"People rarely succeed unless they have fun in what they are doing." Dale Carnegie The title of this article is not mine; I read it somewhere, and it read true to me. In both my NLP coaching practice and Body Stress Release practice I advocate the importance of having (more) fun in life. Not only does having fun create a lighter environment to -thereby- do things more effectively and successfully in, it also has scientifically proven health benefits. A recent study by the University of Maryland Medical Centre found that people with heart disease were 40% less likely to laugh in a variety of situations compared to people of about the same age and no heart disease. They also found that watching a funny movie boosts the flow of blood to the heart in the same way aerobic exercise does! Moreover, a good laugh massages the abdominal organs, strengthens the muscles that hold them in place, and tones the intestinal functioning. It also benefits digestion and absorption of food. Furthermore, it is estimated that several minutes of laughter can burn calories equivalent to as many minutes on a cross trainer or exercise bike! Now whether these findings are cold hard data or not, the whole idea of laughter being beneficial to us health-wise and achievement-wise makes complete sense to me. I always put a lot of emphasis on how we are feeling to assess our progress in life or within our bodies. If you feel good, you will attract out of the quantum universe that which will make you feel even better. Whether it is business success or personal and health success, feeling good makes you vibrate highly, thereby attracting matching vibrations. It literally gets your spirits up! So why wouldn't you do all the easy things that are out there that will actually make you feel good, such as watching a good comedy movie every week, or having a good old belly wobble with friends? It is the easy way to success, believe me! Here are a couple of things you can do to add more laughter to your life: 1) identify what makes you laugh and actively look for those situations. Your brain will actually help you find it when you decide to focus on more fun and games! 2) watch at least one funny movie per week, and play funny cds or tapes in the car while driving to work (excellent way to get over morning moods!). 3) make fun of what you actually fear. See the comic side in your fearful thoughts, exaggerate them and make them ridiculous. 4) Act silly and make other people laugh; that will get you sniggering too. 5) Have a roll on the floor with your kids or your dog. Or try a pillow fight. 6) Take some laughing yoga classes; theyll get you cracking up. 7) Laugh at yourself each and every day. If you can make the problems you face funny, or at least see them in a different light, they will probably cease being a problem. It is so simple to add some more fun and joy to our lives, it is not even funny (or rather, it is). It is our conditioned thoughts that make us think that life has to be serious. One of the reasons why I got out of law was because it is so not funny. The real laughs were with my colleagues, not as much with my clients. Nowadays I laugh with nearly every client! A rather substantial improvement. I encourage you to find more laughables each day! Ill end with this quote; it is from Swami Beyondananda, quite a funny guy: "Whatever it is you desire to do, NOW is the time to do it because it's too late to do it sooner." Go well, feel well, and be well. Marc de Bruin
Landmarc Coaching & Health Solutions |
