Episode Linda Leclerc – Post-covid reflections summer 2022

My name is Linda Leclerc and I’m the founder of the Laughter Yoga School and the HAHA Sisterhood. Welcome to the joy element, the feel-good and inspiring walks. Today’s episode is a little different. I’ve chosen to address you directly to share a few thoughts that came to mind following two events.

The first is that a few weeks ago, I got covid myself, and yes, I had the nasty virus in my body. You can probably already hear it in my voice, because well, I’m a little hoarse, a little congested. My energy’s still not back to what it was before, but things are still going pretty well and I’m recovering at the speed my body is recovering.

I take care of myself, I rest and that’s what’s important. But I discovered a few things while I was down with this nasty virus. The first thing was that I had very little energy to do my usual things, so I was dragging myself, so to speak. I dragged myself between my bed and my armchair, taking naps, trying to read, trying to stay awake.

And on several occasions, I had the opportunity, or rather I took the time, because it was one of the only things I was able to do. So I took the time to go and watch videos on You Tube, stuff I hadn’t necessarily had time to explore for a long time.

So there were several things I’d put aside. And then I thought, if this is the only thing I can do, I’ll do it. So I went and watched some videos. And in doing so, I suddenly realized that I was sending myself several e-mails with songs that had made me smile, that made me want to dance, that made me feel good, and I said to myself “This is my opportunity to increase the collection of songs for the MusiKa Saturday e-mail.” Because every Saturday morning, subscribers to the Laughter Yoga School newsletter receive a little e-mail with a song that sometimes makes you sing, sometimes makes you smile, sometimes makes you feel good.

Sometimes, it’s songs that just lull you to sleep, but it’s always something that I’ve discovered or that someone in the team has discovered and so there, while I was just knocked out for recovery, my convalescence from Covid, well I probably added a good twenty or so and then I thought Wow, that’s really nice because I never have time to go and put on that many.

And now I’ve increased the collection for several weeks, so I thought. Well, with any situation, there’s always a way to discover a silver lining for what’s happening to us. and the silver lining has been well, I’ve been forced to do very little. I’ve been forced to watch stuff. Well, not forced, but I chose because I was forced by necessity to do almost nothing intellectual because my brain didn’t want to. It’s fascinating to discover that I’m very happy, just the fact of discovering that I’d increased, that I’d added to the collection of songs Bonne humeur pour samedi Musika, that made me feel good. I felt like here I am, I’ve just tipped over to the healing side, good mood rather than being on the side, I’m really not well. My body is really not well. Things are not normal and I don’t know how long it’s going to last. It’s uncomfortable. I’m not sleeping well, I’m coughing, I’m congested. It sucks, all right.

You can see where I’m going with this. A few days later, I had to listen to an episode. I listen to a lot of podcasts. Well, I listen to them in English, in French, things that have to do with business, things that have to do with mindset, psychology. I’m interested in all kinds of things. I find it fascinating. I’ve always loved it, and I’ve loved it for a few years now, because I started the Element of Joy podcast at the beginning of 2016, when people didn’t know about podcasts back then. But today, everyone has their own podcast, and it’s perfect because there’s such a wide variety.

And so I was listening to an episode of Happiness Lab and a psychologist who teaches positive psychology was talking with a specialist, a doctor who also works in psychology, who intervenes with people who have cancer and what the person was asking her as a question. In fact, the doctor was saying, “Have you noticed that there are things, behaviors that have changed since the pandemic, since March 2020?”

And my observation was that recently, I’m finding it increasingly difficult to find my place in large groups, in crowds. I’m having trouble, and it’s not necessarily because I’m not well.

It’s just that I have trouble staying long. I used to live in downtown Montreal. I’d go to the jazz festival, I’d bathe in the crowds. I’ve always had jobs where I was around people a lot, a lot. What I’m realizing is that since 2020, we’ve sort of gone into our own bubble, so we see very few people.

We see our spouses, family members, relatives. Gatherings were forbidden for so long that now we’re happy to get together. But I seem to be getting more tired. It’s like I’m getting tired after a few hours spent in a group, in a crowd.

What the psychologist was saying was that our brains have become accustomed to not having contact, to not having so many people around us. And now, it’s as if we’re going to have to get used to it again, and it’s not going to happen by itself. We’re going to have to get used to seeing people, being surrounded by people, having lots of social contact.

It’s strange because I’ve always seen myself as, as I used to say in Quebec, a social bible, a bible is a bug, so it’s an animal, an insect. So I’ve always seen myself as a very social person. And to notice that I’m feeling more tired, that I’m feeling less energy, it seems that it’s taking more energy out of me now. It came looking for something and now it’s asking me for more. So I need to go back to my cave to recover some of my energy.

I was reassured to hear it from specialists because I don’t know if you’ve noticed the same thing at home, but it seems that after being in our own bubble, there are things that, even certain social contacts, we just don’t want as much. We’re less tempted. I used to hear my mother say, “I’ve always liked going to the theater and the cinema. I get to meet new friends, and now it just doesn’t seem to appeal to me as much.”

And that made me smile, because I realized that it’s not just me! It’s widespread. It’s in everyone. There are things where we’re going to rethink our perception. We’re also going to review our social calendar.

Perhaps there are some who have fallen back into contact with delight, with great pleasure. As for me, I know it requires more energy and I’ve only just realized it.

I’m curious, I don’t know if you’ve noticed any changes of this kind, but I seriously believe that two and a half years of pandemic will leave its mark. I also see it when I drive, because I’ve noticed that a lot of people drive very aggressively.

It’s almost as if you’re on your own. “I own the road. And I used to see that. But today, I see it even more. There’s a kind of social ethic of sharing the road that’s not quite back, whereas it used to be a bit more there.

I hope very much that it will come back, because it’s important. Living together is important because it’s one of the things I believe that when you realize that what affects one part of the whole affects the whole. At that point, you can’t go on thinking that“I’ll do my own thing, and the rest of you can get on with it. I’ll do my thing, you do yours. Mind your own business, I’ll mind mine. I’ve decided to turn the music up really loud. I have the right, I’m at home, this is my stuff”.

Yes, but if the neighbor works at night and he needs to recuperate during the day, sleep if he can’t sleep, he too has the right to recuperate his time, his space, his energy. He too has the right to say “I have the right”.

It’s probably going to be a while before the social, community and collective aspects come back.

But I think that if we become aware of it, each for ourselves, if we become aware of it, if we also become aware that things annoy us perhaps a little more than before, because we were used to being just us in our little bubble. So there’s no annoyance. There are no compromises, no concessions to be made, so I think it’s to our advantage to carry on if we haven’t stopped, and above all to start allowing ourselves to laugh together, each on our own, a little more every day.

That was my thought for the day. Talk to me. Tell me what it’s like on your end? What’s going on? Have you noticed things too? Do you feel more sociable than before? Do you also feel a bit more private than before? I’m really interested. I wish you a beautiful end of day.

Thank you for listening to this episode, which I hope will inspire you. To find out more about the Laughter Yoga School’s programs and activities, visit www.yogadurire.com. And for the community of women who laugh intentionally, visit www.hahasisterhood.com. Have a great day!

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