‘Frolic’ – To cavort, have fun, make merry, be playful.
Have you ever noticed that when someone roars with laughter, they often throw back their head and arms instinctively as their body makes way for the full joyful force?
Our bodies were designed to move. When laughing, even if seated, the body shakes, muscles tense and contract and often water leaks easily from the eyes! Bodies sway, tummies tense and shoulders move rapidly up and down. The body is exercising itself without the use of heavy weights, lycra or leg warmers!
Internally the heart and lungs are working aerobically and energetically to an ancient rhythm, boosting blood flow, improving circulation and respiration.
Watching young children playing in a field or park we notice how they are never still for long, and the constant stopping and starting movements they make release more laughter and giggles as they hare around the place in a frenzy of playfulnss and imagination.
As adults our working or home life can be very static at times, sitting at the computer like now, reading, watching telly or other sedentary occupations. What happens to our laughter and playfulness then?
If our bodies are hunched over or tense to begin with, it makes it harder for laughter to flow naturally, so relaxing the body and mind as far as possible is important. The breath is the most useful tool when needing to relax, and slow, deep breaths not only slow down the speed of our internal dialogue, but also help to soften our muscles, releasing built up tension. Laughing is, of course, lots of ‘out’ breaths which help our bodies and minds to instinctively let go and unwind, but combining breathing with warm up movements like jiggling/dancing/stretching/wriggling/skipping all help create an atmosphere of freedom, silliness and frivolity for us to explore.
In order for our laughter to be free we need to feel free. Free of self criticism and self doubt. Laughter wraps us in self acceptance and encourages a love of ourselves and life itself.
A short cut to this is through freeing our bodies, allowing them to move how they want to, whether it’s going for a well earned lie down, dancing wildly to the radio in the kitchen or digging a new bed with gusto in the garden border!
How many ‘fun’ ways can you move your body today?
Wriggling your hips like Elvis, strutting your stuff like a catwalk model or marching like Basil Fawlty on the way to the coffee maching or water cooler can help elevate our mood, as well as release tension.
If moving is restricted for you, focusing playful movements on the parts you can move easily will encourage more giggles, especially if accompanied by a range of ridiculous expressions or daft phrases that don’t need to make absolute sense!
Try some movements out and let me know how you get on.
Laughing and moving helps not only to energize and invigorate, but on occasions even works the body parts other exercises cannot reach!
