me before I showed my new fashion statement to those outside the women’s washroom!

I hope this inspires you to think back to some of the funny moments in your own life and to make room for more laughter in your daily routine.