When I worked on the Perinatal Wellness team at Providence St. John Hospital, I met a woman who is a certified laughter yoga instructor. Have you heard the phrase that laughter is medicine? Well, turns out there is a ton of research behind this. There’s even a science of laughter, it’s called gelotology.

And get this….

The same “good-mood” neurotransmitters (e.g. endorphins) are released when you are genuinely laughing as when you are “fake” laughing. 

Experiment today, if you’d like: Try… laughing. Even if something is not really funny, why not laugh anyway? 💛 And see what happens.

Janina Fisher (PhD), an expert in trauma, talks about the importance of identifying a handful of “10% solutions” to manage overwhelming feelings. 

For example, maybe running won’t bring you 100% relief… but might it help 10%? Maybe prayer and meditation won’t 100% help you manage overwhelming feelings… but might it help 10%? Maybe breathing or maybe gardening or maybe laughing [or, whatever are the regulating things for YOU] won’t bring 100% relief… but perhaps each of those things will help bring 10% or 5% or 50% (or any percentage of relief)?

All this to say, it’s not about coming up with one solution that will singularly and wholly balance our mental states. Instead, what if each of us created a big basket of “10% solutions” that we could try to draw on when we need them?

What are a couple of your “10% solutions”?

May you feel supported and encouraged. Warmly, Robyn

For More:

• I’ve created a list of different self-care strategies. I also have a category of posts on the topic of self-care. In light of this post, you could think of these as potential “10% solutions” to fill in your basket. Of course likely not all of them will work for you–but maybe some will!