Muffins with Mom – A minute to meditate – 3 Tips for humor as self-care

 

If you give a mom a minute...she'll be distracted

...And distracted again

If you give a mom a minute to meditate, she’ll drift into a deep sleep. If she goes to sleep, she’ll want to snuggle with her favorite fleece blanket. If her blanket isn’t warm enough, she’ll want fuzzy socks.

If her sock has a hole in it, she’ll search for needle and thread to sew up. As she sews the hole, she’ll become tired and remember why she began to meditate in the first place. And the cycle repeats in the life of a busy mom.

Step off the hamster wheel, the merry-go-round, the rinse and repeat cycle of life, and schedule deliberate time for selfcare. Laughter is one tool I like to include in my selfcare, and you can too. Here are 3 ways to use humor or laughter as selfcare.

1.      Find humor in daily situations – I’ve fallen asleep during meditation, prayer, and a zoom class. None of these things were boring, it’s just that my body has a mind of it’s on. When it needs rest, it’s going to rest. I find the humor in each situation and share it through a story or comedy. You too can uncover humor in your daily walk. Try it.

2.      Treat yourself to a comedy show – find a comedy club in your area, call a friend, and laugh until your cheeks hurt.

3.      Read something humorous – as a youngster I loved to read Archie comics.  Every now and then I’ll still grab an Archie Digest from the bookstore (yes Archie comics are still around). The stories my not be laugh out loud funny, but they can evoke a smile. I’m currently reading Fifty Things that Aren’t My Fault by Cathy Guisewite, the creator of the comic strip Cathy. I have laughed out loud while reading her book. I also had an opportunity to meet Cathy in person at the Erma Bombeck Writers Workshop in 2022. Her keynote talk had the room filled with laughter.

If you give a mom a minute to meditate, she can truly find a million other things to distract her. The opposite can also happen -  she will fall asleep because she just finished doing a million things. Laughter can help to ease some of the daily stress we experience.

Take a minute, or two, or three to invest in your selfcare. Laugh more.