Lynn's Laughter Blip for June

By Lynn Shaw, Laugh Therapist

"Mom, you need to smile more." My 15-year-old-son was sitting across from me at a restaurant. I had spent the past 15 minutes asking him questions about his life, which were answered in short, swift sentences. Realizing I was working at this harder than he, I fell silent and ate. After a couple of minutes, he made his profound statement -- "Mom, you need to smile more." I laughed at the irony. I, a laughter leader, was needing a dose of my own medicine. The next day I was driving alone and felt the drawn muscles around my face as I concentrated on the traffic. I pulled my lips into a grin and held it for several seconds feeling the tension dissolve as I stretched and smiled. I kept this up during the drive and even managed some giggles. And I had to admit that although my son and I may not see eye to eye on all things, I agree: I need to smile more. How about you? Be aware of the tension in your smile muscles and stretch them today. Someone might just smile back.  

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Copyright (c) 2002 Lynn Shaw. All rights reserved. For permission to publish this article, email contact@selfhealingexpressions.com