The Breath and the Laugh That Bring Me Back

Some mornings move with a kind of ease that brings me home to myself—mornings where gratitude arrives before thought, mobility work wakes the spine, a quiet tonic steadies the system, and a few minutes with the I-Ching reset the direction of the day. These early practices anchor me, giving the morning its foundation. And when I neglect them, something in the structure of the day goes missing.

Lately, especially as winter shortens the daylight, I’ve leaned into two practices that return me to center even faster than discipline—breath and laughter.

When the day tightens around me, when someone’s emotional weight enters the room uninvited, or when another person’s storm spills across my shoulders, I reach for breath first.

Not dramatic breath, not meditation on a mountaintop—just one slow inhale and one longer exhale, enough to open a little space inside. But the second anchor is just as important—the laughter I choose the clip I know will crack my stern expression, the memory that still makes me smile, or the quiet joke I whisper to myself when life feels too heavy to wait on someone else to lighten it.

We talk about laughter that surprises us—but most days, it’s the laughter we seek, the deliberate, intentional kind, that actually saves us.

Both matter. They return the spirit to its rightful seat and remind me I don’t have to carry anyone else’s pain while I’m still learning how to hold my own. So breath clears the fog, laughter loosens the weight, and together, they give the day back to me— and maybe to you too.

Stay Inspired and Inspirational

Sifu Khonsura Wilson