Screaming like a kid

Who and how are the happiest people?

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Who are the best and most natural screamers in the world?

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Who are, as a category of people, the happiest and most energetic people in the world?

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Same answer: young children (think mostly between the ages of 18 months and five years).

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Starting around the age of five or six, children begin to get the message, "It's not good to scream. You should start paying attention to how others will think of you when you express yourself." Low and behold, by the age of seven, children have become these young adults. They have learned to self-censor, to keep whatever inside, unless it's able to satisfy their internal censor.

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Generally, children above the age of seven (that includes all us adults) are not nearly as happy and energetic as those under five.

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How can we be as happy as children?

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We adults are not able to revert to being kids again. Even if we could, we would be giving up the many benefits of being an adult. 

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Fortunately, we can tap into those benefits of being a kid by using (in a measured way) those natural behaviors that help keep kids so happy and energetic in the first place. Screaming is one of those ways. (Also see Enchanting.)

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How to scream it out

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My current routine (April, 2021) is to scream until one breath is exhausted (pushing all the air out I can) three times day Monday-Friday.

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Let me be clear. I'm not talking about namby-pamby screaming. Kids don't hold it back, do they? While taking care not to damage your throat, give it all you've got for all long as you can in one breath. Currently I'm always able to do a minimum of 20 seconds each time and my record has been 45 seconds. For many of us, this will be a choice of courage, regardless of whether anyone may hear you. To help you get started, you might use Undoing fear with the sentence, "Holy cats and jeepers creepers, I am so scared I will feel silly by doing this screaming stuff."

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Don't believe me. Check this out for yourself. Super scream for 20 seconds or more and then notice how you feel better than you did before.

 

I know that you've been thinking, "But what about the neighbors? What about the people I live with (if you do)?"

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Here are some ways (or a combination of ways) to handle this issue. But note, even after you handle the other-people-hearing-me issue, you'll still need to choose courage to do this, especially at the beginning.

 

• First, use a pillow; scream into a pillow. This will muffle the sound considerably.

• Second, choose times for the screaming when others are out of the house or neighbors are likely to be away.

• Third, tell your housemates about the practice and ask them to indulge you, maybe by giving them a heads-up when you're about to scream (maybe they'll even join you).

• Fourth, for any neighbors who might overhear you, either speak to them in person or on the phone, or put a note under their door. Explain that you're doing a "health assignment" that involves making a loud sound for 20+ seconds from time to time and that they should give you a call (make sure they have your number) in case they notice it and it bothers them. It goes without saying, that consulting with your housemates or neighbors in this way can also be a choice of courage. Honor yourself for that.

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Not just for more joy, but also for your health

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Breathing experts tell us that, as adults, most of us have fallen into the habit of shallow breathing where we only breathe from the top half of our lungs, never totally pushing all the air out. My hypothesis is that we've learned this shallow breathing habit (which young children don't have) as our unconscious resistance to fear that contracting our diaphragm helps us to achieve. That's why I include, as an important part of the Undoing fear process, taking deep belly breaths. One of the ways to train ourselves to naturally belly breathe (along with the Undoing fear process), is this screaming practice.