One of the many tidbits of interesting information that I received from a Native American friend was about LOL; that’s Laughing Out Loud for the less tech savvy. Basically, she was telling me how her Native American family never took anything too seriously. Apparently, there wasn’t anything that was too solemn or intense for a joke. In fact, the more grave it seemed, the more likely it was that a joke would be made. Needless to say, this was a new concept for me because I was not raised with this understanding. Upon further discussion I learned that her tradition believed that when life becomes very serious we become constricted. I thought of this as being tightly scrunched into a little ball. Our energy is pulled in and we become out of balance. I don’t recall if those were her exact words but they are close. By contrast, I was told, laughter, especially laughing out loud, fully and deeply allows the energy to be cracked or shook open. This permits light to enter once again she said.
I thought about this understanding and the teaching around it that I received (thank you, sister!) for some time. I tested it out and guess what? It works!!! If you have been feeling shut down or constricted from all of the seasonal stuff or worried about something, try it out for yourself. Find a way to LOL/Laugh Out Loud. We could all use a bit more light coming in, don’t you think?