how do you laugh and smile?

[lightthecandle]

no really, how???

what i mean is there are some people who have great laughs...and it kinda makes you drawn to them in a sense. the problem with me is that even if something is funny, i only smirk, and my laugh does not seem "real" . its just a simple "haha", and that's it. so how do you you laugh? is there any way i can practice? i need help with smiling too...it's because i seem timid, but i really want to be one of those people that smile all the time, and have an incredible laugh. HELP!

THANKS

[Alchemiss]

Genuine laughter and smiling is infectious, isn't it? Forcing yourself to laugh and smile will never get you to where you want to be, though. Instead, focus on feeling better about yourself and your life and the genuine smiles and laughter shall start arising naturally from deep within you. That which we admire in others represents underdeveloped things in ourselves. Invest your energy in becoming happier and the rest shall follow.

Best wishes!

[SuperStar]

I agree with Alchemiss.

That laughter in people that draws you in to them is not actually what you need... it's the feeling of self-confidence and self-love behind the laughter. When you have such deep love for life, yourself, and everyone and everything, you radiate that loving energy in the form of magnetic smiles and laughter, and people want to get close to you to absorb some of that energy.

[BettyBoo]

I'm one of those "laughing out loud" persons, so maybe I can give you an advice. I love watching comedy movies, or TV series, or reading funny articles. So I guess I'm kind of used to laugh, and even when I'm watching it, or reading by myself I laugh out loud. Maybe you need to practice it , and surround yourself with "funny" stuff.

Although , I admire people who don't laugh much, because I laugh all the time, and I'm afraid that might be annoying for someone. :-))

[Shamou]

Originally Posted by BettyBoo

Although , I admire people who don't laugh much, because I laugh all the time, and I'm afraid that might be annoying for someone. :-))

I'll let you spend 20 minutes with my mother-in-law and you'll know what annoying is...

.

[Mark Lapierre]

I wonder if you're how I used to be. I had an underbite, and braces, so I used to hate my smile and the way I looked when I laughed. I tried to control my reactions, hiding my smile, without even realising that not only did other people not mind, but they actually liked my smile.

If you truly feel like laughing but you don't, then you're actively trying not to laugh. If you're at all like me then my advice is to relax and let it happen, release your control, and enjoy the experience without worrying about what other people think (because you're almost certainly mistaken).

[brandi]

I am so grateful for my disposition.
I'm told i smile in my sleep.
I'm sure it's just gas

i have had a life that most people would lament with despair.
I'm filled with so much joy.
i am so grateful to be a chosen one
to steward joy and kindness and understanding.

i don't know how it happened to me.
i'm the most laid back uptight woman you will ever meet DOH!! LOL!

maybe real joy is started with being thankful.
truely grateful.
i smile as i type to you.

[Shamou]

Originally Posted by brandi

I am so grateful for my disposition.
I'm told i smile in my sleep.
I'm sure it's just gas

i have had a life that most people would lament with despair.
I'm filled with so much joy.
i am so grateful to be a chosen one
to steward joy and kindness and understanding.

i don't know how it happened to me.
i'm the most laid back uptight woman you will ever meet DOH!! LOL!

maybe real joy is started with being thankful.
truely grateful.
i smile as i type to you.

For a "cussin" lady... that's purty darn, tootin' good...

.

[brandi]

ya, that's the dangest part!!!
i have so much light, yet a filthy mouth

I thought of this as i read my evening dedication.

try when you meet people to think
" i know something nice about you"
even ifn you don't know that person.
maybe it's thier snazzy shoes or swell hat or something.
look for what's right with people and the world/ your experiences.
pump it up a notch, even if you don't believe it your self.
it will become natural to your conscousness.
we become what we study

you subconcious doesn't have a sense of humor,
it cannot differenciate who's the nice person
with the great smile and the swell hat.

you might as well have someone telling you that!
and what better way to incite a
great genuine smile than
to hear, think and say all sorts of good stuff all day!

when you promote other people, you promote yourself.

look for what's right.
be thankful.
you'll find your smile.
I promise.

[brandi]

Iyanla Vanzant has a wonderful book called "UNTIL TODAY"
it's a daily devotion book.
she has somany different insightful ways to express gratitude.
and how to find more things to be thankful for,
being thankful won't slow you down, i promise.

so what? it took 30 seconds extra to encourage some one
and you're almost garanteed to always
get rockstar parking to comphensate you for your time.

[Shamou]

Originally Posted by brandi

ya, that's the dangest part!!!
i have so much light, yet a filthy mouth

I thought of this as i read my evening dedication.

That is a beautiful dedication brandi... however, you should stop saying that "you have a filthy mouth..."

That simply reinforce a negative view about yourself...

Instead, try the following affirmation... "I am a lady... and I speak and act like one." It will do wonders for you...

And, thank you for being so nice...

.

[jjclark]

Hi Lightthecandle,

Everyone's laugh is a different. My laugh isn't a boomer either but I still love to laugh. I think if you practiced a new laugh it wouldn't be authentic. But who knows.

[brandi]

Originally Posted by Shamou

That is a beautiful dedication brandi...


.

Doh! no i didn't even get to concentrate on my dedication tonight.
it was about the importance of being peaceful over being right.

that other tid bit was just my .02 worth
as an assumptive compilation of thoughts and lessons.
life has been a very genorous teacher.

[Matthew Shea]

Originally Posted by Shamou

I'll let you spend 20 minutes with my mother-in-law and you'll know what annoying is...

.

How do you laugh? Read some of Shamou's posts. I regularly get a kick out of his sense of humor, this post included.

Part of laughing, though, is not taking life too seriously. To laugh about any particular topic, you have to be able to step back, remove your attachments to whatever's being poked fun at and let the humor in the situation guide your emotions for a brief time. Remember that just because something or someone is being made fun of, it doesn't necessarily mean the person doing it doesn't respect what he or she is poking fun at. It's usually the opposite. People rarely try to find humor in something they completely disrespect, dislike or even hate.

As an illustration, I'll tell you a joke that was related to me by my wife's great aunt:

Q: What does an old woman have between her breasts that a young woman doesn't?

A: Her belly button.

Now there are a thousand ways that someone could find that joke either not funny or even offensive. You could easily take the view that I'm disrespecting old ladies for no reason, but you could also step back and focus on the fact that this joke highlights something that happens to everyone in a funny way: the wrinkles and sags we all see as we age. Back that up with a ridiculous, exaggerated mental picture of a woman whose breasts have sagged so far they touch her waist and it becomes funny.

This brings me to another point: being able to visualize a joke helps tremendously when trying to see the humor. Humor is also spontaneous and if you overthink it, it disappears.

So my advice would be to step back, don't take things too seriously and don't think too hard. Just enjoy the moment and the laughter should come naturally.

[babuji]

Well.. You may want to check out the following clips below. Using Laughter as a theraputic means is gaining steam as a movement. Not to mention just watching the second clip will bring out laughter in your own self..

Laughter as Therapy Clip:
YouTube - Laughter Yoga on Discovery Channel

A person who's put it into Practice:
YouTube - Laughing Yoga

[vprao]

Keep smiling! Once you start practicing it, your sense of humor will automatically improve and the slightest humor will make you laugh.

OK, now if you find it difficult to smile too, then here's an exercise I absolutely love, being a serious person myself.

Just stand in front of the mirror and smile. Just watch and don't judge anything. Keep the expression for as long as you can and are comfortable with. Repeat it as many times as you can. You can also try raising your arms (like the laughing buddha). Raising arms can bring a natural smile without much effort. Try it and see the difference.

[Freelancer]

Don't think...



Ps. Lately I've been solving A LOT of problems for myself with the simple advice 'don't think...' lol.

[Boreas]

Originally Posted by Alchemiss

That which we admire in others represents underdeveloped things in ourselves.

Good thought! I have saved it.


For me, I laugh most when I am not thinking of it, and I am just relaxed. Maybe try to listen to comedey shows to put you in the mood.


If you don't laugh at something as much as someone else, that is OK, that is you. You don't have taste in that. In other words, maybe to laugh more you need to find the kind of things that really make you laugh, as opposed to learn to laugh at things you don't find so funny.

[HELLMACH07]

"Let Go"

[Trezker]

i’m poopin « Lolcats ‘n’ Funny Pictures - I Can Has Cheezburger?

Spend some time on i can has cheezburger every day and you'll learn how to laugh and smile. That site is my daily therapy, I love cats.

[eblight]

Yes, I agree with you LighttheCandle I'm also drawn to people who laugh heartily and genuinely 'cos they feel good about themselves and life. I feel I can be with them and accepted just the way I am. That's the wonderful thing about laughter it includes everyone. Sometimes people use laughter to cover up their discomfort and that always feels phony. I love watching small children and babies. They are always smiling and laughing for just the joy of being alive and feeling happy. It's about finding what makes us happy and not taking ourselves too seriously along the way and creating a life filled with joy and fun.

[Chado2423]

I don't laugh and smile anymore. There is nothing to laugh or smile about in my life any longer.

[Gene]

Originally Posted by Chado2423

I don't laugh and smile anymore. There is nothing to laugh or smile about in my life any longer.

I will hold in my heart the wish that you again find something in your life which will bring a smile to your face and laughter to your heart. I hope it will be sooner rather than later.

[Jonathan Mead]

I like to use laughter to go out of my mind. It's the best meditation. =)

[Bruce Achterberg]

Originally Posted by lightthecandle

how do you laugh and smile?

Hang around me more often.

Seriously, that'd probably work. If people aren't laughing at my various comments, they're laughing at me, or if none of the above, I'm probably laughing at myself. Win/win/win!

(Yes, this was a bit of a jokey post, intended to be - gasp! - funny... in a sort of, "wow, Bruce is sad", sort of way. I'm sorry, I can't help myself. But this is actually a good example. Try to find the humour in things, regardless of what it is. When you try, you'll find it pretty easy. Not everyone will laugh, but it doesn't mean you can't! Then watch everyone laugh at you. )

[Freelancer]

My last responce was a bit short so I'll just elaborate a bit.

I've got a slightly different problem (or is it? ) then you, I can't stop smiling hehe.
I probably annoy plenty of people with my happy attitude, for instance the other day I was walking on the street in the rain. I was finding something incredibly funny, don't even remember what exactly, or perhaps I was just enjoying the rain. So while I was walking around I have this HUGE smile on my face like I'm on the happiest place on earth (which I am). As I'm walking by the side of the road a car turns around the corner and I swear it has the most cramped up, detached and sour face I've ever seen. Now this obviously make me smile even more, here I am in the rain, there she is in a dry car and I'm more happy then her. The street is pretty much empty at this point so its no wonder that I catch her glance at me while I'm smiling at her. Now these people generally respond in one of two ways. Either they smile back or they dig themselves deeper in unhappiness. Either one makes my day.
This lady was so cramped up and uptight that she pulled her face together even more, you know that look which tells you 'I'm not happy so you can't be happy either *evil look*'? Thats the one she pulled.

That one situation of just a few seconds made my day, every time I know think back to it, I smile. And these type of things happen all day, every day. There is ALWAYS something to be smiling about.
Even something so simple as a tree can make me smile, because its not just any tree, NOOO its the tree of eternity. Kings and army's have fought to project it against the evil Sauron.

I make everything funny if I have to.

Now the adverse effect is that I have a annoying tendency to laugh out loud while watching a comedy. Now my regular smile without a lot of sound is incredibly infectious but when I produce a sound like thunder the general responce is *jezus dude, cut it out* lol. Its so bad you can hear me laugh two houses away haha. Its seriously something I need to cut back a bit, I'm probably offending people with my laugh.


So my advice to you:
- Start finding everything funny, come across something and immediatley try to find whats funny in it. The world is your stage and its there to make you smile.
- Loosen up, stop worrying about other people's opinions, none of them can physically hurt you in any way what so ever. All the power they have is what you give to them. So just cut it out alright?
- Be in the Now as eckhart tolle says. The Now is always funny...
- Make everything glorious around you, your desk is not just any desk, NOOO its the greatest desk ever created by the strong Craftsmen of past ages. It was a gift to you from a prince who visited you 5 years ago, since then he disappeared and promised to return in 10 years time carrying great gifts in the hopes of marrying you. He's incredibly brave and handsome, blah blah.
- Most of all, have FUN with these things. They are not hard and rigid rules, they are guidelines at best. Things to try out that seem funny, relaxed and laid back.

[Chado2423]

Originally Posted by Gene

I will hold in my heart the wish that you again find something in your life which will bring a smile to your face and laughter to your heart. I hope it will be sooner rather than later.

Thanks for that, I too await such a day.

[Freelancer]

Originally Posted by Chado2423

Thanks for that, I too await such a day.

If you look outside the window can you see something green and alive?
Walk towards it, touch it, hold no thoughts and just look at it.
All your attention is entirely on the plant or tree in question, nothing is important except trying to see every detailed part of it. Take it all in.

Just humor me and do this once then see what happens.