I like to do some weird things. Here and here are some examples.
In this one, we get a bit more strange.
You may have heard about something called Laughing Yoga, where people force laughter in hopes that it spurs genuine laughter.
I like this concept, so the other day I created my own “laughing meditation”. A game I can practice with myself to laugh and have fun for five minutes out of the day.
Here’s how I do it:
I take all of the vowels, a,e,i,o,u — and then I will laugh with all of them for 5–10 times a piece. I will put on a timer and do this for five minutes.
ex) Hahahahaha, hehehehehe,hihihihihi,hohohohoho,huhuhuhuhu>repeat…if you can
I can rarely get to hoho before I start genuinely breaking out into laughter. Before long I’ll be creating muahahas and laughing in strange high pitched noises. I’ll lose the exercise and start freestyling laugher in a beautiful way.
I do this all by myself as well. Alone, in my room, with no one around me. I sometimes feel insane, but it’s hard to give a shit when you’re crying from laughter and didn’t even watch anything funny.
You feel like you’re crazy while doing it, but it’s SO MUCH FUN. Personally, the thought of knowing how insane it is, is enough to make me giggle.
Here’s an example:
Why do I do this?
For one, it’s fun. I also like to think that it makes me a happier person.
Laughing like this, I would assume although I can’t prove it (or dig up the studies on my own), spikes your dopamine and serotonin levels. You get a rush of endorphins that make you feel 10000x better than your normal self.
It’s also a great exercise if you’re stressed, in a bad mood, or just feel like you haven’t laughed enough today.
I like to think that it helps us get in touch with our inner child. To help find the part of yourself that was silly and goofy as a kid who loved to do these types of games, and jumped into them with enthusiasm.
Unfortunately, most of us have lost this side of ourselves. Over time we became serious about our jobs and our future, convinced that we need to be “mature”.
With maturity we lost the enthusiasm to try exercises like this. Now, we just look at things like this as “stupid”, “waste of time”, “strange” and “werid”.
I’ll give you that. These definitely are weird, but also have the ability to impact our lives in a positive way…if you’re open to it.
Thoughts? Similar experiences? Let me know in the comments below!
Also published on Medium.
