Laughing at Cancer. Ros Ben-Moshe

Laughing at Cancer

their watch on their left arm, but for whatever reason decides to start wearing it on their other arm. Then over a period of weeks the placement of their watch on their right arm becomes automatic. Far more exciting than a reorientation of a watch is our ability to rewire our brain to positive thinking.

I chimed it’s about being mindful and bringing a conscious level of awareness to smiling and laughter. The more we choose to smile and laugh, the better worn those neural pathways become, so the default response from perhaps a grimace or even the absence of response becomes laughter or a smile. Then I grinned out my elevator pitch as my face, like porcelain, felt like it would crack: smiling and laughing more often rewire the brain to a complete and constant state of calm, joy and awareness.

I posed one final question hoping to mop up any remnants of inner or outer critique. ‘Is a jog on a treadmill any different from a jog around the park, aside from the physical environment?’ If you laugh with the right intention—choosing to laugh—then there really is not much difference. When you laugh, you receive all the wonderful health benefits even if the initial stimulus is simulated. Moreover, the contagious nature of laughter is, on our side, manufacturing real or involuntary laughter—the type that leaves you gasping for air. The non-verbal track in my mind was, ‘If I can fake it ‘til I make it the way I feel today, then you most definitely can!’

They were rearing to go and for comfort’s sake I suggested we move into the garden. I was hoping the neighbours wouldn’t mind peals of laughter permeating the glorious mid-afternoon sunshine. As we proceeded outdoors I was still carrying some resistance for the actual laughter part of the session, with a hidden urge to run and hide, but the front door was in the opposite direction.

Thankfully, this group was no different to any other I had led, and in no time at all, splutters and guffaws of laughter could not be restrained. They were lapping it up, as was I. My ‘stressometer’ went right down. I couldn’t feel any stress at all. I was lost in laughter.

After the session I asked people to share how they felt: happier, lighter, brighter, less anxious or stressed, more or less tired, warmer or cooler. I was delighted to hear that they too felt happier lighter, brighter and less anxious and stressed. I was decidedly more enlivened. My circulation had rebooted as warm blood effortlessly flowed to my extremities. For the first time in weeks I felt an excitement for life, for really living.

I am so grateful to have been forced to laugh. I certainly wouldn’t have otherwise, well at least not in such an intense and concentrated fashion. Even now, several hours later, I’m weightless, freed of the lead weights that had ascended after my diagnosis. Powerful stuff!

I am wondering when I will lead my next laughter session and in what state I will be. My gut tells me it won’t be for a while; so long may today’s laughter-effect endure.

XXXX

During stressful times have you tried something to shift from your darkened mood? If so, what have you done?

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One of the quickest and most effective ways to achieve this is through laughter or with a smile. If this does not happen naturally, try thinking about something funny or someone who makes you feel good about yourself. A genuine heartfelt smile can change your whole physiology as endorphins (happy hormones) are released. Why not try one now?

2 Kataria, M. Laughter Yoga International http://laughteryoga.org, 1999

3 Doidge, N., The Brain That Changes Itself, James H. Silberman Books, 2007 (Scribe Australia 2008)

8 June 2011

Shhhh…hush…

It just dawned on me I am the source of awkward silence. The hushed conversations and disquiet in the air.

How can it be that in the course of two weeks, things that were always talked about are now not? Conversations feel fraudulent; there’s no hint of normalcy. How can there be any when chats begin in such forced fashion? No one dares air their own troubles or concerns. General chitchat and everyday complaints are absent. In this moment, everyone else’s lives seem a picture of perfection. I am now living in what feels like a surreal experiment.

Never one for small talk, my inner resistance is growing; that, and the tears quickening their pace, edging me dangerously close to flooding point.

I think of the times I’ve been privy to these types of conversations and imagine the non-verbalised track in people’s shocked minds: ‘I can’t believe it.’ ‘Have you heard?’ ‘So young.’ ‘cancer? Really?’ ‘She seemed so healthy.’ ‘Oh no…how terrible.’

Yet there have also been times since I was co-opted on this roller-coaster ride, I have almost felt psyched, as if higher forces had chosen me to serve the ‘Greater Good’. I am aware this may sound deluded—or taking positive thinking to an extreme—but in the end I know I will be a stronger person for this. I will triumph. I will learn. I will grow. I will rise to the occasion, give back, nurture, and I will heal. My body will be rid of any lingering toxins and replenished by Vitality and Spirit: the true essence of life.

Will it be easy? Probably not. Will it be achievable? Yes, because I’ve made a commitment to myself to live, really live. Not half-heartedly, or casually, but with a bolstered level of commitment that often comes when faced by life’s ephemeral nature.

I’m certain that if I searched Google for ‘let’s really live’ support groups, activities such as jumping out of airplanes would come up; not the answers I am looking for. Yet it does get me thinking, what does living really entail? My hunch is it’s about all the minutiae things that compose your day. Not the big life events you have to wait for half a lifetime in the hope you will then reap the rewards.

So in the days ahead I’m going to embrace the recommenda-tions by Positive Psychologist Dr Barbara Fredrickson, to create micro moments of joy that lift my spirit, boost and enlighten my happiness and enrich my soul. I need to identify things that make my heart sing. These need to be ritualised. Whilst some activities such as grocery shopping, washing clothes and keeping the house in a semblance of order may need to be done, they should be recognised for what they really are: chores that are rarely filled with joy or purpose. At this time especially I need to enhance my joy and actualise a greater sense of meaning and purpose.

And with that I’m signing off, resting my weary eyes and body to rejuvenate with a nice, transformational, deep slumber.

List 5 things that make your heart sing.

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List 5 things that often get in the way.

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