Two Cups of Tea at Hope’s Cafe
Some years ago a friend gave me the book this is getting old by Susan Moon. Being older now, some of its wisdom resonates more readily! She modifies Thich Naht Hahn’s quote “Present moment, wonderful moment” (still relevant of course) to “Senior moment, wonderful moment.” She describes these as “little coffee breaks of the brain.” What a delightful reframing of what can otherwise be quite annoying or even troublesome.
“A senior moment is a stop sign on the road of life,” she wrote. “It could even be a leg up toward enlightenment. So I stay calm, let the engine idle, and enjoy the scenery. What happens next will be revealed in due course.”
Her lighthearted approach as an asset in aging is well supported in medical research. Humor and laughter can promote social connections, increase oxygen levels and foster lung health, stimulate endorphins which are natural pain killers, decrease stress and cortisol in the body, increase blood flow to enhance cardiovascular health. Even the act of telling a joke involves cognitive skills which sharpen the brain.
Humor can also be an apt assistant in helping us accept limitations we encounter as well as when we take on challenges to learn something new. When our brains and bodies are not as responsive as they once were, humor can be a lifesaver.
An Associated Press article I came across mentioned that the modern study of laughter—gelotology—began emerging in the 1960s.
According to the AP, Stanford University psychologist William F. Fry, one of gelotology’s founders, drew blood samples from himself while watching Laurel and Hardy. He discovered that laughter increased the number of immune-boosting blood cells.
In 1995, Dr. Madan Kataria, a physician in Mumbai, got wind of the emerging research as editor of a health magazine while researching an article on stress management. To combat his own stress, he started the first daily laughter club in a park. It ballooned from a handful of participants to more than 150 within a month, he said.
There is actually a Global Laughter Clubs Directory (help@laughteryoga.org). But if you don’t find that intriguing or suited to your needs, perhaps just shooting for more laughter in your life seems doable. I recall as a therapist I came across a suggestion to make it a goal to have 10 chuckles and three good belly laughs a day. When I googled it for the blog, I found a recommendation of two to five times a week to engage in belly laughter.
This is such a difficult time in our fractured world. Finding things to laugh about doesn’t sound like a reasonable goal. Perhaps, counterintuitively, that only elevates its importance.
The invitation is open to share two cups of tea anytime at Hope’s Café or anywhere you share companionship and conversation.
May we be bearers of hope, the “wait staff” at Hope’s Café, for each other and all those we encounter. Shalom, Kate
Hope's Cafe 