Are you struggling with a mental illness? Or are you really good at it? With jokes like that, we don’t have to be so serious when going through our mental health struggles. Many of us are serious because what we’re going through feels serious, and we need help coping. Either your therapist or even Pinterest may have given you solutions to cope with mental health struggles. Examples of these might include dancing, art, journaling, and meditation. But have any of these coping skills made you downright laugh? I’ve decided to take those methods that have shown to improve mental health and sprinkle in some humor that will help make you laugh while in the midst of your challenges. 

Humorous Journal Prompts 

1. Personify your mental health concern. If your mental health struggles were a person, write their entire day-to-day. Describe their fashion sense, car, apartment, and even give them a job description. Your struggles don’t seem as serious if they’re someone who wears rainbow Crocs in their Smartcar.
2. Write a letter to your mental health struggles. Let them know they’ve just been fired from their duties and write what they would say back.
3. Make a list of humorous names you’ll like to call your mental health struggles. Examples include, “Monkeybutt and Ding Dong”.

Silly Art Activities

1. Dance to a silly song. Examples include Rebecca Black’s Friday, Baby Shark, and any of The Lonely Island songs. See how long your excessive anger stays when you’re dancing through those beats.
2. Draw or paint a humorous picture of what your mental health struggle looks like. Maybe your depression looks like a beaver in a tutu or a pickle playing soccer.
3. Write a random story or poem about your mental health struggle. Make it as silly as you can. An example includes: “Once upon a time, Bubbles the anxious blob ripped their pants during the dance contest.”

Funny Meditations

1. Listen to humorous meditations from Zen Savannah. She’ll guide you through story and affirmation meditations to imagine a humorous perception of your mental illness. An excerpt from one goes like this, “I am confident, even in my faded yoga pants”.
2. Instead of closing your eyes during meditation, focus your attention on a silly object that represents your mental health challenge. Examples include a plush Bart Simpson or even a magazine snapshot of Ricky Gervais.
3. Try a laughing meditation. Yes, it’s a real thing. Simply search laughing meditation online and you’ll find thousands of videos where your focus is laughter. You’d be surprised how easily your forced laughter will turn into actual laughter.

If you’ve seen a Buddha statue of him laughing or even the ones of him sporting a half smile, it’s because he wants us not to take ourselves too seriously. Take Buddha’s advice and try to have a laugh in the midst of your mental health struggles. It may just be just what your mind needs.

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When Savannah is not writing for fun you can find her reading history books, meditating, or taking her corgi, Nash, on long golf cart rides.