Free 50 Ways to Soothe Yourself Without Food by Susan Albers Page A

life. In therapy ten days after the safe landing, she was still trembling. She became tearful when she recounted the details. Since the event, she had lost control of her eating.
    Two years later, Terri tells the same story in a very different way. She laughs as she demonstrates how her hands trembled when she tried to put the air mask over her face. Getting in touch with her laughter took some time. Initially, laughter was a physical release that was better than crying. Then when she retold how the event had happened, she noticed that laughing helped her and others to be less traumatized by the details. Friends were able to give her support instead of becoming overwhelmed by the story. The experience also demonstrated to Terri how comical it can be to stress about trivial matters when much worse things can happen.
    This incident is, of course, an extreme example. Most stressful events that prompt overeating aren’t so terrifying. It’s interesting that an experience can be so terrible in the moment, but later on you can see the humor in the situation. Humor is an extremely powerful therapeutic tool. It is a recognized way of coping with some hurts, and it can be amazingly healing (Thorson et al. 1997; Tugade, Fredrickson, and Barrett 2004). Laughter boosts the immune system and decreases stress hormones. It’s also linked to lowering blood pressure, which can be a key factor in stress management. The chemical changes produced by laughter are very much like the mood-elevating benefits of exercise.
    If you experience debilitating guilt or shame for mindless emotional eating, laughter is a great way to redirect your focus away from feeling bad, and it can brighten your mood, as well.
    ~self-soothing technique~
    Laughing Yoga
    Laughing yoga is a modern new form of yoga. It was created by a family physician in Mumbai, India, and the practice has spread worldwide since its invention. The idea behind laughing yoga (
hasya yoga
) or any kind of humor therapy is that laughter is another way to change the sensations in the body. When you start laughing, the physical movements create a cascade of reactions in your body. Your brain sends signals to your body to relax, while at the same time, particular neurotransmitters are released that help you feel pleasure. Laughing exercises relieve tension and distract you from negative feelings. They also provide a workout for your abs, diaphragm, and shoulders while you are making the natural movements associated with laughter.
    Jump right in and give it a try. Repeat these laughter sounds out loud in a jolly Santa Claus manner: Ho ho. Ha ha ha. Repeat them several times for a few minutes. It’s likely that your simulated laughter will turn into real laughter. Playacting your way from fake laughter is a great way to help you arrive at true laughter. Think of it as being like the canned laughter on TV sitcoms. Did you ever notice that just hearing the canned laughter sometimes made you join in? You can also check out videos on the Web for examples of how to do laughing yoga.
    ~self-soothing technique~
    Medicinal Laughter
Find the natural humor in whatever problem you’re struggling with. To help, look to the future. What about this situation might cause you to laugh five years from today? Is there anything giggle worthy in it? For example, is there a Three Stooges moment? Try to imagine how your favorite comedian would take this situation and turn it into a humorous sketch.
Do something funny. Leave a funny phone message for a friend. Make up a fictional name and use it all day. Wear a T-shirt or a hat that makes people laugh.
Learn a one-line joke and tell it to everyone you meet in your day.
Put a funny picture of yourself or an amusing picture from a magazine on your refrigerator door. You can even tape the picture onto a box of cookies in your cupboard so that when you start searching for food to snack on, you’ll see it.
    Some situations are just not funny and humor is not appropriate.