Dr. Kataria’s Laughter Yoga Diary

PANGEA DAY- LAUGHTER TAKES THE WORLD BY STORM

“The most surprising and uplifting films was about the ‘laughter clubs’ of India, headed by Dr. Madan Kataria, who hopes to establish 1 million of these clubs across the world. On Saturday, he and actress Goldie Hawn led the audience in several moments of roaring laughter across the planet. “When you laugh, you change,” Kataria told the crowd, “And when you change, the whole world changes around you.” - Los Angeles Times report on Pangea Day, May 2008

I always dreamt of having laughter sessions in different parts of the world. I wished for major television channels like BBC and CNN to telecast all laughter celebrations and reach out to the people in very corner of the globe. Read more…

This is a collection of selected Laughter Yoga exercises from the vast repertoire of Dr. Kataria’s years of experience and understanding of the concept. It is an effective blend of yogic, playful and value based exercises which will keep your exercise routine full of dynamism and energy.

It is a great resource for Laughter Yoga teachers who wish to train laughter leaders and also for those interested in learning more about Laughter Yoga sessions and want to practice laughter exercises for complete physical and psychological wellness. Read more…

5-day Certified Laughter Yoga Teacher Training
Interlaken Switzerland - 28th May -1st June 2008 (Wed – Sun)
Villa Unspunnen, Oberdorf, Wilderswil
Training fee 795 Euros (not including meals & accommodation)
For details click here
Contact : info@villaunspunnen.ch
http://www.villaunspunnen.ch
Telephone: +41 33 821 04 44

Read more…

What is World Laughter Day?

“World Laughter Day” was created in 1998 by Dr. Madan Kataria, founder of the worldwide Laughter Yoga movement. The celebration of World Laughter Day is a positive manifestation for world peace and is intended to build up a global consciousness of brotherhood and friendship through laughter. Its popularity has grown exponentially with that of the Laughter Yoga movement (now counting over 6000 Laughter Clubs worldwide on all 5 continents). Read more…

Dear Laughter friends,

Today is World Laughter Day and a very auspicious day for the whole planet. Our mission is to bring good Health, Joy and World Peace through laughter. Thousands of people are gathering around the world to show solidarity and commitment towards this goal. Read more…

Yoga Nidra - The Ultimate Relaxation Technique by Dr. Madan Kataria

In this highly stressed out world today, people have no time to relax and sleep. As a result, they are irritated throughout the day which adversely affects their work performance and lowers their potential.

Just 30 minutes of Yoga Nidra is equivalent to two hours of ordinary sleep. It is the fastest way to recharge and relax both body and mind. Read more…

It was the first time I visited Korea from 20 - 25 of March. I was alone on this tour as Madhuri was still recuperating from her accident. The people of Korea were eagerly awaiting my arrival. They were full of enthusiasm and excitement at the prospect of laughter seminars and workshops. Read more…

I was invited to Bali, Indonesia to hold Laughter Yoga workshops during the Bali Spirit Festival between 12th -15th of March, 2008. In my first laughter workshop, I met a young man Kadek who started the first laughter club in Bali six months ago. Read more…

We have visited Japan between the 1st and the 10th of March for a series of public seminars and laughter leadership training.

Our trip to the land of the ‘Rising Sun’ was a dream come true. For many years, I longed to go to Japan as I had heard several interesting and fascinating stories about the country. The workers in Japan began their day by doing some exercises and it was my vision to teach them Laughter Yoga and help them to incorporate it in their daily routine. Read more…

The Annual Laughter Yoga Conference, 2007 was held from September 6th - 8th in Trivandrum, India. Attended by more than 300 delegates from the country, the conference was an exhilarating experience for all.

Each day began with a rejuvenating laughter session early morning and ended with fun filled cultural programs and competitions.

Opening ceremony: The conference began with a colorful procession led by traditional percussionists from Kerala with their ‘Panchvadiya’ drums. The participants went round the hotel singing and chanting the magical mantra of ho ho ha ha ha. There was excitement in the air as the pageant culminated in the conference hall for the opening ceremony. After the formal introduction, Dr. Madan Kataria and his wife Madhuri made an impressive entry as they danced their way on stage. This was followed by the customary lighting of the lamp and a spectacular performance of ‘Kathakali’, a traditional dance form of Kerala.

Other highlights

Inter club exchange program: Dr. Kataria stressed on the need for more inter club exchange programs both in India and abroad. These programs would help leaders and the members to connect with each other and gather more information about the movement.

Laughter magazine: A new quarterly E- magazine on Laughter Yoga will be launched in January 2008. It will be a comprehensive journal giving all relevant information about Laughter Yoga, new trends and development and much more.

Stress on Laughter Yoga for children: Laughter Yoga among school children was a major highlight of the conference. Reports proved that Laughter Yoga is very beneficial to school children as it helped reduce their pressures and tensions in academics and interpersonal relations.

This story sketches the complete essence of laughter clubs and how they help people to deal with negative and challenging situations in real life. Laughter eases tension and tackles obstacles positively and cheerfully.

Last month the members of the ABC Laughter Club in Thane, Mumbai decided to arrange a picnic. Excited about the outing they set out with the entire paraphernalia looking forward to a great time.

But as luck would have it nothing turned out right as the day dawned. Peter’s Principle was at its best which states that anything that can go wrong will go wrong. Firstly, members were late in assembling and there was utter chaos. To add to the confusion the bus had a flat tyre even before the journey began. People started pacing up and down in sheer disappointment.

The driver and his assistant got down to fix the flat tyre as fast as they could. It was a big job and some club members pitched in to help. The other club members surrounded them and started a laughter session. As they laughed together, tension seemed to disappear. People forgot the delay and started to laugh heartily.

Soon they were on their way feeling refreshed and recharged. Laughter helped them to cope with the state of distress.

On reaching the picnic spot all was forgotten and the members had a great time laughing and having fun together.

Off with my hair! Finally, I have been able to get rid of a pretence that I held on for years. I can now enjoy my new found freedom. I am now the ‘Bald and the Beautiful’. Ha ha ha

It all began years ago when like several youngsters; I too set foot in Mumbai with starry ambitions to become a rich and famous doctor. I tried almost everything in my capacity to reach the skies but I soon realized that it was not easy. My quests did not succeed and I slumped into a bout of depression. I started loosing my hair due to stress and soon there was hardly any left. This became a cause of concern to me and my wife, Madhuri, who insisted on masking it with a hairpiece. After much persuasion I eventually gave in and that was perhaps the beginning of carrying my own falsities on my head. I realized that I was not my real self and was pretending in many aspects of my life.

I may have looked good but believe me my slick mop of hair did nothing to make me feel good. I had fallen into a make believe world which was creating a conflict within.

Come 29^th June, 2007, I had had enough. No more masking and no more pretending. I threw my masks away and found my liberty.

What I learnt from my hairy tale was that if you want to laugh and be a natural it is important to find your true identity. The real ‘You’. If you pretend to be what you’re not it will take a lot of energy to hold on to the pretence. It is important to be honest and truthful to yourself. Do not mask your appearance at the cost of masking your happiness within.

Readers Digest Canada have invited me to launch a nationwide smile campaign in a major media event in Toronto on 19 April. If you’re in the area please join us for a great laugh-in!

Press release
Media advisory follows: Photo opportunity - Reader’s Digest launches their Smile Campaign
TORONTO, April 19 /CNW Telbec/ - Reader’s Digest Canada invites you to
start spring with a smile and a belly laugh with the launch of the Smile
Campaign. Join Reader’s Digest, Dr. Madan Kataria and members of the High Park
Laughter Club for a half-hour session of Hasya yoga (”laughter wisdom”).
Reader’s Digest representatives will also be handing out smile cards to
encourage the public to share a smile - with friends, family or even a
complete stranger.
The event will be held on Tuesday, April 24, 2007 from 12:00 noon -
1:00 p.m. at the Toronto Eaton Centre, Trinity Way, 220 Yonge Street.

WHAT: Reader’s Digest Smile Campaign Launch
Public “Laughter” Yoga session

WHERE: Toronto Eaton Centre
Trinity Way (mall entrance to Sears, main floor)
Media desk sign-in located between the western mall doors and the
entrance to Sears
220 Yonge Street, Toronto ON M5B 2H1

WHEN: Tuesday, April 24, 2007
12:00 noon - 1:00 p.m.

WHO: Dr. Madan Kataria, Founder, Hasya Yoga
Peter Stockland, Editor-in-Chief, Reader’s Digest Canada
High Park Laughter Club

Creative laughter yoga teacher Jeffrey Briar of Laguna Laughter Club has announced the 1st “Laughter at Sea” cruise, from Los Angeles to Ensenada, Mexico departing October 12-15.

This fun and laughter filled vacation includes a morning Laughter Club At Sea, a Laughter-Go-Round (share new laughter exercises inspired by the day’s excursion in Ensenada), “Stress-Free in Seven Seconds” — laughter practices which catapult us quickly into joyfulness and freedom from worry and a “Grand Gibberish Reception”.
Jeffrey will also present his new multimedia presentation “The Birth, Care and Feeding of a Successful Laughter Club”.

Cruise on Royal Caribbean’s luxurious “Monarch of the Seas” cruise ship — in addition to the laughter yoga program activities include 24-hour fine dining, live stage show nightly, gym, spa, swimming pools, jacuzzis, rock climbing wall, basketball courts, dancing in several lounges, duty-free shopping, and a full casino.

The cost of the 3-day weekend, including laughter programs, meals, and three nights’ lodging is from $410 per person. Space is limited and prices will increase – quick registration is recommended.

For information contact the Jeffrey at Laguna Laughter Club phone/fax (949) 376-1939, or e-mail info@lyinstitute.org. Register for the cruise at www.connectiontocruise.com

It gives me great pleasure and satisfaction to see that a church in America has adopted laughter yoga as their health ministry to their community.

The ‘Our Savior’ Lutheran Church in  Lansing, Iowa sent Pastor Laura Gentry to train as a CLY Leader. She started the first laughter club in Iowa in their church, but within three weeks the group became too large and moved to a nearby community center.

Pastor Laura is coming to Los Angeles to train with me as a CLY Teacher so she can spread her ministry of laughter further afield by training more laughter leaders.

The church is proud to be known as the laughing church and has changed the church Web site to www.laughinglutherans.com.

The laughter club is extremely successful and growing fast. Its been reported in  the US Lutheran website.

Here are some testimonials from their members:

“Laughter Yoga is so powerful. After each meeting, I feel totally exhilarated, tingling with happiness and  impressed with the widened sense of well-being that I have! ”
—Melanie Wittman

“A lot of people get too serious but here you can just cut loose and act any way you want.  It is so nice to feel free to be yourself!”
—Gary Jones

“The time goes bam. You get to giggling and it’s gone. It feels so … oh honey, you just come home feeling like, woo, you really feel good. It makes your whole evening.”  —Avis Davis

“I think if people would come to Laughter Club on a continuous basis, they’d see a big difference in their day to day living.  It really relieves stress and helps you meaningfully connect with other people.”
—Gene Scott

“It’s fun for the whole family.  Our three year-old totally loves it!”
—Vern Timmerman

“I’m  really surprised how quickly our church’s Laughter Club has taken off.  It is a good ice breaker for people to get to know one another. It’s such a fantastic outreach that it’s hardly a laughing matter!”
—Congregational President, Don Thran

This notice in from Chrihihihistian Hablützel in Zurich about his WLD preparation (www.lachparade.ch).

These photos from John in Taiwan show his club in training for WLD.

Orange County - http://www.hahayoga.com/ (guest of Honor - Dr Madan Kataria)

Laugh Angeles - http://www.laughangeles.com/world-laughter-day.php (guest of Honor - Dr Madan Kataria)

Denver Laughs - http://www.denverlaughs.com/

Paris France - http://clubderire.free.fr/RIR07English.htm

Santa Barabara - http://www.laughingtojoy.com/world-laughter-day

Canada - http://worldlaughterday.ca/

Richmond Hill - http://www.laughtoronto.com/blog/WorldLaughterDayMay6/_archives/2007/4/1/2849734.html

Hamilton NJ - http://forum.aath.org/threadView.aspx?id=51

Please send notices of your events, then photos and a brief report to billgee@laughteryoga.org

Because of the recent explosion of interest about laughter yoga, the Dr Kataria School of Laughter Yoga is in the process of preparing a series of self-study modules.

These are short self-study courses for people who are seriously interested and wish to learn more about laughter yoga. They will not lead to professional certification, which requires personal training with properly qualified laughter yoga teachers who provide practical training and personal guidance.

• The first self study module will provide an introduction to laughter yoga, including a brief history and the theory & science behind laughter yoga.
• Another module will cover the practical side of laughter yoga, how laughter yoga sessions work, warm-up exercises, group dynamics and introduce different styles of laughter yoga for special groups, for example fitness, social, seniors, schools, hospitals and more.

Further modules will deal with laughing alone and laughter yoga for special groups.

All modules will be prepared and presented by Dr Madan Kataria, the founder of laughter yoga and will include the latest techniques and developments in this rapidly developing field.

LAUGHTER YOGA CERTIFICATION

Laughter yoga recognizes two levels of professional certification. These are taught in face to face group training sessions and will never be offered online.
The first level of laughter yoga certification of CLY Leader (Certified Laughter Yoga Leader) requires a minimum of two days of training with a certified teacher. Some teachers extend the course to three days to provide additional skill training.

In addition to completing the training, leaders are expected to be familiar with the content of Dr Kataria’s book ‘Laugh for No Reason’. Contact your local laughter leaders or teachers for information about CLYL training courses in your region.
The second level of certification is the CLY Teacher (Certified Laughter Yoga Teacher). This is a five day training course currently offered only by Dr Kataria, who travels to provide training in different parts of the world. See Dr Kataria’s training schedule here.

Further training modules are in development and will be made available when they are ready.

Laughter yoga is constantly developing as improvements and breakthroughs are made in techniques, exercises and scientific research. We have instituted an ongoing education program to upgrade the skill levels of our existing laughter yoga leaders and teachers to make sure that all participants get the best laughter yoga services possible.

On 7th January 2007 we were invited to a 6th annual laughter competition day organized by Aarey Walkers & Laughter Club.

They invited 10 laughter clubs from western Mumbai. The unique feature of this year’s competition was that each laughter club was to send 10 members to present a “Theme Story”, incorporating laughter exercises into their stories.

It was amazing to see the creativity and playfulness that laughter club members have developed over the years. These ordinary people have developed a remarkable sense of humor through laughter.

Here are some of the examples of theme stories from the competition:

The award winning story was about an American couple coming to visit laughter clubs in India. Each group member wore an outfit representing a different state in India and each was laughing, dancing and talking in a different way. The American couple was amazed by the diversity of Indian laughter clubs.

The story which I liked best didn’t win a prize. It was about 9 laughter club members walking to a laughter club when they found a person lying by the road looking like he is about to die. One said take him to the hospital. Another said No No No nothing doing — there is no medicine like laughter. We’ll revive him with laughter. They checked his respiration and pulse and then started doing laughter exercises around and over him. After two exercises he started moving his fingers and toes. After more laughter exercises he improves further then gets up and start laughing and dancing with them. Ho ho ha ha and no need to go to iCU.

Another story was about a laughter group that went out on a picnic and did different laughter exercises while they were having food, talking on the mobile, discussing and arguing with each other.

Another club presented a story in which the laughter leader explains about a guest who stayed in his house. The guest was a poet. They made different laughter exercises out of his good and bad habits — for example he burped and farted out loud, made lot of noise while eating. It was very funny.

SHOWTIMES UPDATE: East Coast at 3pm, West Coast at 6pm (we think, please check your local TV guide)
The wave of media interest in laughter yoga that has been building steadily shows no signs of slowing down.

The Oprah Winfrey Show is the latest to express an interest in laughter yoga. Last week they invited Jeffrey Briar and Sebastien Gentry to fly to Chicago to film a laughter yoga session for the show.

I am very happy about this. While laughter yoga gets constant attention from BBC, ABC, NBC, ZDF and many other TV stations, it is most often their news departments who film us.

Oprah is a different kind of show. Her concerns seem to be oriented towards helping her viewers to achieve health, happiness and joy, and that is perfectly in accordance with laughter yoga.

My personal thanks go to Oprah and her team for shining their spotlight on laughter yoga.

I understand the segment will screen this Wednesday 11 April in the USA. Let’s hope they mention World Laughter Day that falls on May 6 this year.

Watch out for it.

Despite mismanagement, chaos, corruption and poverty, Indian people strike me as much happier than those I meet in many other countries. The reason is the very strong family system.When you visit small towns or villages in India people treat you like a god. There is a saying in India – “atithi devo bhava” – this means ‘the guest is like a god’, and they really do treat guests like gods.

After a year of traveling abroad the power of Indian hospitality was again highlighted when my wife Madhuri and I visited laughter club leader Mr. Bhandari for dinner at his home. On entering their home, they put a red mark on our foreheads with a few grains of rice and adorned us with garlands.

The Bhandari family’s two grand daughters sang a welcome song with words ‘you came to our house, we are very lucky, please come again.’

I was surprised to find that 18 members of the Bhandari family live in the same building. They meet everyday like a joint family though they are living on different floors. They all joined together in the preparation and enjoyment of dinner and they support each other in many ways. There was great feeling of a united family which is not often seen in other countries.

This reminded me of the welcomes that Merv Neal from Australia received and recounted when he visited a laughter club family in Baroda, India under the inter club exchange program last year.

Watch out for our international laughter club exchange program launching later this year. There are hundreds of Indian laughter club families waiting for guests to be treated like Gods.

To arrange homestay in India with a laughter club family please contact raj@laughteryoga.org including details of your laughter club.