Unlocking Your Laughter Intelligence with Marla Simlett

Marla Simlett, or as many know her, Marvelous Marla is a speaker, emcee, and registered clinical counsellor who helps people learn and laugh their way to becoming their greatest self.

In this episode:

• Marla explains that she started combining her therapeutic counseling practice with humor because laughter helps open people up, lower resistance, and makes them open to learning and improving.
• She shares that stress is really tough on our bodies, raising stress hormones and putting us into a fight or flight state where we can’t make good decisions.
• Marla explains that laughter is the quick antidote to stress because it does the exact opposite—it lowers those stress hormones and releases feel-good hormones and endorphins.
• She talks about how laughter helps you focus your brain on positive things, because what you focus on tends to expand in your life.
• She suggests three intentional ways to bring laughter into your life: first, make a “laughter checklist” of things that make you laugh; second, find external “go-tos” like a funny friend or comedian for stressful days; and third, intentionally practice bringing up the feeling of laughter inside your own body.
• Marla explains the practice of Laughter Meditation, which came from Laughter Yoga, where you purposely laugh out loud because your brain can’t tell the difference between real and auto-generated laughter—you get the benefits either way.
• She shares that nervous laughter still gives you all the physical benefits of regular laughter and is actually a learned coping mechanism you use to protect yourself or lighten a situation.
• Marla’s final words of wisdom are to laugh more, suggesting listeners check out her laughter intelligence assessment to find intentional ways to leverage laughter in their lives.

Note: Meditation starts at 11:44