Belly Laughs, Endorphins and Hockey - My Life in a Nutshell

I'm running really late today, but meditation ran a bit overtime, thus my tardiness. Therefore, this will be a shorter than normal post. But, hopefully a good one. I've been taking a multi-day challenge on Insight Timer - a challenge for helping handle stress and change the body's reaction to stress. Today's lesson was actually quite wonderful, and very do-able for anyone. It was that deep, almost exhaustion, you get from a good deep belly-laugh. 

A good belly laugh can release endorphins 
into the body, which are feel-good 
chemicals made by the brain. Endorphins 
are a really good thing to get, so try having 
a good belly laugh today and see how you 
feel afterward. I'm sure you'll feel better. 

The instructor had us exhale to our maximum, then give a good chuckle to finish out the exhalation, then pull in the breath deeply after the lungs have been totally emptied from the laugh. Result? Endorphins flooding the system. Totally happy time. I'll be trying this. I know that people laugh differently - I've known people who bray, people who chuckle, people who sound like a clown, and people who are totally uninhibited when they laugh. But pushing the air out, and then laughing three belly laughs before taking a breath can do wonderful things for the body and the mind. Give it a try. You might be pleasantly surprised. 

Endorphins are very positive things for your 
body and your health. Try exhaling all of the 
air you can, and then chuckling 3 belly laughs 
before inhaling. Do this several times. You'll 
feel much better. 

This week will be a busy one, tomorrow's schedule starts out at the gym, then I go to the Orthodontist for my next adjustment, and then, finally I can dive into my "day off" which is packed. So, tomorrow's post will probably also be a minimal one, but that's really OK. As long as I'm checking in, I'm not dead yet! LOL No ... I have a LOT more to do in this life, so no time to die. 

Our hockey season is on the line right now. We 
have to win tonight's game. Go Wild! 

So I'm going to wrap this up and get ready for the swimming pool. The Wild play their next game tonight, and the series is tied 2-2. We're not the only playoff tied 2-2, but four groups are actually at a 3-1 - Toronto, Boston, Carolina and Las Vegas lead their series 3-1. No real surprises there. But, New Jersey is tied with New York, Houston is tied with Los Angeles, Colorado is tied with Seattle, and Minnesota is tied with Dallas. So our four groupings are on the line here. Of course in the playoffs, all games are "must win" games, therefore, tonight's game is essential. It's a "best of seven" series, but we want to progress to the next round. 

So have an excellent Tuesday and I'll be back tomorrow - equally rushed, I'm afraid - LOL. Enjoy your day, smile and be happy, do something nice for a stranger and Slava Ukraini. Peace!