The Benefits Of Laughter and Playing on Purpose

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The benefits of Laughter and Playing on Purpose
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Part 1: The Happiness Factor: Foundations for a Healthy World
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When it comes to improving your health and well-being, one of the best things you can do is have a good laugh! Not only does laughter help to improve the health of your body, it also brings more happiness and joy. In addition, the more you laugh with the people you love, the closer you become and the healthier your relationships can be.

More and more people today are looking for ways to cope with the stresses and strains of everyday life, to find a way to more joyful and vibrant living

Laughter can help you deal with the trials and challenges of your day. When you find a way to laugh in the midst of your problems, you automatically shift towards a more hopeful and optimistic frame of mind and this can be quite contagious.

Compassion, joy, love, and humour are the main ingredients for a healthy heart, mind and soul and the ability to truly celebrate life

So make it your goal to find something to laugh at every day, and to take yourself a little less seriously

Laughter is All in Your Mind
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Researchers have found that, when we laugh “feel good” hormones called endorphins are released in the brain. Laughter has long been considered a great medicine.

Numerous studies have shown that the act of laughing can have important healing effects – including helping to keep the heart healthy, lowering blood sugar levels, and giving the immune system a boost. So, not only does laughter make your heart feel light and happy, it actually improves your health as well!

When you ‘play the clown’ and combine that with the practice of mindfulness you can develop a conversation with the soul and connect with your own strengths, inner wisdom, joy and optimism.

This ‘Clown Focus’ raises the spirits and nourishes your body, through the practice of using your imagination, sense of humour and laughter.

Laugh When Things Are Going Wrong
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It might be fairly easy to laugh and joke on your good days but what about when things aren’t going quite so smoothly?

It is important to actively develop the skill of using humour to deal with stress and apply it as a highly effective coping strategy at times when the going gets tough.

There is a real sense of exhilaration that comes from learning to use your
sense of humour to pull yourself up. One way of accessing this is to get in touch with your Inner Clown

We all have an Inner Clown inside of us waiting to be discovered.
It's a character we can play that gives us permission to be free, to rediscover our childlike spontaneity, creativity and pure delight. It invites us to reconnect to the playful child inside.

Through the years, we lose touch with the brightness of life, our inner spark and things become dark and grey. But the clown helps to rekindle that spark, to restore the color and brightness, to restore our sense of wonder and joy.
It involves stepping outside of your usual way of looking at the world, being curious and intentionally naïve, excited by everything, out to explore and stepping into a world of wonder and delight.

Clown Focus Therapy is a program that enables you to get in touch with your Inner Clown in a way that is both fun and sacred, using the Language of the Soul which often uses compassionate humour and metaphor to communicate to you what you most need to know to live joyfully and in the best of health.

Laughter becomes the focus, to develop an awareness of the ‘bigger’ you which exists beyond all of your problems. From it you can draw inspiration and connection to the happiness that already exists within.

People who can tap into their sense of humour in stressful times have a much greater resilience and are more emotionally flexible in the midst of the difficulties they face. It is a great coping tool and a skill that you can easily learn to develop.

"I would never have made it if I could not have laughed. Laughing lifted me momentarily. . . out of this horrible situation" (Victor Frankl on his experiences in a Concentration camp)

Terry Anderson, held captive in Lebanon for over 6yrs, describes in his book, Den of Lions, how a sense of humour helped him and his fellow prisoners cope.

"Despite everything, it's amazing sometimes how much laughing we do.. .. It's just a relief to be able to laugh at something."

Jokes can help you to take emotional control of the situation

Just imagine what a daily dose of serious attitude does to the quality of your life. It can be seriously stifling and can rob you of the many opportunities for joy that a more upbeat, positive attitude brings.

"Laughter sets the spirit free to move through even the most tragic circumstances. It helps us shake our heads clear, get our feet back under us and restore our sense of balance and purpose. Humour is integral to our peace of mind and ability to go beyond survival." (Captain Gerald Coffee, POW in Vietnam)

Love Yourself for Who You Are
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When you stop taking yourself so seriously you become free to accept yourself as you are, enabling you to release the internal struggle that is taking place inside. As a result, you will actually feel revitalized and energized.
And the happier you are, the more at peace you are with yourself. This results in a continual cycle of positivism, as being happy leads to even more happiness.

After all, continually battling with that internal tug-of-war is physically, mentally, and emotionally draining. When you lay that battle to rest, your body and mind can rest as well.

Exercise your laughter muscles
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Clown Focus Therapy shows how Humour Skills, such as Caricature, or Exaggeration With Compassion, can free you from internal struggle. You learn to step outside of your limiting roles, those ‘parts’ that you believe you should ‘play’ a certain way. Roles such as being a parent, a child, an office employee, or a significant other can often become heavy with expectation and feel suffocating. In order to find true happiness, you need to realize that you are bigger than the roles you take yourself to be. Learn to master them and the emotions they are attached to rather than allowing them to master you

It can help keep your problems in perspective

By bringing your feelings and thoughts out into the spotlight, you can effectively find ways to change your way of thinking and release internal struggle. You become more able to loosen your attachment to the negative feelings or stressful situations and become empowered with more positive choices for yourself.

Bill Cosby once said, "If you can find humour in anything, you can survive it."

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Joy's unique style and teaching comes from 30 years' experience in the field of personal and spiritual growth making use of a wide range of ancient and contemporary techniques blended into an approach and style which she likes to call "Spiritual growth, healing and fun!" This includes dynamic interactive meditation, creative visualisation, energy work, the practice of mindfulness, sacred clowning and inner spiritual adventures.

Her strong belief in the greatness that lies within everyone makes her a fine spiritual journey facilitator and guide as she invites you to dive deep into your essential being to re-emerge celebrating and free. Joy 'dances' with the inner wisdom of her clients through a gentle, yet deep, soul searching experience, to encourage and support an opening on the path of healing and spiritual growth, beyond blockages and pain to true, transformational awakening and joyful vibrant living

http://www.clownfocustherapy.com
http://www.selfgrowth.com/experts/joy_idries.html