I thought this article might help lighten the mood here on Olyblog. I wrote it for a health food magazine in order to connect clowning to their monthly theme. Apperently February is "heart health" month. Perhaps we Olympians could use a little of both - clowing and heart health. Here's to laughter and love...

What can a fool have to teach about heart health? I could simply say that laughter is the best medicine, but it’s much deeper than that. Most of us are aware of the mind/body connection, as acknowledged in the adage “laughter is the best medicine.” And most of us probably experience our bodies more through our emotions than through our thoughts. Just imagine the last time you felt a strong emotion like fear. You may have felt a little wobbly, shaky or weak inside. Perhaps your heart was beating very fast as you felt the blood drain from your face. You had a physical reaction to the strong emotion.

The body responds to your emotions and at the center of both is the heart. The physical and the emotional heart are intimately woven together as one and, like two lovers, have the power of influence over the other. Thus, how we feel about the world plays an important role in determining our physical health. Thoughts are powerful, but feelings are closer to the center of our being. It is within the heart that we are most human.

I have spent my life exploring the question, “What does it mean to be fully human, to be a fully healthy human being in the world? What is the mind or emotion/ body connection? Or, what do spirit and matter have to do with being human?”

In pursuing this question, my personal journey led me to years of esoteric wisdom studies and work as a Waldorf teacher. It recently guided me to the light and laughter I experience now as part of my work as a Simple Fool. Along the way, through alchemy (the depths of the earth) and astrology (the heights of the cosmos) I discovered that health is found in a happy heart. And in the human heart, where heaven and earth meet, lives the pure and playful wisdom of the fool. The jester and the clown? These are other names for the sagacious “fool.”

Like a child, the fool wisely points out what is really important by living in infinite imagination and creativity. The jester perceives the truth of a situation and points out the contradictions with humor, while the clown teaches us how to laugh, cry and play in a world that has become all too serious. These qualities are just what the healthy heart needs.

I found the fool when I was considering how best to be of service in the world. I have a deep love for humanity and have always wanted to serve as a teacher and healer. After years of social work and teaching elementary school, I began to see life as the great teacher and the wisdom of the self as the great healer. Thus I began looking for new ways to help others discover the healing wisdom within their own life experiences.

One day I found myself looking at a brochure for the Nose to Nose clown training. There were a few key words that pierced right through to my heart and I knew I had found my life’s work. Inner listening, presence, authenticity, relationship and transformation were a few of those words.

Now I am simply a fool. I do social clowning (as a modern day court jester) and I offer workshops on discovering the clown within. I love guiding people through the process. It is a deeply touching experience and I have found that the work penetrates to the very heart of a person. The fool lives in the realm of the heart, where one learns to better understand herself as a human being. This is what the fool has to teach about the heart.

(Dawn Stratton is a modern day court jester and fool who offers workshops on discovering the clown within. She runs The Simple Fool’s School of “Top Secret” esoteric clowning and is a student of the Nose to Nose school in the UK. For information on upcoming workshops please visit www.thesimplefool.com. Dawn can be contacted at dawn@thesimplefool.com.)