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Do you remember the last time you laughed out loud?
Laughter is a powerful antidote to aid in the management of stress, pain, and conflict.
There is nothing that works faster, or can lighten your burden better than laughter. It is one of the most powerful tools you have to support your emotional health, and your daily mood.
Physical benefits
A hearty laugh relaxes the entire body, relieving physical tension and stress, and it leaves your muscles relaxed for almost an hour after.
Laughter releases endorphins, the body’s natural feel-good chemicals. These endorphins promote a sense of wellbeing, and can even help to relieve pain.
Your resistance to disease will increase as you incorporate into your life. It decreases stress hormones and actually increases immune cells and infection-fighting antibodies.
Laughter even protects the heart! It actually improves the function of blood vessels and increases blood flow, which can help protect you against a heart attack and cardiovascular problems.
Humor is really infectious. When you hear the sound of roaring laughter, even if you are not aware of the scenario, you will most certainly smile! The domino effect of laughter triggering laughter triggers those physical changes in the body.
Remember hearing a child laugh wildly as he or she is being tickled….just the sound makes anyone within hearing distance enjoy their day just a little more.
When laughter is shared it always increases happiness. It binds people together is a shared joy. Laughter simply makes you feel good, and the feeling stays with you long after the sound subsides.
Laughter helps you keep a positive and optimistic outlook. It is rather a “mini-vacation” from sadness and pain, and even in very difficult times, laughter can surely help in making you feel better. It stimulates the brain and makes you ready for more fun and relaxation. It stays in the memory and can cause you to smile hours afterwards.
Benefits for optimum mental health
You simply CANNOT feel angry, sad, or anxious when you are honestly laughing. Not the kind of “laughter” you may feel required to do when you are trying to be courteous or join the group. The kind of laughter that comes from your heart is irreplaceable.
You will reduce stress and increase your energy because you are more relaxed. Humor allows you to shift your perspective to see situations in a more realistic way, a less threatening light. This type perspective creates psychological distance, which can help you avoid feeling overwhelmed about the circumstances.
Laughter is innate and it is your right. Though often you may feel there is nothing to laugh about, you can always find humor in life – if you just try! The absurdity of stoic behavior abounds in life. If you focus and allow yourself to picture things in a different way, you will really find there is so much to laugh about; you will want to weave laughter into every day of your life once you feel it’s benefits!
Read a joke book. Go to a comedy club. Rent a movie. Get together with friends. Start laughing today! Practice a positive attitude change through the use of positive humor. Begin to see humor all around you in puns, irony and oxymora.
Remember – “cutting” humor is not really funny. If your words pierce someone’s heart, or if you have to say “Oh, I was just kidding” – it’s probably not humorous, but more in the line of ridicule or words that are harming someone else. Condition your mind to find positive humor and it will surely help manage your stress.
STOP! READ THIS BEFORE DOING ANYTHING ELSE
It doesn’t matter if you are buying into the “black Friday” shopping hysteria, preparing for a trip, having company, or just fighting additional traffic in the stores and on the road. If you are reading this, you must take just three minutes to do this mini-stress management post while reading it. It may save your sanity and save the holiday.
Take a breath right now. Exhale. Remember, when under pressure we stop breathing (at least adequately for good thinking). Our shallow breathing doesn’t provide what we need to kick in optimum thinking for our brain. It furthers tension as muscles and ligaments tighten.
Take another breath, a bit slower, and deeper this time. As you are inhaling, think: I am pulling in oxygen that will help me relax and regenerate with each breath.
Now exhale slowly through the mouth repeating in your mind: I exhale all my worries and know I am doing the best I can.
Crying children, burned pie, dust on the coffee tables, financial woes, and short tempered citizens are all potential holiday “breakers”. Don’t let things get to you. In the long-term scheme of things, these little irritants won’t play into your life but for a nanosecond.
Breathe and think positively. Teach your brain to create those “cell impressions” from which you can empower yourself simply through your thoughts. Ultimately, if you are consistent, your body physiology will be changed for the good.
Stretch your arms high into the air and wiggle your fingers. Roll your wrists one way, and now the opposite direction. Take another deep breath and exhale and release any unforgiving thoughts or hostility. Clasp your hands and stretch to the heavens. Now shake your hands as you bring them down.
Put aside any doubt and release any tendency to “make things work out” or to force an outcome. Open your thoughts and your life to the source of all intelligence and let go of worry.
Worry changes nothing for the better. The only thing worry does is increase in increments, and cause more worry, more problems, and affect us physically in a negative manner.
Sit with lower back pressed to the chair and shoulders down and back. Deep breathe. You are empowering yourself. Exhale. You are making room for more healing oxygen.
Bend your right ear to your right shoulder. Hold for a moment and breathe. Now left ear to you left shoulder. Breathe again slowly.
Spend time on thoughts that are positive and quality and you will draw those things to you. Be mindful of your oxygen intake, and as you exhale send all those negative thoughts into oblivion.
This day is yours – CREATE a beautiful one for yourself and those around you.
THINK before you speak. Take a breath and it will spark your intellect.
Remember words are sharper than any knife and they pierce the heart.
Take THIS opportunity to tell someone you love or appreciate him or her.
Make these moments of value and the worth of your actions will ultimately come back to benefit you! It always works… The things you think and the way you breathe!
The things that you think, and the quality of your oxygen will ultimately become your life and health. YOU ARE IN CHARGE OF WHERE YOU GO FROM HERE.
What is past is past. The future is but a “hope for the best”. The moments you have are now. Make them of value to you and those around you and create beautiful moments in time.
How to Cope
School is on and parents are all handling it differently! Some can hardly wait for school let out for the holidays, to get the children back to the home environment, and be free of replenishing supplies that are necessary; such as the cost of books and school supplies and clothing.
They relish relinquishing the tasks of shuttling children to school activities and sporting events, PTA, helping with homework, and all the parental duties that go along with those who have children in school.
Others are dreading the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. They envision hours in a day with the kids saying: “Mom (or dad), I’m bored.” “I’m hungry.” “Can you take me to my friend’s house?” “It’s too cold to play outside”. “Can I have friends over?
Either way, with children, there will always be stressful scenarios. Scenarios you can succumb to by letting the stress envelop your being, or scenarios you can deal with by managing the stress effectively.
When you begin to feel yourself paralyzed by the “dread” of things to come, do exactly what you are doing right now! Take a moment or two to do something for you! Take a breath. Seriously. A bit of mindful breathing is a great beginning.
Whether it’s reading a quick article, just sitting still for a few moments, or taking an unplanned trip to the store to pick up a few things you need or want!
You are DIVERTING your own attention from this anxiety surrounding “school and children”. Instead of focusing on potential problems in the future, concentrate on something else for the moment.
Diversion is good. The definition, simply put, is “an instant of turning something aside from its course”. We are only capable of thinking about one thing at a time!
This does not suggest that you will never need to think about the challenges you face, but it will give you just a bit of time (while doing one of these activities or something you choose) to take a breath!
When you breathe, your intellect is sharper. When you are stressed out your breathing slows without even knowing it, which in turn stresses you out even further.
This is the bottom line. You will never complete the list of things that need to be done. Something else will always manifest as a potential stressor.
The only time we are done for sure is when we are dead! On going demands will bury you alive though, if you don’t realize that the only way to be in charge is by making the best choices in handling your challenges, and then letting go.
Ninety five percent of all that you spend your life worrying about NEVER COMES TO FRUITION! Honestly! Worrying about not being able to “take care of all that is necessary”, is simply a waste of your time and energy.
Prioritize, delegate, stay in the moment. You know what needs to be done. It is about time you give yourself credit for handling so much already!
Remember life will always give us stress to manage, whether it is good or bad. We may not have the choice in what happens to us, or the demands that challenge us, but we ALWAYS have a choice in the response to these things.
It is not necessary to implode, or explode. Loosing your cool will only worsen the scenario. When you find yourself in the position of having just too much to do, perhaps in too little time, and there is NO WAY to change it, stop for a moment and rethink it!
If you are the person in charge of doing the multitude of tasks that face you, then the only thing you can do is ACCEPT doing what you can, realizing that is the best you can do. RESPOND calmly and do all that you can do. That is all you can do!
Is the list “TO DIE FOR”? Don’t let life’s challenge paralyze you.
The truth is, unless you have someone you can “pass the ball to”, you’d better start using positive affirmations to create those brain cells necessary to take care of business.
Don’t let the negatives overpower you. Take a breath and think:
“I will get things done to the best of my ability.”
“I will take each moment as it comes and remember that I am capable and dedicated to finding resolve to challenges.”
“I will remember that I can only do so much in one day, one hour, one moment.”
“I will remember that my children and all the children whose paths I cross will look to my attitude and demeanor as either horrible or positive, and they will learn from me.”
If you are a person of faith then truly the first thing that should be done is asking for help. Just as your children look to you for help and ask repeatedly for it, pray often! Of course with prayer must come letting go and letting God oversee your needs. That’s faith.
If you do not believe then your only choice is to decide whether you want to let things drive you crazy, or whether you will simply do what you have to do! Affirm your capabilities and breadth of intellect sprinkled with the right amount of emotion.
Get ready whatever may be headed your direction. Stay flexible. Anticipate all the positive things that will enhance your children’s lives, and remember this time is fleeting.
One day soon you will recall the excitement of these days, wishing you could do it all again. Make them calm and joyous. Make your children glad to be alive and excited about it all.
YOU CAN DO IT! Take a breath and rock and roll.
Yes it can!
Everyone knows that laughter feels good. Laughter can make any situation a little more bearable, but did you know it could actually make you healthier?
Children laugh about 400 times a day. Adults only laugh about 15 times a day, and that’s not the majority of adults.
Many of us get so wrapped up in the serious side of our jobs, whether it be in an office, working outside, or parenting. The trouble with that is we simply aren’t laughing enough. When we get so bogged down and serious, our stress levels spiral out of control. Oftentimes we forget there is really still a lighter side to life.
How often do you let yourself laugh? How often to you chuckle or really laugh until it hurts? Not often enough I’d bet!
Laughter is really an all-around health booster. According to “Science of Laughter” on the Discovery Health Web site, when we laugh, natural killer cells, which destroy tumors and viruses, increase.
Not only that, but Gamma-interferon (a disease-fighting protein, T-cells (important for our immune system) and B-cells (which make disease -fighting antibodies) increase too!
Blood pressure lowers with laughter, and you breathe more when laughing, thereby increasing oxygen in the blood. That also encourages healing.
Be aware though, what “some people” call humor is not beneficial. When jokes and laughter turn into jabs towards others, and yourself, you are no longer reaping the benefit of your laughter, and are in fact increasing pain and putting distance between yourself and others.
Healthy humor is a whole body experience comprised of three key components:
1. Laughter, the reflexive and contagious physical experience.
2. Wit, the cognitive experience.
3. Amusement (or mirth), the feel good emotional experience enhanced when shared with others.
When these three elements are part of your “laughter” experience, you can be absolutely sure your body is benefiting.
Laughter really does lower blood pressure. Many tests have shown that those who laugh heartily on a regular basis have lower blood pressure than the average person.
Laughter protects our hearts. Laughter can help prevent heart disease.
The “humor factor” actually changes our biochemical state, similar to what the “flight or fight” syndrome does – only laughter changes are good. It decreases stress hormones and increases infection-fighting antibodies. It makes us more attentive, and increases the heart rate and pulse.
Laughter is a great workout for your diaphragm, abdominal, respiratory, facial, leg, and back muscles. It actually gives us a good workout. It massages abdominal organs, tones the intestinal functioning, and strengthens muscles that hold abdominal organs in place. A hearty laugh can burn calories equivalent to several minutes on the rowing machine or an exercise bike.
Humor does improve brain function, which in turn helps relieve stress. It stimulates both sides of the brain to enhance our intellect and learning. It eases psychological stress and allows people to retain more information.
When we laugh our ability to connect with others improves. Humor helps us to replace negative emotions with good feelings.
When humor enters it changes our behavior. We talk more, make more direct eyes contact with others, our energy increases, and simply put, it makes us feel better
Look for everyday humor. There is humor to be found! There are things constantly around us that can incite humor if we let them. Honestly, you can find silly things happening around you every day.
Look at children. They can find humor in anything! Surround yourself with positive people. Take a humor break and pick up a book of jokes to read. When you start to feel pressured, pick the book up and read a few jokes.
I remember a time years ago that I went to the beach with friends. Trying to impress the guys, I attached a long ponytail to my own hair. I looked hot!
When asked to play volleyball I said, “Of course.” I had a hundred pins holding the darn thing in. We played for a few minutes and then my ponytail fell off!
Everyone looked shocked and I simply said “Time out”, and I set it by the sidelines and kept playing. No one laughed or mentioned it, and the game continued. I played hard and our team won.
When over, I put the hairpiece in my purse and my friend and I went back to the house. Once the door was closed we burst into laughter and fell down on the floor and laughed until our sides hurt. I’m still smiling.
Rather than suffer humiliation or embarrassment, I chose to ignore the stress, and just keep going. It was the best thing I possibly could have done.
Remember, this is your life! Don’t forget to have fun. Enjoy your life. Take a breath and take heart. It will work out easier if you remember to laugh!
Smile now. The good times are closer than you think.
Good day! Let’s begin with a “mini-relaxation” right now, right here at the desk. It will give you a boost no matter what time of day it is! You deserve one minute, don’t you?
Sit with your shoulders down and relax, but lift your neck to separate the vertebra and discs. Press your low back into your chair, which in turn will help both the abdominals and back, open the chest area by sitting just a bit straighter.
Now take a breath in through the nose slowly, think about all it WILL do for you mentally and physically. When you exhale (through the mouth) remember this purging breath will empty the carbon dioxide making room for more oxygen, and it CAN be a house cleaning breath to shoot the negative out the fingertips into oblivion. That’s a great thing to do for managing stress.
Take another mindful breath slowly. Think about it working in your body and mind. Now exhale slowly and purge the negative out. You are in charge of your mind. Now your oxygenated brain can use that finely tuned intellect to absorb what you need to retain from the balance of today’s information.
You’ve heard the old adage, “Speak before you think”. There is so much more wisdom in these four words that we often understand. Perhaps an even more productive saying could be “Breathe before you speak”.
Often times when we are under duress, and faced with a difficult scenario, we speak before we actually gather our thoughts together.
When in difficult situations, perhaps facing a screaming combatant, we will actually within draw by holding our breaths. Think about it. In turn our muscle, tendons and ligaments begin to tighten.
Instinctively we are preparing for the “fight or flight” syndrome and our stance becomes that of preparing for defense. By unconsciously holding our breath we cut off our needed oxygen supply to make a more rational decision. Our brains need fifty percent more oxygen to think optimally.
We need to put aside any doubt and release any tendency to “make things work out” or to force an outcome.
There is unlimited abundant energy and you direct whether it be positive or negative. Refuse to be negative and affirm, “I am getting better.” No matter how you feel at the time, whether you believe it or not, your positive affirmation makes the statement true.
As you speak these words, the body responds with positive energy, growing and healing. You will create brain cell impressions that reinforce your words.
If you do this expect an attitude of rejuvenation and be grateful for possibilities other wise not known.
We often become “compelled” and then “consumed”, hurrying through life. Compel yourself to seek peace and healing, and be consumed by those things.
Compel yourself to seek better responses to stresses. Don’t give your power away by reacting to someone else’s emotions. Don’t be stripped of your joy in daily life.
Begin to form new habits. Be compelled and consumed by thoughts that will aid your peace and healing process.
The things that you think, and the quality of your oxygen, will ultimately become your life and health.
YOU ARE IN CHARGE OF WHERE YOU GO FROM HERE.
Breathe and think positively. Teach your brain to create those “cell impressions” from which you can empower yourself simply through your thoughts, and therein ultimately your body physiology will be changed for the good.
As you speak the words the body responds with positive energy growing. You will create brain cell impressions that will reinforce your words, and your words, chosen carefully, will help to heal your own body.
Scientists are now proving that “the ability of mere thought to alter the physical structure and function of our gray matter” is NOT just an idea posed by those who participate in visualizations and meditations.
Mental practice resulted (as seen in a series of tests) in the reorganization of the brain. The scientists also discovered that mental training had the power to change the physical structure of the brain. How cool is that!
So now we know that scientists concur with those of us who participate in mind training (such as visualizations and meditations) to be used to enhance our lives. At all ages the brain retains the ability to change its structure and function in response to thought and / or experience.
Renew your mind, create new brain cells, and heal your heart and every fiber of your body. Practice using the two options mentioned earlier in this article, and begin to rejuvenate your life.
Breathe and think. Think and speak. Be clear. Do not let stressful obstructions or hindrances darken your day. No matter what the situation is (like it or not) you always have the choice in your response.
Sometimes a problem may seem to take on a life of it’s own whispering into your ears. If something is worrisome shrink the problem to nothingness by commanding your mind to focus on the good in your life and not that perception of desperation so many cling to.
Ninety-nine of all we worry about never comes to being. It is a fact. Let it go the quality of your oxygen, the things that you think about and the words that you use will ultimately become your life and your health. I repeat: You are in charge of where you go from here.
Let’s luxuriate for another minute! Begin to repeat our personal healing minute. Sit with your shoulders down and relaxed, but lift your neck to separate the vertebra and discs. Press your low back into your chain, which in turn will help both the abdominals and back, open the chest area by sitting just a bit straighter.
Now take a breath in through the nose slowly, think about all it WILL do for you mentally and physically. When you exhale (through the mouth) remember this purging breath will empty the carbon dioxide making room for more oxygen, and it is a way to shoot the negative out the fingertips into oblivion.
Inhale deeply again, please. Now exhale slowly.
You know you can do this throughout the day and it will be your secret weapon in the conquest of really managing stress.
Now your oxygenated brain and body can use that finer intellect to bring forth better choices in words and deeds. Create a wonderful day for yourself and others. Start an epidemic of smiles!
After studying and teaching stress management for over thirty years, I have some simple but life altering techniques, observations and realizations
We all have the power to transform the natural stress that comes from living into energy capable of improving our physical and spiritual health.
Secret number one is that the essence of life is transformation. These simple words hold the key for changing your life for the better. Join me in transformation and see if it isn’t so. These are thoughts for the day that can transform your life and the lives of others.
Cherish your pets and the lives of all animals. They are gifts to us and can be dear friends.
When someone asks for a donation, try to give with whatever you can – So many people have been left homeless-and we are not their judges; just their brothers and sisters.
Breathe deeply and mindfully. Do it againJ
Remember to look for all those blessings we take for granted. The breeze in the trees, the sound of singing birds, the laughter of a child, these are all blessings we can enjoy!
Take a walk. Crunch leaves as they begin to fall from the trees. Watch the changing colors…it’s AWESOME. Love!
Humble beginnings or wealth from the start, what truly matters are things of the heart.
Take your family for a walk, or just do something spontaneous for fun together. Love deeply.
Don’t keep yourself in a prison. Take a break from your electronics and refresh the memory of talking to a real human, or sitting in the sunshine!
Take a breath. Stretch. Smile.
Say a prayer kneeling, with head bent and a humble heart and God will tend to your needs.
Make a point of actually playing with your children while they are small. Catch a fish, catch a ball, and catch precious moments. We are only here for one short period of time.
Watch the sun rise as darkness lifts, watch the sunset. How many times have you left to see the stars at night or revel in the full moon? Not enough in a lifetime for me.
If you can’t leave – take a mental vacation. Even if it’s just for a minute or two, visualize a favorite place. Listen to the sounds of nature. Take a breath and use your mind to renew your zest for life.
Cherish the earth. It is our home.
Cherish your body. It is the only place your Spirit has to live!
Don’t let the sour expressions or negative attitudes of people affect your day.
It is a choice.
Let your light shine through and be grateful for small miracles. Start a cycle of sharing smiles and positive thoughts.
Every single thought listed on this post is a form of stress management! Our thoughts guide our actions. Our actions build our lives. Make them “right” thoughts and “thoughtful” actions.