283 ~ Serious About Not Being Serious: Embracing Humour as a Life Skill

Hello Magical Human & welcome back to Madison Mindset the Podcast 🧚🏼

A sense of humour transforms how we experience life, allowing us to find lightness in difficulty and joy in the everyday.

episode overview:
• seriousness creates unnecessary suffering while humour provides relief
• people who cannot laugh experience more tension, poorer health, and strained relationships
• scientific benefits of smiling
• humour isn't just for good times—it's especially valuable during difficult moments and transitions
• the FEEL method: Feel it, Eventually Evolve, Learn (with laughter helping the evolution)
• four practical tips: embrace jokes, dance randomly, practice laughing at troubles, and balance feeling with evolving

Lighten up, smile more often, and enjoy the opportunities to laugh—your health, relationships, and quality of life depend on it.

Love,

Madison Mindset x

Chapters

• 0:00 Importance of Developing a Sense of Humor
• 4:39 Introduction to Madison Mindset Podcast
• 7:19 How Seriousness Harms Your Health
• 10:14 Health Benefits of Smiling and Laughter
• 14:46 Four Tips for Embracing Humor
• 19:09 Conclusion and Call to Action

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Hello Magical Human and welcome back to Madison Mindset, the podcast. In this episode we're going to be talking about getting a sense of humor Very important, so a sense of humor you may associate with, you know, laughing at jokes or creating your own jokes, or you're quite witty, quite funny, making other people laugh. It's also about laughing on the receiving end, so it's not necessarily about you know making a joke itself. It's also about receiving the joke and allowing yourself to laugh. Okay, a sense of humor can dramatically change the quality of your life Dramatically. Okay, I have people in my life who have a great sense of humor. I have people in my life who have a great sense of humor. I have people in my life who have no sense of humor. They embrace seriousness. Nothing is funny. You know, you should be able to find the fun in all of life situations, because if you don't, you're going to have a really miserable time because life can be really hard. And if you've got no ability to turn that into something fun, into something you can laugh at, then you're going to have a tough time because everything is going to be so much more serious than it needs to be.

Speaker 1: 1:15

Life is life. Things come, things go. You get sick, you get well, you're healthy, you're unhealthy, you're alive, you're dead. These are completely normal things and something that really took me back in Buddhism, especially as they talk about death, you know, and in yoga we talk about death as well. But the amount of times I've had teachers, you know, make jokes about death, you know about dying and about hard situations, and at first I was like, oh, you can't say that, how could you? And then I really started to go hang on. That makes it so much better, you know, it's so much less scary, it's so much less intense, it's. You have a little bit of a laugh about it, you have a joke about it, you know. You have to find that because otherwise you're not going to be having a nice life experience. And even when other people are going through hell, say, if you're losing someone, right, it's much easier if you can be lighter and not so serious about the situation, because that makes it harder for the person dealing with it. So you need to develop a healthy sense of humor. You really do.

Speaker 1: 2:21

I'm not saying to make fun of people when they're in the worst situation. I'm not saying that. I'm saying you need to lighten up a bit, because that's what's going to help you in this life. It's going to help you get through. It's going to help, you know, often my worst days are the days I laugh the most. You know, I've had a few bad things happen in one day and another thing happens and I'm like, oh my goodness, four things in a row and I just laugh and I'm just like this is hysterical, you know, like you know it's just, it's life.

Speaker 1: 2:49

You have to be able to laugh about it. You know, like there are some amazing jokes about, especially about death, you know, and death is something that no one wants to talk about, everyone's scared of, no one wants to go through and everyone puts their head in the sand about it. And then suddenly you're confronted with it. What if you already had a good relationship with endings, with change? You know, it's okay, it's life. There is nothing wrong with death or illness. In fact, it's quite normal. There would be something wrong if you didn't go through those things. That's part of living on this earth. It makes you quite normal, very normal. It happens. So let's lighten up a little bit. Okay, if you cannot have a good quality sense of humor, not only will you experience harder times in life, but your body will suffer. There's a lot of tension that we build up from being so serious and from taking on all of life's battles, and it's not fair. This it's not fair that. Can you imagine the tension that builds up in your body? You know what laughter does for you. Ah, relaxing, you let things go right, you enjoy in the beautiful sensation of laughter and joy and how that feels when you're going through a hard time. It's medicine. It's so important and so many physical symptoms come from your seriousness and the stress about that. So why don't we relax and have a laugh? Because it might just be the thing that you need. Let's jump in.

Speaker 1: 4:40

Hello, magical Human and welcome to Madison Mindset Podcast. My name is Madison. I'm a yoga teacher, a mindset and spirituality coach and a complete earth fairy. I see a world that is peaceful and easy to live in. I see a world that is peaceful and easy to live in, humans that are awakened and enlightened towards who they are and what life truly is and why we are here. I understand life can be really hard. I've had a huge journey with anxiety myself. I understand what it's like to feel overwhelmed, overworked, stressed and frustrated within this earth. It is this journey that led me to begin my own growth journey, and it's only through those struggles that I was able to birth this podcast, so that you can have the tools and techniques and knowledge to help you step forward and be a being of light, a magical earthly being who is grounded, supported, who takes on challenges with love and embraces the lessons that each day brings you. Are that being, I am here to walk you there. You will find many different kinds of episodes through this podcast. All are created in the moment and with love for you. Find the one you need for this moment and enjoy. Take a moment for yourself. Sit down with your journal and tune in. Welcome, let's begin. I love you.

Speaker 1: 7:19

So, as I mentioned, seriousness is going to make your life much harder. You know, when a bird poops on your head, how would you react to that? Are you going to storm off and go, oh, it's not. Oh gross, not fair. And you're going to complain about it and whinge about it all day and cry about it? Do you think the bird meant to get you? No, it's life. It's life. The bird was doing a poo. The birds live in the trees. They live in the sky. You walk under a tree, there's a chance you're going to get pooped on. It's completely normal. You know there are two types of people in this world. One person gets pooped on and they cry about it and whinge and complain and make a horrible day for themselves. And the second person laughs. Guess who has the better day? The second person. Okay, you have to learn to lighten up.

Speaker 1: 8:11

If things get too serious, not only will life be harder, but you'll be emotionally drained, you'll be closer to burnout, your body will be unwell, it will become dis-eased dis-ease, right. The relationships in your life will suffer because who wants to listen to someone whinge and be serious all the time? Who is your favorite person to hang out with? Is it someone who makes you laugh? Someone who gives you a good feeling, that has a good energy about them? Of course. Who would you rather hang out with? Someone who's always whinging and about them, of course. Who would you rather hang out with? Someone who's always whinging and complaining about life or someone who's in joy and having fun and just going along with life? We all know the answer Okay.

Speaker 1: 8:52

There are a lot of illnesses in the body that can come from being so serious and having a lack of sense of humor. Seriously, a lot of them. A lot of mental diseases, a lot of physical diseases. Right, it's, having a sense of humor isn't just a personality trait, it's a remedy. It's a remedy to life and to life's problems. Right, things are really hard, like for me.

Speaker 1: 9:19

For example, I'm a huge fan of a dad joke. I love dad jokes. I think they're hysterical and they, when I was younger, I used to, you know, roll my eyes and go that's so lame, what a bad joke. You know all this stuff. What are jokes there for? They're there to lighten life. You know who cares if it was an obvious joke? Who cares if it talks about poo or something gross? You know who cares whether it's a dad joke or a smart joke or whatever. I don't care. Who cares? Laugh, stop being so serious, stop being so offended. Just have fun. It's funny. Laugh at it. It's a good thing. Anyone who's open, telling you a joke, is trying to lighten the mood, is trying to make a moment of your day where you laugh. Laughter is so good for you.

Speaker 1: 10:04

Some people go weeks, months, years without smiling, let alone laughing. When you smile, smile right now. I don't care where you are. Smile, do you feel how much better that feels? Do you understand what's going on in your brain when you smile? When you smile, endorphins are released in the brain. You know what they are. They're nature's painkillers Physically, mentally and emotionally. They're nature's painkillers. Why don't you give yourself some of that? That's what laughter is for. Is what smiling is for. It helps you deal with it.

Speaker 1: 10:40

If you're being all serious and all grumpy and everything's you know, not fair, you're missing out. Life's gonna be much harder for you. And what do you get out of that seriousness? Nothing. Your relationships suffer, your work suffers, your finances suffer, your health everything suffers around you just because you're being serious. Lighten up, seriously lighten up. I used to think this was such like oh, you don't understand how hard my life is, so it doesn't matter. As I said, there are jokes about death, there are jokes about being sick, and while I'm not saying you should laugh at someone who's dying or laugh at someone who's sick, it's not laughing at the situation. It's lightening it up a little bit because it's normal and we're all going to have to deal with it. So why not lighten it up?

Speaker 1: 11:28

If you were sick and maybe on your last day you're dying, do you want everyone around you being serious or would you like some laughter? Would you like some joy and some ease on your final moments, you know? Would you like everyone grieving you and being serious and sad about the fact that you're gone or would you like them to share some joy and some laughter about? You? Know your life and how beautiful it was. Just think about that and then reflect and live the same right If you ask anyone like, would you like everyone to be absolutely miserable by your death or would you like everyone to you know, mourn you but also laugh and have some beautiful, funny stories and you know, lovely moments to share with other people about your life? Which one do you prefer? Obviously, you'd rather people have some fun and not be so sad, to live their life and have a great time. So I'm going to read some of the health benefits of smiling and laughing. These are studied health benefits. I'm just going to read them out just so you get an idea of why you need to lighten up right Benefits of smiling strengthened immune system.

Speaker 1: 12:45

Boosts mood. Smiling is contagious. Now, something that's interesting about smiling is contagious. When you smile, you boost your immune system and endorphins. Right. When you smile, you boost your immune system and endorphins, right. When someone sees you smile, they don't even have to smile themselves. They will also get an increase in their immune system and endorphins. How cool is that? You know, literally, when you smile and you make someone else smile and then someone else is looking at the smiling, and then someone else is looking at the smiling, it's literally one smile can change several people's day just from observing one person smiling. Sounds worth it to me. Pretty cool. We're very connected. Smiling releases endorphins.

Speaker 1: 13:29

Smiling boosts immune function, improved confidence, heart health, you live a longer life, improves productivity, longevity, relieves anxiety, increased endurance, mental health benefits, improves cognitive function, increases success, reduces stress, reduces pain, improves relationships, enhances attractiveness through smiling. Oh, there you go. It's even a beauty thing. Increased positivity Seriously makes you go. It's even a beauty thing. Increased positivity Seriously makes you more creative and more efficient. Sounds like maybe we should smile. And laughter is just a bigger version of smiling, right? So all of that increased, all right.

Speaker 1: 14:15

So I've got this really great quote that I saw it was online, I don't think it's a quote, it was more like someone's caption or something, but it kind of stuck with me. It was a year or so ago. I'm not sure where it came from, but it really stuck with me. We are born, shit happens, then you die. We are born, shit happens, then you die. Right, isn't that true? You're born, all this shit happens and then you die.

Speaker 1: 14:43

Laugh, have fun, don't be so serious. That's the reality of our life. Seriousness is going to ruin it, you know. Just have fun. I've got four tips to help you embrace having a sense of humor right, especially if you struggle with this. Number one jokes are everything for your mood. Seriously, find a comedian you like. You know I really like Michael McIntyre and Carl Barron. I think they're hysterical. They make jokes about normal day-to-day life things, nothing serious, nothing that brings a mood down. It's all very lighthearted and hilarious and relatively clean as well, which is nice. So check them out. Or if you have your own favorites, that's great. Comedians, jokes, joke pages on the internet why don't you follow someone who has some worth to give you? You know, some jokes, dad jokes.

Speaker 1: 15:36

Practice laughing. You know there's a thing called laughter yoga, and the first time I did it I thought it was the weirdest thing I've ever experienced. But I also noticed that the people who do it also the happiest people I've ever seen. You know, we're literally forcing laughs. You get into people's faces and you go like over and over again. If you're sitting there right now and you've got time and space, just sit there and go over and over again, keep doing it until you break out in laughter. You will, because it's weird, it's really weird. If you do it with other people, it's even better. You get in stitches laughing about how funny this is. Just ha ha ha, ha, ha ha ha. You know, it helps so much, it feels so good and people are so happy. People who laugh and smile. Not only do they look happy, but they feel good. Okay, so go for it. Embrace some jokes. Don't be so serious. If it was a lame joke, who cares? Laugh anyway. It's an opportunity, right?

Speaker 1: 16:35

Number two practice dancing just randomly to music. Have some fun and practice not taking yourself so seriously. Do some weird moves, like I'll often do, like the classic ones, you know, like the sprinkler, or you know like the shopping trolley and all those kind of lame like moves that no one can make them look good. They all look. They look weird, no matter what you do, you know, and just laugh. Have fun, you know, and watch the type of music you listen to as well. If the artist is very serious oh poor me. You know life sucks, everything's horrible then you're going to feel the same way. So find artists that are uplifted and happy.

Speaker 1: 17:14

Number three practice laughing at life's troubles. Again, I don't mean be insensitive and laugh in people's faces. I'm just suggesting that you lighten up a little bit and go oh, that was really annoying, someone's laughing up. You know life is like haha, deal with that. You know, like make it funny. Make it funny. Practice doing that. It makes it a lot easier, especially if you like kick your shin on something or laugh instead of scream and get angry.

Speaker 1: 17:42

And number four I came up with an acronym to the word feel, just so that you can understand that we're not laughing at life's troubles and dismissing things. It's a healthy in the middle, okay. Going straight over to life sucks, everything's horrible. That's not necessarily healthy, okay. So feel. F is for feel. Feel it, you know it causes you pain. It causes you emotions. Feel it, it's okay. You know it causes you pain, it causes you emotions. Feel it, it's okay. And E eventually when you're ready. Don't take too long, but don't rush it. Eventually, e evolve, l, learn, and what's going to help you get to evolve and learn is laughter. Okay, feel it and eventually evolve and learn and move forward and grow. Okay, Laughter is going to help you do that.

Speaker 1: 18:42

What most people do is they feel something. They feel bad about how they're feeling. They create more stories and they feel worse. And they feel worse and worse and worse and they sit in it, they dwell in it. It becomes a stagnant river with gunk and floaty bits in it, and they sit in it and they dwell in it. It becomes a stagnant river with gunk and floaty bits in it, and they sit in it and they sit in it. That's what they do. You're allowed to sit in your shit for a second, but then you've got to stand up and evolve and learn and move forward, and laughter will help. It will help really. Thank you so much for being here, magical Human. I hope you enjoyed this episode. I hope you got something out of it.

Speaker 1: 19:19

So, whether you think you're someone who's quite funny and has a nice sense of humor, I encourage you to keep going, keep it healthy, keep it sacred, you know. But definitely it's not a bad thing to have some light and you know making people laugh If you're good at doing that good, you're doing good work in the world. You know, being a comedian or just being someone who can make people laugh is such a precious job in this world it really is. And if you're someone who's very serious smile, you need to. You've got to, otherwise you'll stay there. You need to, you've got to, otherwise you'll stay there.

Speaker 1: 19:57

Life is not going to get any easier. Life is life. It's not going to be perfect and we all die in the end, right? So it's obviously not going to end the way you'd like it to. So why don't you just have some fun, lighten up, laugh, smile. Enjoy those opportunities to laugh and smile. Take advantage of it. Enjoy those opportunities to laugh and smile. Take advantage of it. And look, according to google, you even save money on your beauty routine, right? That's a good reason. Thank you so much for being here. I hope you enjoyed the episode and I'll catch you next time. I'm sorry you.