August 2010
“THIS IS FOR YOU, DADDY”
My dad was a tool and die salesman, and as such he was the master when it came to jokes and working with people. He never met a stranger. He paid attention to the details revealed in a conversation – to the point of remembering special dates or anniversaries. He used humor to break the ice in a meeting, working the energy to his advantage. His sense of humor spilled over to home life. I would announce: “Dad I’m going to Shelley’s! Try not to miss me too much while I’m gone!” “Hell no, Jen. I’m not that bad of a shot!” would be his common reply. Or, his favorite answer to where he was going: “to hell eventually, honey, but right now I’m going to the hardware store.” I didn’t realize the value of the incessant Henny Youngman one-liners until now. Laughter truly heals.
In 1979 Norman Cousins published his book touting laughter to being the best medicine. Today’s science continues to corroborate this finding. By reducing the stress hormones of cortisone and adrenaline, laughter lowers blood pressure, lowers blood sugar, and improves immunity. A study on diabetics and laughter found that their blood sugars rise more slowly when a meal is ingested at a comedy show vs. the same meal in a normal setting. A hundred good belly laughs is equal to 30 minutes of exercise. Laboratory studies have also found the converse to be true: that stress kills. HIV patients under duress have poorer CD4 count and function. Also more heart attacks occur on Monday morning between 6-10am than any other time of the week.
All of these observations of how laughter can heal make perfect sense when one considers that thoughts are chemical messages. These messages cross the blood brain barrier and enter the blood circulation, allowing for far and wide consequences of one’s cerebrations.
What I would like to do is to break the word ‘laugh’ down further and show on another level how it works metaphysically. When there is true laughter at someone’s foible or something such as a cat being amused by the flow of water in a toilet, a child doing something silly, or even a humorous moment regarding a social faux pas there exists a moment in space and time during which all judgment is suspended. In a room of chuckling folk there is no laughing only by the whites, or by the Jews, or by the poor. If a child in a waiting area at a doctor’s office says or does something funny everyone is cackling and there exists a moment of bonding, of oneness within that group. There is a love of life and of one another as everyone revisits how the child did that stunt. There is a moment of unconditional love for all involved. In that moment of unconditional love healing begins. This very phenomenon begets my analysis of the word ‘laugh’: Loving All Unconditionally Gives Healing.
Nice concept, not easy to accomplish. We are conditioned in the US to “fight” for freedom, against drugs, against crime, against the scale. (Damn that thing anyway)! We have a war on this, that, and the other thing. Want to watch your life insurance premium drop? Drive in Dallas at rush hour! Good grief there are some angry people!!
So what I propose as a solution to blocks in love are some mantras. Again mantras work with energy; they do not require one to change their religious faith. Anger, hate, fear, and love are all emotions. Emotions are energy. Energy cannot be created nor destroyed but it can be changed from one form to another. Here we go!!
Aham prema……I am Divine Love. If we reconnect with our inner “God spark” we make our inner light shine more brightly. Where there is light, darkness cannot exist. Instead of looking at disgust at a ‘gang banger’ we can smile and know that they need love too.
Shante Prashante Sarva Krodha Upashamani Swaha…Peace, Supreme peace. Please remove this anger from me and return it to me in an energy form that serves my higher good. I love this one. Oh to deal with a former spouse!! ‘I never forgave you for what you did eight years ago!!’ Blah, blah, blah. After my remark that it must take a lot of work to stay that riled up, I walked away and muttered my mantra. Years ago I would’ve gone toe to toe into the wee hours of the night arguing. Why waste my life force? Now when we fight I say talk with you later, and I work my mantra. Amazing how the wrinkles go.
And finally the caveat to the one above: Shante Prashante Sarva Bhaya Upashamani Swaha. Same essence but this time we are transforming fear. Oh that is a biggie!! How many of us stay in a dead end relationship out of fear? Fear of the unknown, fear of losing cash, fear of what the kids will think, fear of what family will think—fear immobilizes!! It keeps life’s opportunities at bay. As for the kids, I promise you they are happier if you are happier. Talk about learning about life and relationships from a twelve year old. My daughter is amazing. How blessed I am.
Use the power of sound and mantra to transform the random negative thoughts that come in and allow love to reign. When you go to the grocery store tell a joke or say something witty to the cashier. Have a good laugh. And remember my acronym LAUGH: Loving All Unconditionally Gives Healing.
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