History & Concept

History of Laughter Yoga

In March 1995, DR. MADAN KATARIA, a medical doctor in Mumbai, India, decided to write an article called ‘Laughter - The Best Medicine’ for a medical journal. Through his research he discovered a large number of modern scientific studies that described in great length the many proven benefits of laughter on the human mind and body. In particular, Dr. Kataria was impressed by Norman Cousins' book ‘Anatomy of an Illness’ and the research work by Dr. Berk.

Profoundly inspired and being a man of action rather than a academic, Dr. Kataria immediately decided to field-test the impact of laughter on himself and others.

At 7 am on 13th March 1995 he went to his local public park and managed to persuade four people to join him in starting a ‘laughter club’. They laughed together in the park that day to the amusement of bystanders, but the small group quickly grew to more than 50 participants within a few days.

Concept & Philosophy of Laughter Yoga

Is it possible to Laugh for no Reason?
Contradicting popular belief, Laughter Yoga has proved that one does not need a sense of humor to laugh. Laughter can be learnt and programmed into the body to bring about a complete transformation. Research has proved that just 10-20 minutes of fake or real laughter has a profound impact on life.

It is generally believed that in the absence of humor, laughter is almost unthinkable. But, we cannot depend upon a sense of humor to create laughter, since humor is a phenomenon of the intellect, the mind. Moreover, humor is unique to the individual, their culture, and it varies from person to person. There may be few reasons for us to smile and laugh, while there are many reasons for us to be sad, depressed and frustrated.

In fact, regular conditioning while growing up has led to the undermining of emotional expression. If we notice, children are absolutely natural when it comes to laughing. Their laughter is not dependent on any external stimulus like jokes, comedy or humor. Adults, on the other hand, learn the art of suppressing emotions for fear of being ridiculed or facing a conflict, which proves to be detrimental in the pursuit of physical and mental well being.