Tag Archive for: emotions

When it overflows

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It’s not exactly the comeback I’d imagined.

These days, nature is giving me a good lesson in humility (I felt like writing about humidity!).

🌊 The ice jam is flooding the land where I spend my summer vacations.

The river is completely out of its banks.

Water seeps in everywhere.

She gets around obstacles, finds unexpected passages… and unfortunately, I’m afraid she’s done some damage to my trailer (for Europeans, a trailer is what you call a caravan!).

Let’s just say it’s not exactly the peaceful return I imagined when I got home on Sunday evening.

Because I’ve just returned from a weekend in Montreal, my heart still full of what we experienced together.

My weekend

✨ For two days, I had the privilege of training nine extraordinary women who have now become laughter yoga facilitators.

Nine new carriers of joy, ready to go out and spread laughter in their communities.

So on one side, joy overflows.
And on the other… so does the river.

Life sometimes has a funny sense of timing.

One moment, we’re celebrating.
The next, we’re pulling out our boots and assessing the damage.

And yet, even in all this upheaval, I sense something important:

What we cultivate internally always ends up sustaining us “when the waters rise”.

Rising water… like emotions

💧 And as I watch the water seek its way all around me, I remember one important thing:

Emotions are a bit like water.

When they rise – stress, worry, fatigue, sadness – they look for a way through.

If you block them for too long, they always end up overflowing somewhere.

And often not at the right time or place.

That’s why I attach so much importance to these moments when we breathe, move and laugh together.

Not to escape reality.
But to allow energy to circulate.

Because when joy circulates… we become much more solid in the face of the unexpected.

Even in the face of a trailer not designed to take on water.

So, I’d like to ask you…

What about you? Is your energy flowing… or is it stuck somewhere?

🌀 Your mission this week

Take a few minutes each day to let the energy flow.

🌬️ Breathe deeply.
🤸 Move your body a little.
😄 And if possible… laugh.

You don’t need a perfect reason.

Just remind your nervous system that there’s more to life than ice jams.

Until it melts, I salute you with a smile!

Affectionately yours,

Laughter, joy and health

Linda

On grief… losing a friend

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Losing a friend…

Last month, I recorded a rather unusual video. Very vulnerable and open. Without make-up or lipstick.

Why did I want to make this video?

To tell my story. To reveal myself… and to share.

If you’ve ever attended one of my lectures or workshops, you’ve heard me tell the story of how laughter yoga came into my life. Following a car accident – a “badly wrapped” gift, as I like to say.

You’ve also heard me talk about my friend Manon, with whom I stayed during my weekend training as a laughter yoga facilitator in Montreal. My “dignified” and smiling psychologist friend, a serious and responsible manager. She was the same one who watched me laugh as I showed her how to do the welcoming laugh, and who replied that “you had to be there”!

She didn’t understand the idea of intentional laughter at all, but was nonetheless amused to see me so enthusiastic and bubbly as I explained what we’d done and what I’d experienced on that first day of training.

My beautiful friend Manon died suddenly in her bed at home a few days ago. In secret…

With no response to my calls or texts, I decided to call her cousin to ask if I could leave her something for my friend. And it was she who told me the sad news…

Not only had Manon passed away, but none of her immediate family had access to her contacts, so I didn’t find out until after the funeral.

Phew!

The next day, I had to go to Val David to record a podcast episode with two wonderful people, Laura and William from DoshayogaCommunity.

Laura was concerned about my state of mind and my morale – the news upset me enormously – and suggested postponing the meeting. But knowing that I wouldn’t be available later, I decided to go ahead. In spite of everything.

Now you’ll understand why.

Why did I go?

I’m the one who talks about joy, laughter and good humor.

I share with you some tips to take things with more lightness, benevolence and sparkle!

But grief, mourning and hard knocks are also part of life. For me, as for you, it’s part of my life.

Many people are tempted to put off their emotions for fear of judgment, for fear of not being able to “get back on track”, to get out of the “hole”. When it’s too sad, too difficult, we try to apply a temporary balm so as not to suffer. Some drink, some take pills. Anyway, you know what I mean.

As my university professor used to say… What we resist persists.

I didn’t want to force things and laugh at all costs. No. Instead, I chose to show that it’s possible to keep a cheerful heart despite grief and life’s difficult moments.

While I laughed softly with them, I didn’t think about my great sorrow. I was simply living. And I remembered the joy of having had such a wonderful woman in my life. I would almost say that I felt her presence by my side during those moments in that magical place.

I don’t laugh ALL the time! This week, I’ve been experimenting with tears a lot. And that’s OK! I KNOW my laughter is there… right next to it.

What happened

A few days ago, I suggested an exercise to subscribers to the École newsletter. The blackhead exercise.

As I mourned the loss of this precious friend, someone unknowingly taught me a tremendous lesson.

In her comment to my FB post, she reminded me to think about all that remains, all that is. Not to dwell on what’s missing, what’s gone. I was forgetting her. (Yes! Even I forget sometimes!)

Another did me a lot of good when she said that “the pain of mourning is love that doesn’t know where to go“. As I read it, I began to direct all that love towards her, towards my friend, towards the sky, towards the birds, towards the flowers, towards my family… what’s left. And I felt better.

Tears and laughter

Tears are laughter’s little cousins. They’re very close sometimes! And they’re also part of life.

I’m just like you. I experience challenges, mourning, not-so-easy times. But I know that the sun shines above the clouds and I focus on what is and what remains.

Let’s raise our heads. Let’s look to the sky. Smile lightly. Celebrate what has been and what remains.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart, my beautiful Manon d’amour. Thank you for the beautiful trace you leave in my life and in our hearts.

Laughter, joy and health

Linda

Let our emotions run wild!

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Let our emotions flow… there’s nothing more HEALTHY!

At a certain point in my life, I believed – wrongly, you’re right – that I should never be angry. That it’s wrong to be angry.

Well, no! It’s far from bad. In fact, it’s good. What isn’t is the way it’s sometimes expressed. When it ends up in violent gestures. People then express their angry emotions in the wrong way.

I found an illustrated series on the web a few days ago and these innocent little drawings really spoke to me. I felt moved as I unrolled the screen. It’s so true! You can’t repress a desire to drink. So why should we repress a feeling?

When we wrote our book The Yoga of Laughter, Corinne Cosseron and I were determined to include a section on emotions. Laughing is good (very, very good indeed!), but just because we laugh doesn’t mean we should ignore our emotions! They speak to us, telling us that something isn’t right. And we have to let them speak.

When I give talks to certain groups of people who work in a profession where we have to remain neutral – I’m thinking here of police officers, for example – I tell them that it’s very important to reserve a space for ourselves where our emotions can continue to tell us things. These people can’t really let themselves be overwhelmed by them because of the neutral role they play in society, but it’s important not to continually ignore them. They won’t disappear, but they will be repressed… and what pushes its way out, ends up coming out in ways that aren’t always acceptable or healthy.

People sometimes think I laugh all the time. Because that’s what I teach, I should laugh all the time? Pffffff… make me laugh! I feel my share of emotions, just like any normal, well-balanced human being. I experience anger, sadness and joy. The whole gamut! I’m not always attentive to what my emotions are telling me. I’m learning too!

But when I feel anger building up, I take the time to ask myself what’s going on and why I’m feeling this emotion. If I’m in the car and stressed by traffic or road conditions, I welcome that anger and thank it… When I feel sad, I listen to what that little voice is telling me… and I take the time to “rock myself”, to comfort myself, to say words of love to myself.

I’m not trying to cheer myself up at all costs! No. If that’s what’s coming up, then I listen. And, by not ignoring what’s going on inside me, I somehow make peace with life… and then I can move on with more serenity.

There’s nothing to do! We’re all human. Creatures with human experiences. Not always pleasant. Not always fair. Simply human!

Do these illustrations speak to you too? Let me know what you think.

Laughter, joy and health

Linda

n.b. These lovely illustrations are by Fanny, Wellness Artist.