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Laughter is Free

Laughter is free, legal, has no calories, no cholesterol, no preservatives, no artificial ingredients and is absolutely safe. (Dale Irvin)

A chuckle a day may not keep the doctor away but it sure makes those times in life’s waiting room a little more bearable. (Anne Wilson Schaef)

Laughter is the opposite of stress. Stress and laughter are reactions to things not going the way as we think they should be going.

3 exercises to try:
1. Sit in rigid chair and grab the edges of the chair as tight as you can. Make the body tensed—chest, shoulders, arms, legs, neck and face. Now holding the body tensioned, laugh out loud. Could you maintain that tension in your body and laugh at the same time? You either held the tension and didn’t laugh or you had to let go of the tension in order to laugh. Next time you feel yourself tensing up because of stress, take a laughter break. Just allow yourself to laugh out loud even if for a few seconds because it will break your tension and hopefully help you to refocus yourself.

2. JUST LAUGHING ACTIVITY (Just start laughing and have each staff member share their laugh. When all have shared, have everyone laugh out loud for one solid minute.

3. ADDING A LAUGH: Starting with the first staff have that staff give one ‘ha.’ The second staff adds ‘haha.’ The third staff adds ‘hahaha.’ This continues as each staff member adds a ‘ha’ to the count.

Other IDEAS:
• Keeping a cartoon book on top of your desk in the office to lift you up whenever you have a moment of “down time.”
• Being intentional about writing at least three things that make you laugh each week in your ‘Laughter Log.’
• Spending at least one hour a week with one of your friends with whom you laugh a lot.

BE FUNNY:
1. BILL YOUR DOCTOR FOR TIME SPENT IN THE WAITING ROOM.
2. WRITE A SHORT STORY USING ALPHABET SOUP.
3. DRIVE TO WORK IN REVERSE.
4. PAY YOUR ELECTRIC BILL IN PENNIES
5. FILL OUT YOUR TAXFORM IN ROMAN NUMERALS.
6. ‘POP’ POPCORN WITHOUT PUTTING THE LID ON.
7. REPLACE THE FILLING OF A TWINKLE WITH KETCHUP AND PUT IT BACK IN THE WRAPPER.

Yes, ‘laughter is good for the soul.’

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