 In
March 1995 Dr. Madan Kataria, a family physician from Mumbai, India,
decided to write an article called "Laughter - the best medicine"
for his monthly health magazine "My Family Doctor". His
desk research led him to discover an overwhelming body of scientific
literature that described in great length the proven benefits of
laughter on the human mind and body. In particular he was very impressed
by American journalist Norman Cousins' book "Anatomy of an
Illness" and the research work undertaken by Dr.
Berk from Loma Linda University. Profoundly inspired and being
a man of action rather than an academic, he immediately decided
to field-test the impact of laughter on himself.
At 7 am the next morning he went to his local public park and somehow
managed to motivate four people to start a “Laughter Club”
with him. This small group quickly grew to over 50 participants
within a few days.
In the beginning, everybody stood in a circle while one person
would come to the center and crack a joke or tell a humorous anecdote.
Everybody enjoyed the fun and felt nice for the rest of the day.
After about 2 weeks however the stock of good jokes ran out and
the "bad", hurtful, sexist jokes came up. Two women were
offended and complained. It became clear that an alternative to
jokes had to be found if this "Laughter Club" was to survive.
 Dr
Kataria re-read all of the scientific research he had on laughter
and found the answer he was looking for: the human mind doesn't
know how to make a distinction between fake and genuine laughter.
Either way it produces happy chemistry. The concept of laughing
for no reason was born. His wife Madhuri Kataria brought in her
experience as a Yoga Teacher and suggested gentle breathing and
other yoga exercises be included in the routine to deepen its impact.
The resulting Laughter Yoga technique is a blend of yogic deep
breathing, stretching, simulated laughter exercises and cultivated
child-like playfulness.
Started with just 5 people in 1995, it has grown into a world wide
movement with more than 5000 clubs in countries like India, USA,
Canada, Australia, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Switzerland,
Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Hungary, Ireland, Netherlands, Finland,
Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Dubai.
Laughter Yoga clubs have been covered by prestigious television
channels like BBC, CNN, ABC (USA), NHK (Japan), Channel 7 &
9 (Australia), ZDF Germany and newspapers, magazines like National
Geographic, New York Times, London Times, The Guardian, The Wall
Street Journal and many others.
You too can realize that:
* You do not need to have a sense of humor to laugh
* You do not need to be happy to laugh
* You do not need to have a reason to laugh
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