Episode 3: Lora Pesant - Anxiety, Laughter and Joy

In this episode of As I, A Peer, Jeff Turner sits down with Lora Pesant, a laughter yoga facilitator, wellness educator, and longtime advocate for proactive mental health care.

Laura shares her lived experience growing up around addiction, navigating anxiety, and witnessing a parent’s late-in-life bipolar diagnosis and how those experiences shaped her relationship with safety, identity, and joy.

The conversation explores:

- How childhood instability can quietly plant the seeds of anxiety
- Why labels like “addict” or “disordered” don’t tell the full human story
- A traumatic solo travel experience that brought anxiety to the surface
- How laughter yoga became a practical, embodied tool for nervous system regulation
- The science-backed mental and physical benefits of intentional laughter
- Why joy doesn’t have to be earned—and how choosing it on purpose can be healing

Lora also breaks down what laughter yoga actually is (and what it isn’t), how it works in group settings, and why it’s being used in wellness spaces, conferences, and high-stress workplaces around the world.

Learn more about Loras work:
https://www.adventuresinwellness.ca/

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https://subscribepage.io/manage-over-...

Go here for more on personal wellness and peer support:
https://thejeffturner.ca/