The universe likes to test you from time to time. Or maybe all the time an we only notice it when it’s a big one. I had an unexpected test this morning going from swim class to work. There’s one left turn on the way and, depending on the time of day and weather and who knows what, you might have to sit through more than one light cycle. Sometimes more than 3 cycles. That one left turn has only one turn lane and it can be frustrating - if you’re not laughing.

My trigger in the past was when someone intentionally decided to cut that line, and in turn, cut someone off as they were turning. When that person was me (at least 3 times), I turned into a honking hulk. Sometimes a little bit of speeding to catch up with the perpetrator and make sure they knew what they did was wrong. My rage made me need to teach them a lesson. My rage wanted to shame them. And my rage exhausted me.

As I was doing my EMDR for many past traumas, I discovered laughter therapy (aka Laughter Yoga, aka Joyology, aka WTFL!!). In my heart, laughing and EMDR have some common thread of neutralizing negative emotion. I’d love to see more research on laughter and trauma. On his research poster for the AATH.org Humor Academy, Dr. Lee Berk indicated that “humor may attenuate negative emotions as a result of cognitive distraction.”* And I’m a believer.

On this morning’s left turn test, someone tried to trigger me. Fortunately, they triggered my laughter. This put me in a semi-mindful state to not run into them while delivering a mindful honk, just in case they weren’t aware (but they were). I felt no need to rage. No need to speed up. No need to run them off the road. No need to teach a lesson except to laugh and to be mindful.

The thing about tests is that they’re easier when you practice the material. Laughing becomes easier and becomes the norm when you do it even if you don’t feel like laughing. And if you really feel like crying, try the laughing-crying exercise:

Laughing-crying

Take a deep breath in
Laugh as you raise your hands above your head.
Switch it to crying as you bend over in tears.
Repeat.

Laughter, Love, and Light to you.

*Dr Berk’s comment relates to this research paper: “Finding comfort in a joke: consolatory effects of humor through cognitive distraction.”