You may be wondering why there’s a World Laughter Day?

Because it’s important to remember from time to time just how much good laughter can do in our troubled world.

As I celebrate 20 years of practicing laughter yoga, I feel an even greater urgency to realize that when we laugh, we are TOGETHER! No power struggles, no arguments, no tension.

It’s a beautiful way to peace within us and around us!

Here’s the message I’ve prepared for this year.

MESSAGE FROM LINDA LECLERC, FOUNDER OF THE SCHOOL OF LAUGHTER YOGA

Nothing works as quickly on our state of mind as laughter. While we’re laughing together, it’s impossible to fight or stay angry! Laughter is a wonderful universal language that has the potential to unite mankind. Smile at someone and chances are they’ll smile back – and you’ll both feel great!

Every person possesses this wealth and treasure, which is a renewable resource! The more we laugh, the more we want to laugh and the easier it is to laugh!

In darker times, we can remember that the sun is still shining. Laughter is like the sun, bringing good cheer and light into our lives.

We all need a good laugh. The world is constantly in turmoil, and our sense of helplessness and insecurity is growing.

It’s not the first time, nor will it be the last, that we experience difficult times. Ups and downs are part of life. Quality of life doesn’t depend on what happens to us, but rather on how we react in these moments. We can’t change external circumstances. The easiest thing we can do is to change the way we feel inside, so now is the time to laugh intentionally – to light up our hearts and unite us.

Laughing helps us cultivate a positive mental attitude and develop love, forgiveness, generosity and compassion. These are the virtues we need for peace and harmony in our world.

I dream of the day when we’ll all be able to LAUGH – without judgment – simply by letting our hearts open to joy and life, thinking of all the good we do through this simple exercise. The good we do for ourselves, of course, but also the good we do for all mankind. The more we laugh, the happier we feel, and the more our joy is reflected around us… like circles in the water.

Today, all over the world, people will be laughing to join the great planetary community of laughers… making a concrete gesture to help reduce fears and tensions through the joyful sounds of laughter. An ambitious goal, but an achievable one, since RIRE UNIT!

Whether you’re alone or with others, today take the time to LAUGH for at least a minute! Open your arms to the sky and laugh! You’ll be part of a great movement that sends waves of love around the world. Call someone and laugh together! Make someone laugh as you walk by… It doesn’t matter! Share a moment of laughter.

I wish everyone a day filled with smiles and LAUGHTER! The kind that comes from the heart and spills out to those around us. The kind that makes our faces shine and our eyes sparkle, that makes us more tolerant and gentle with ourselves and others. It’s the kind we gradually rediscover through practice, and which helps us to live more serenely, with a lighter heart… I wish us HEARTY LAUGHTER!

And it’s LAUGHTER that I’m proposing to you too. Reach for the sky and send your laughter high. Really do it today. And why not every day?

Laughter, joy and health

Linda

If you’re in Montreal that day, join me at Centre St-Pierre (1212 rue Panet, métro Beaudry) in room 1205 from 1 to 2 p.m. for an hour of celebration and laughter! Register here to get your share of the cake (a party without cake isn’t a party!). And if you can’t physically be with me, participate live on the Laughter Yoga School YouTube channel!