Laughter, song, and dance

This week’s challenge was to ‘let go of being cool and always in control’ and the first thought that came to mind was one of the Friends episodes - The One With the Routine (Season 6 Episode 10). Yes I’m a 90s kid, but I don’t know what possessed my friends and me from trying to recreate The Routine - we even recorded it! It was meant to be a quiet girls’ night in, spent in our pyjamas as we shared a gorgeous grazing table and watched episode after episode of Friends. Recreating a goofy dance routine wasn’t part of the plan! 

I’m a horrible dancer, and I get very self-conscious, but in the company of true friends, it was a no-brainer to join in on the silliness! We all looked ridiculous. We were laughing ourselves silly! You’d think looking back to the recording of The Routine I’d cringe, but all my body remembers is that we were all so happy. It was a night filled to the brim with laughter, song, and dance! 

Laughter’s so good - but what makes it so good? I asked other students what benefits they experience from laughter and here are some of the things they’ve said.

• Laughter relaxes my body.
• It lightens a stressful day for me.
• When I’m with friends, shared laughter strengthens our bond.
• I read somewhere that laughter can trigger the release of natural feel-good chemicals in the body. 
• It soothes tension.
• It fosters an emotional connection with other people.
• Just the physical change in my face when I laugh seems to help me into a better mood.

Maybe now that assessments are over, and while it isn’t fully beach weather, we can host a comedy movie marathon. The next mini-survey I did was to ask what some of their favourite funny movies were. Here are some of them, which might not actually fit your taste so feel free to tag us @uofastudentwellbeing to let us know of any of your favourite comedies we’ve missed.

• Kung Fu Hustle
• Forgetting Sarah Marshall
• Frances Ha
• The Royal Tenenbaums
• The Grand Budapest Hotel
• Booksmart
• Sideways
• Game Night
• Bad Neighbors
• Hot Fuzz
• Elf
• Bridesmaids
• Palm Springs

Cultivating Laughter, Song, and Dance: Letting Go of Being Cool and “Always in Control”. *This is part of a blog series from my reflections during Mental Health Awareness Month and integrating the guideposts from Brene Brown’s book, the Gifts of Imperfections in my HDR experience