Don’t take wellbeing so seriously.

It’s 2015 and His Holiness Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu sit down for an interview with the BBC. During their lives, both men have seen some of the darkest horrors that humans can do to each other, and both men have devoted their lives to a disciplined practice of meditation and prayer and efforts of promoting peace and reconciliation.

The presenter, visibly a little nervous about being in the presence of such esteemed men, begins the interview.

“His Holiness….” He begins.

“Listen.” He is immediately interrupted by Desmond Tutu who has his finger pointed at the Dalai Lama. “Act like a holy man.” He tells His Holiness.

The Dalai Lama stares and blinks for a second, lets out a snigger, and then reaches and grabs onto Desmond Tutu's finger, pulls it towards his own head, and places the Bishop's finger into his ear. 

The two men sat giggling over a finger-in-the-ear joke, each hold a Nobel peace prize. 

There is a common misconception for some when embarking on a journey of mindfulness and meditation that in order to be calm and compassionate we should take it on with a sense of seriousness. Laughter and messing around is seen as child's play, whereas becoming more present and awake requires discipline and the casting away of such silly things. Sometimes this message is inadvertently demonstrated to us by teachers of wellbeing practices who have yet to find out how to bring play into their own practice, or perhaps we get caught up in the phrase “to be taken seriously” meaning that anything worthwhile should be done with a grave expression. Isn’t that after all how adults should be?

And yet, playfulness and joy, is as much a part of our life experience and should be afforded just as much room, in fact maybe even more room, as studies show that laughter strengthens our immune system, relieves stress, resolves conflicts and helps us to live longer.

Sadly for some people, accessing playfulness and mischief will feel more difficult if they were not allowed to express it during their early childhood. https://www.healthline.com/health/repressed-emotions

And this is where the joy of mediation comes in. It allows us to be open and accepting of all things that arise within us. When we listen to our inner world we often notice that our minds have a wonderful cheeky sense of humour that can pop up as if from nowhere even during the darkest of times. During our meditation practices we have the opportunity to welcome the parts of ourselves that just want to fool around and make us smile. Thanks to the power of neuroplasticity the more we practise allowing playfulness to have room to appear then the more we can have access to joy and laughter. There is no need to box away the silliness and tell ourselves that good meditators must be serious and not have these thoughts. 

And so the next time you see someone pointing a finger at you. Is it a remonstration that we should take seriously? or is it an opportunity to find some joy and cheek in the situation.

But watch out. Laughter is contagious.