I had an incredibly pleasurable and enjoyable day yesterday… As well as enjoying the 6th day of my intensive hypnotherapy training diploma, I got to witness this weeks wonderful students giving presentations and using their hypnotic communication skills in order to persuade, influence and cajole the audience into investing in their make believe products, services and ideals… We laughed our arses off non-stop for most of the afternoon. That sort of joy is something special.
I mean, that is being alive, right?
Whether you hear it happening in the restaurant you are in, if it is punctuating conversations of people in the pub, or if it is the canned variety pouring out of your TV speakers, or even the stuff you share with your oclleagues on a hypnotherapy training diploma, laughter is a fundamental part of everyday life. Yet it also seems inconceivable to me that some people do not allow themselves to experience it too often or even realise how utterly important it is… . laughter is whereby we are gripped with that unconscious response to social and linguistic cues that sends us off into the glorious set of sensations that is laughter.
Whatever language you speak, everyone knows and understands what the smile is and what you mean when you combine the sounds of “hahahahaha,” “ho-ho-ho” or “tee-hee.” This is the international language of joy, fun and laughter.
Despite this, we do tend to have a certain lack of true understanding about the purpose and meaning of laughter, which does seem unthinkable. Despite laughing at what my teachers considered inappropriate times whilst being told off at school, we do all know how to laugh at just the right time, almost always without consciously knowing the reason why. Yet still, laughter bonds us through humour and play.
Despite its prominence in our daily life, there is little research on how and why we laugh. It is one of the few subjects that I am quite happy not to analyse and look for all the answers, instead, I plan to continue to just let it happen and let it enrich my life.
Laughter and joy and fun are central themes to my training courses, I like clients, students and peers to consider this a fun field and that the often serious nature of what we do can still be enjoyed. I filmed this clip in our old offices a couple of years ago and it still holds true:
I shall be back in the office next week following this weeks course, so I very much look forward to being back here blogging then… have a wonderful, laughter-filled weekend.
