There’s a lot of bad news, ill-feeling and plain, old-fashioned anger doing the rounds at the moment, so it’s really gratifying to discover that an age-old remedy to help mitigate the general air of “the blues” has timed its appearance to perfection.

It’s official: World Laughter Day is always the first Sunday in May and this year it’s May 3.

According to the information I have seen the day is “dedicated to the joy and fun that laughter can bring”. The day has been celebrated in many countries since 1998.

The belief behind the noble concept is that laughter is a natural antidote to stress and can help to improve mood. World Laughter Day acts as a prompt that mirth is good for you, physically and emotionally.

It is often said that “laughter is a universal language that can unite people regardless of their culture or language”. It would be true to say that hypothesis is being tested to the full at the moment!

As far as I am concerned, I think it is an ideal opportunity for you to send me your best and worst jokes for future publication in this channel (I’ll post the clean ones, I’ll enjoy the rude ones…)

National Smile Month (May 16 – June 15)

Either by design or coincidence, Saturday 16 May will herald the start of the UK’s own National Smile Month.

I guess it speaks for itself but I think it would be appropriate to recall the late, great creative genius, Spike Milligan as an excuse to share one of his thought-provoking poems.

“Smiling is infectious

You catch it like the flu,

When someone smiled at me today,

I started smiling too.

I passed around the corner

And someone saw me grin.

When he smiled I realized

I’d passed it on to him.

I thought about that smile,

Then realized its worth.

A single smile, just like mine

Could travel round the earth.

So if you feel a smile begin,

Don’t leave it undetected.

Let’s start an epidemic quick

And get the world infected!”

Which sort of links with the “Laughter” thread of uniting the World.

I love making my clients smile – whether it’s through hitting and exceeding their personal physical expectations, or simply having a laugh while we train. The lasting effect of a positive, challenging but rewarding hour can lead into a pretty good rest of the day.

Through my Life Coaching studies, I have understood a lot about the benefits of ‘reframing’ inner-spoken thoughts and outwardly-spoken words. For example, instead of dreading a challenge or an anxiety-inducing event coming up and saying “Oh no, i have to do X”, we can choose to say “Wow. I get to do X. So many people don’t get this opportunity for growth and development”. Yes – like training in the gym, it takes time to build up the ‘muscle memory’ for this kind of positive reframing, and it may seem silly but hey – give it a go! Can’t hurt eh?

And it might even make you smile.