Greetings Listener,
I hope you enjoy this unusual offering, shared from the deepest and most authentic part of my spirit. The live recording was captured at a meeting of Black Writers in Recovery on Sunday, July 6, 2025. The mood of the meeting was sometimes jovial, sometimes powerful. My own mood, however, was sad and sullen after a week of walking the middle way in white spaces, doing my best to create connections without collapsing into proximity. I did not win the battle. People hold tight and love to be right. I met lies and disregard that led to heartbreak.
Yet, when asked whether I was up for leading a meditation, I took a deep inhale and channeled the best of what I had witnessed from the brothers and sisters during their hour-long artist date check-ins. A little voice deep within me said, "hit record."
Earlier that day, I edited the movement and laughter meditation. It was technically challenging, but it cracked me up and elevated my entire mood all over again. Still, I felt nervous. I stepped into the Polymath co-working space and asked the group whether someone could give me a thumbs up before I posted it.
One Sister, in her elegant and self-assured power, looked square into my Zoom box and said, "But you don't need ours or anyone's permission or thumbs up to say it's okay to publish your work y'know."
She was right. I wasn't asking for permission. I was reaching for presence. Resonance. That moment when someone reflects your knowing back to you. I had already felt the joy in my body while editing. Already felt the medicine working through me. I didn't need a verdict. I just needed to speak, laugh, and share what came through.
So I am posting it. As raw and real as it comes.
Laughing Joy Into Life emerged not from planning, but from presence. The impulse to move, to sound, and to shift into playfulness on a dime was cultivated over years. That ability - to choose joy and rooted authenticity even under pressure - has lineage.
That lineage includes Alex Maizuss, whose teachings in MBSR, Your Mindful Tribe, and newest offering, called InnerAwesome, helped shape the very nervous system that could receive and respond to this moment. I name that here with deep respect and gratitude.
This episode has now surpassed all others in reach and response across my Substack platform. It is traveling across borders, reaching people in the Bahamas, Zimbabwe, the United Kingdom, and throughout the United States in just 2 days. It is a practice of movement, rooted voice, ancestral rhythm, and unsilenced joy.
This is how Joy moves.
This is how we live.
✨ Support Wil’s Transcending - 🔥 Fuel this fire - with a donation.
How Laughter Transforms Pain into Healing
The current meditation session provided clear evidence affirming laughter serves as a powerful tool for transformation and healing in several key ways.
The meditation specifically focuses on "transforming and translating pain into mindful soul power" through combining movement, breath, and laughter.
It activates the body physically:
The practice shows how laughter engages the entire body: "My whole body is getting into this"
It creates natural movement: "a body in laughter will swing to the left... swing to the right, might lunge forward"
This physical activation helps release tension stored in the body
It changes your physiological state:
Brings oxygen to the brain through deep breathing and yawning
Creates a lasting effect: "laughter meditation stays with you all day long"
The practice combines breath work with laughter for deeper impact
It connects you to joy that's always present:
"Your body is always ready to laugh. Always."
"The smile you have now was inside all along when sadness was there, when longing was there"
It transforms "a blessed gift that was always there in the tiniest form" into "a loud, voluminous gasp of joy"
It builds community and belonging:
The shared experience of feeling "silly together" creates connection
"We do this together in community" and healing happens collectively
The memory of shared laughter can combat loneliness later: "Remember that Sunday. Remember that time."
The practice suggests that by intentionally engaging with laughter, even when it doesn't feel completely natural at first, we can access healing energy that transforms our relationship with painful life experiences.
✨ Support Wil’s Transcending - 🔥 Fuel this fire - with a donation.
Share this post