A personal loss, the current international crisis that does not invite to hope or joy, anxious thoughts, a mix of unpleasant emotions: sadness, fear, anger, “stay put and don’t make too much noise” survival thoughts, these are all valid reasons that made me doubt whether I can still laugh.
I lost my last grandparent a few days ago and the funeral took place today. Due to multiple reasons, I could not attend the funeral. My thoughts are with my family and especially with my mother who went through a lot of distress.
Shall I cancel or not the It’s Laughter Yoga Time – 1 hour, online (The Laughter Room) workshop this evening, part of ‘The Laughter Room‘ social project? This question stayed with me during the past days. If I decide to facilitate the session, will this be considered unappropriate? Am I suppose to just wear black and be only sad? Will my action be miss-interpreted? Can I still facilitate the session? Can I still laugh?
After all, there are no reasons to laugh or to feel joy. And why shall I laugh when I feel a mixture of unpleasant emotions, amongst which sadness? And don’t get me wrong, I will not reject these unpleasant emotions. It’s not healthy.
Instead, I do accept these unpleasant emotions and I welcome them. I give them space to manifest and go through me.
However, laughing may seem strange, especially in a context of sadness. Some may consider it disrespectful. And although I feel a great deal of emotional discomfort, I know that practicing intentional laughter could bring ease. It would be like a little bandage or ointment on a wound.
After all, laughter has multiple effects on our physiology and psychology.
We have the tendency to want to isolate when we are sad, when it would actually benefit us more to be with other people. And sometimes getting isolated is what we need and could also be the best thing for us. But this evening, instead of isolating myself, I chose to spend it together with other people, facilitating laughter yoga for their well-being and as well as my own.
Laughing can be so therapeutical!
We can laugh also through difficulty, sickness and sorrow. And this laughter can ease us and make us lighter, nourishing us from within.
So I decided in the end to facilitate this evening’s laughter yoga workshop and the theme will be EMOTIONS. (the unpleasant ones included, but in a easy way).
If you want to participate, you can still REGISTER: https://forms.gle/Zh1kAR4EkgSRXo8c9
And if you cannot make it this evening, the next workshop is on Monday, 7th of March.
Laugh & Do Good
In exchange of the workshop please make a donation of minim 10 euros to any cause/charity that you support.
Given the recent crisis in Ukraine, I highly recommend you donate to any of the fundraising causes. Some options for donations are in this article: https://www.globalcitizen.org/…/ways-to-help…/…
More info on “It’s Laughter Yoga Time” workshop: https://www.facebook.com/events/993529931596776 or via https://gabrieladspencer.com/laughter-yoga/
By the way, the sun started to shine through my living room, whilst writing this post.
Gabriela D. Spencer 