Comedies That Heal

In “Jour de Fete” (1949) French comic Jacques Tati dances funny as a small town postman inspired by his sense of patriotism to emulate the hyper efficient US Postal Service.  Enjoy this sweet vignette of Tati’s classy style of physical comedy.

Doesn’t his improvised Jitterbuging Lindy Fox Hopscotch Trot (or what ever it is) look like fun?  It kind of feels good doesn’t it?  He’s charming and a pleasure to watch.  Maybe he stirs up that innocent spirit of fun that made us run, jump, and skip when we were kids, just because we felt like it.

My wife, Susan Lange, reminds me that fun and play is a good thing because it puts us into a pleasure state.  Can you remember back to a time when you were so happy that you couldn’t physically contain it?  A time when your happiness just bubbled up and you “did” something physically with your body?  Maybe you “jumped for joy.”

This is the question: when was it that you last jumped for joy?  If it’s been a while, then it’s probably been too long and now’s just as good a time as any for you to spring to your feet and jump as high as you can with a loud YIPPEE!

Doesn’t that feel good?

The reason it feels good is that you can lead your mind to joy by going through the physical motions of joy.  Physical play will make you happier.  Maybe you don’t feel like it right now.  Maybe you are saying to yourself that you aren’t in the mood to jump around and play.  I’d suggest that you not listen to that voice and just pretend that you are “in the mood”, even if it feels silly.  Try it and you’ll find that even the gloomiest funk can be turned on it’s head with regular fun and play.  Even exercise (the “mature” way to play) works to improve our mood.

Isn’t it true that you do some things, “just for the fun of it”.  Maybe now’s a good time to start doing more just for fun.

My advice is to practice fun and practice play.  With practice you’ll get real good at it, maybe even become a virtuoso of fun.  And, by the way, isn’t there kind of a spiritual ring to that word “practice?”

Could a spiritual realization be found in fun and play?  Hmm….

So what do you do for the fun of it?

Let me tell you what I have been doing.

I bought myself a skate board for my 51st. birthday.  I haven’t been on one of those for 40 years.  It’s a blast, and I love it, even if my friends and family fear for the health of my bones.

I’m teaching myself to juggle.  I have no idea if I’ll ever perfect this art of levity but it’s fun anyways.

Once I wrote a 15 minute comedy skit for me and some reluctant friends to perform in front of a real live audience.  You know what?  It actually worked.  People really laughed and we were all so buzzed afterward.

The kids in our family love it when we do puppet shows for them.  We love doing this for them and then watch the shows they do for us in return.

And..

My wife Susan; she skips. She jumps up and down, spontaneously, and claps her hands with a huge grin on her face.  After all these years she still amazes me and my heart fills with love for her when she does this.  This feels extra good.

A friend of mine takes the warm freshly dried laundry from the dryer and envelops his little kids with it for a long cozy cuddle with their Daddy.  It’s a love fest and they all bond.

If you ask me, this is the memorable stuff of life.

Leave me a comment.  I would really like to know what you do for fun and how it makes you feel?

*****

This is Dr. Julian Lange, OMD, LAc. reminding you that your laughter heals.

To watch other inspirational comedy video clips go to http://www.ComediesThatHeal.com

To watch this clip click here:

http://101comedies.com/laughterandyourbody/in-a-funk-physical-comedy-feels-good-if-too-sedentary/

Healing Laughter

Laughter heals! We provide healing laughter through inspirational comedy.