Dr. Madan Kataria: I have just concluded a very successful Laughter Tour to USA. As I landed in New York on April 7, I attended a laughter session in a Laughter club in Manhattan where I shared some new laughter exercises and also learnt about their activities. I was amazed to see the life changing experiences people were having with Laughter Yoga. In fact, the number of people attending the club is continuously increasing.

A big highlight of the tour was my meeting with the officials of Google at their headquarters in New York. Quite convinced about the concept, they were eager to implement Laughter Yoga activities in their office. I invited them to a public seminar which was attended by 60 people including 6 from Google. Believe me, they were all rolling on the floor laughing and did not stop until their stomachs started aching! Seeing their keen interest, I proposed a research based Laughter Yoga program where we can measure the outcome before and after the session. I hope Google starts 'giggling' and leads the corporate world to set an example of the power of laughter.

Between April 12 and 16, I did training for Laughter Yoga teachers from USA, Canada, Mexico, Chile, Venezuela and Zimbabwe. The training was a blast and was well covered by the Chicago Tribune. One day, we all went to the local laughter club called Park Ridge Hysterical Society Laughter Club! There were more than 100 people including us for the laughter session, at the end of which we all dined together. It was really a great experience.

Here is the link for the article and video

http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/happynews/ct-x-n-laughter-yoga-0421-20100421,0,3306608.story" target="_blank">http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/happynews/ct-x-n-laughter-yoga-0421-20100421,0,3306608.story

The end of the tour was even more exciting or should I say 'clouded'.  I was stuck in New York due to the volcanic ash cloud which led to cancellation of all flights through Europe. I stayed in NY for two days with a friend and then luckily managed to get a seat to Munich. After a wait for about eight hours at Munich airport, I finally arrived in Mumbai via Delhi.

It was quite an adventure. I must say I was fortunate to get away with reasonably less trouble than others who are still waiting to reach their destinations. I hope they can laugh their way through this crisis. Well, I did my bit to help them.  As I got plenty of time to talk to people at the airports, I went on to explain Laughter Yoga and made many of them laugh, which actually relieved their tension to some extent. On their part, their only mistake was to spot my Laughter Yoga T shirt! After which there was no stopping me… ha ha ha

Please have a look at some pix from the tour.

Public Seminar In NY