A couple of weeks ago, I was looking around Netflix for something to watch, something that would give me a break from the wild and crazy world news. I discovered a Jim Gaffigan special from a few years ago that I hadn’t seen. I don’t know if he’s a stand-up comic you enjoy or not, but I must say, his routine had me laughing out loud … hard.
As I was laughing my cat, Kali, stared at me from across the room like she hadn’t heard that sound ever coming from me. It was true; I’m sure my behavior was unusual and a little unsettling. Kali looked confused. I hadn’t cracked up, my whole body shaking, in a very long time. It felt a little awkward and absolutely divine!
Like everyone else, my nose has been to the ground, focusing on the seriousness of all that is happening in our world. I hadn’t allowed myself to enjoy something so lighthearted in ages, and it felt delightful. Cells in my body that resembled sludge, I’m sure, were ignited by a joy usually reserved for seeing new babies and news of coming nuptials, or lottery wins or other exceptionally creative events.
Why hadn’t I thought of exercising this part of my psyche sooner? It felt so foreign and SO good! That one hour and twenty minutes with an old Jim Gaffigan special tickled me pink for days. It impacted me so profoundly that I’m sharing the experience as a reminder that this hilarity is available to you too!
Since then, I’ve consistently added comedy performances online or streaming to my well-being routine. It’s revelatory to be reminded of the beneficial effects of laughter on our bodies. It helps us reduce blood pressure and helps us loosen that ball of stress that resides in our gut or at the base of our necks or in our lower backs. It also may go a long way to melting that aura of discord that often stands between us and spouses, kids, friends, and all kinds of strangers we encounter in our daily lives.
It feels incredibly restorative to exercise my laugh muscle. Doing so allows me to let go of anxiety and stress from the upsetting moments of life, be they politics or a flat tire or an online glitch I struggle to resolve.
You can find entire comedic sets or partial ones at Netflix and on YouTube. I’m sure they’re also available on other streaming free- and pay-for-view sites. The Jim Gaffigan hour that started this post was entitled “Obsessed,” and I found it on Netflix. It was ten years old but still made me lol the whole time.
I love what Tali Sharot, a neuroscientist and author said: “If you buy a new car, outfit, phone or whatever, you tend to habituate quite fast. But, when it comes to experiences, like a concert, a lecture or a night out, if the experience was good, you tend to retrieve it in your mind every so often, and it still has quite a high amount of joy associated with it ….” Laughter and watching a comic set, even online, to me falls into that category of memories that last longer. Even if I don’t recall the details of a specific joke, just visualizing Jim Gaffigan on the stage doing his set brings a smile and a pleasant recall.
In addition to eating well, moving your body a little or a lot, staying hydrated, spending quiet time in nature, consider including an hour or two of laughing out loud to your well-being routine. It might just crack you up … in a good way!