Laugh More. SERIOUSLY!

Meditation gets all the good PR. We’re told to breathe, center ourselves, become present, quiet the mind. All valuable. But nobody talks nearly enough about the restorative power of laughing so hard you can barely even catch your breath.

The truth is, laughter has always been one of my favorite activities. Ever since I was a kid, I’ve loved to laugh. Even more, I’ve loved making other people laugh.

There was actually a brief period in my life when I was encouraged to become a comedian. Very brief. Turns out I can’t be funny on cue. 

But laughter has remained a constant. I love funny people. I love wit. I love absurdity. British humor has always been a particular favorite, although my tastes are hardly limited to the Brits. And whenever I’ve found myself heading down one of those mental rabbit holes we all know too well, humor has often been my way out.

Give me something that makes me really laugh and, at least for a moment, the loop is broken.

Lately, though, I’ve noticed something different. I’m craving more laughter in my life. Not more comedy. More laughter. There is a difference.

We can watch something funny and be amused. We can appreciate a clever line. We can smile at something someone sends us and move on. But a real laugh is something else entirely.

It takes over your body. You lose control. You can't think about the email you need to answer or the thing someone said yesterday or what you're going to do about whatever you've decided needs doing.

For those few moments, you're just laughing.

Only this week, laughter has somehow worked its way into my morning routine.

My morning is hardly a model of contemplative living. I read my emails. Feed the cat. Have my mushroom coffee. Play Wordle, Connections and Spelling Bee.

Then, before I start working, I've begun giving myself a few minutes to laugh.

Often that means Instagram clips from The Graham Norton Show, I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue or Would I Lie to You? Sometimes it's something completely different. The source doesn't really matter...the laugh does. And I've noticed that when I find something that makes me genuinely laugh out loud, it does something to me.

It's cleansing, yes. But it's more than that. A great laugh puts me completely in the present.

For those few moments, there's no yesterday, no later today, no list of things waiting to be done. There's only whatever has me laughing. And somehow, when the laughter stops, a little of that stays with me, and sets the tone for the rest of my day.

Which brings me back to meditation. Meditation asks us to quiet the mind and find the present. Laughter doesn't ask…it takes us there.

One asks us to pay attention to our breathing.

The other, if we're lucky, leaves us unable to breathe (in a good way!)

Maybe we've made the pursuit of well-being a little too serious.

We make time to exercise. We meditate. We journal. We practice gratitude. We download apps to remind us to breathe.

But laughter?

We tend to leave that to chance.

Why?

Why shouldn't we deliberately seek out the people, places and things that make us laugh? Why shouldn't laughter be something we make room for rather than something we're simply delighted by when it happens?

I'm not suggesting we put “laugh” on the calendar between the dentist and a Zoom call. And I'm certainly not planning to resurrect my extremely short-lived career in stand-up.

But I am paying attention to the craving.

Because maybe the things we find ourselves wanting more of are worth noticing.

And right now, I want more laughter.

More of the kind that catches you off guard. More of the kind you share with someone else until neither of you remembers what was funny in the first place. More of the kind that makes your stomach hurt and your eyes water. More of those moments when, for absolutely no productive reason whatsoever, you completely lose it.

Meditation may still get all the good PR.

But maybe being fully present doesn't always require silence.

Sometimes it sounds a lot like laughter.