Dr. Kataria’s Laughter Yoga Diary

Everyone has needs and wants, and we are all striving to lead happy and fulfilling lives. We do what we can to achieve our goals, but sometimes even our best efforts are not enough. The brain is a powerful and impressive force, but it is also vulnerable and limited, and cannot solve every problem. This is when connecting to a higher power or spirituality can be helpful. Read more…

Currently I am busy shooting a video and writing a book on how to laugh alone and I thought that this story clearly retells the fact that it is possible to laugh all by yourself. Try it, you’ll laugh too. I did. Read more…

Every once in a while, a moment or event will come along and remind us of our purpose on this earth. Over the last month, I have had two life-affirming experiences that made me very grateful and happy to be doing the work that I do. Read more…

Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a special type of depression that sets around Thanksgiving holidays. Around half a million Americans suffer from SAD every year with the change of season. They experience serious mood changes, access sleep, low energy levels and craving for sweet and starchy food.

Laughter is an extremely powerful tool that counters depression. Most people laugh when in a good mood, but very few can laugh when they’re sad. You must have observed that people who laugh frequently are less likely to be depressed, whereas depressed people hardly laugh. Read more…

Did you know that I used to be a stage actor for about 9 years during my college days. I think actor and doctor combination has worked wonders for spreading Laughter Clubs ha ha ha. In the month of August 2007 I was invited to do a laughter yoga seminar with an actors academy in Mumbai.

There were about 80 aspiring actors and actresses who attended the session. After the session Laughter Yoga has become part of their curriculum. I have some insights about how laughter yoga can help public speakers, actors, singers and other performing artists to overcome stage fright, and help them communicate and perform to the maximum.

Research has proved a well established link between the body and mind. It has been found that the state of mind, whether positive or negative, is mirrored in a corresponding bodily expression or ‘body behavior’. Bodily enacting of any emotional behavior triggers a similar change in the state of mind.

Dr. Dale Anderson (Minnesota USA) tells of an American actor who did tragic roles for so long that she went into a depression with classical physical symptoms. She turned to her doctors, but after extensive physical testing she was declared physically healthy. After taking advice from psychologists the doctors advised her to stop playing tragic roles and turn to comedy. She followed their advice and her symptoms and depression disappeared.

These facts can form the basis of helping actors, public speakers and other stage artists who sometimes are victims of their own profession. Their biggest fear is stage and camera fright and lack of self confidence. Laughter yoga has the ability to overcome these negative emotions and give them a sense of well being and help them to excel in their performance. It helps to alleviate nervousness and shyness thereby improving upon their talents.

As laughter yoga effectively combines yogic breathing with laughter exercises and lays emphasis on diaphragmatic breathing, it enhances the supply of oxygen and helps relieve symptoms of stress and anxiety. All performing artists need a good breathing capacity for rendition of dialogues and voice intonations. Laughter yoga helps to develop deep breathing techniques thus helping them to relax and overcome any negative feelings.
There is a lot of similarity between actors and Laughter Yoga members. Both learn to enact emotions and fake them. The exception being that in Laughter Yoga ‘fake’ laughter turns into ‘real’ and contagious laughter after some time and generates a state of total well being.

There are some distinct advantages of being a laughter club member:

LY members learn to laugh in order to be healthy. Health is a priority and they are totally committed to doing the laughter exercises. Actors on the other hand are trained to acquire skills for performance. Health is not their main concern. They are doing it just for a living.

Laughter members are not being judged. They are free from anxiety of performance. Actors suffer from the stress of being judged all the time as their performance is based on the appreciation of others.

Laughter Yoga members are motivated by a feeling of well being whereas performers are motivated by the audience and their judgments.

Last week I watched one of our laughter leaders from Gujarat , Kamlesh Masalawalla introduce Laughter Yoga in a fitness centre. It was well received by youngsters in the gym undergoing bodybuilding and weight reduction programmes.

Laughter yoga is a very good value addition for fitness centers to bring some fun and joy along with their exercise programmes. Any exercise routine tends to become repetitive and boring and people have the tendency to give up their exercise programmes because of boredom. But Laughter yoga is a fun exercise that is easy to stick to.

Professor William Fry from Stanford University equated laughter with aerobic exercise in his research on the effects of laughter on human physiology. He found that 10 minutes of hearty laughter is equal to 30 minutes on the rowing machine. And this is in respect to cardiopulmonary endurance. The heart rate of 120 can be achieved much faster through laughing than running on the jogging tracks. Therefore, Laughter yoga is ideally suited for busy professionals and businesspeople who have very little time to exercise. Just 20 minutes of laughter gives similar results as those of going to the gym for an hour.

As compared to any other exercise programme laughter yoga is a cost-effective and time-saving technique. It is self motivating and improves the mood conditions thereby giving a sense of well-being.

Laughter yoga can also be beneficial for aspiring athletes who want to improve their performance. Since breathing capacity is one of the factors which determine stamina, a bout of laughter before any competitive sports activity will increase relaxation levels and reduce anxiety and nervousness. Laughter boosting technique or Calcutta laughter is the best technique to achieve this.

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.

It’s usual to celebrate one’s birthday the day one is born. But not so for Mr. Vishwamohan from Vijayvada in southern India. He celebrates his birthday on the day he joined the Laughter club! He feels he got a new lease of life and was ‘Reborn’ in the club.

Constantly troubled by never-ending illnesses for the last 30 years he had almost given up on life. From chronic diabetes, high blood pressure and cardiac problems to diabetic neuropathy, he had been suffering immense pain and anxiety right through 53 years of his living.

He had a bypass surgery for his heart problem in 1999 but still had to endure other health complications. Disillusioned with constant medication and rising stress levels he decided to adopt an alternative method to help him feel better. On January 14th, 2002, he joined the local laughter club. Gradually his life underwent a remarkable change. His health improved considerably as his ECG, BP and blood sugar levels stabilized. He had never felt so much healthier in his entire life.

He firmly believes that laughter helped him rejuvenate and nurtured him to good health. He feels grateful to the day he joined the club and therefore now celebrates it as his ‘new found birthday.’

Healing of Des’s tumor through laughing alone proves that laughter heals not only when practiced in groups but even when done alone.

I met Dr. Madan Kataria and his wife, Madhuri on their trip to Melbourne in March this year. As they stayed with us, I had the opportunity to learn how to laugh alone.

Greatly inspired I started to laugh all by myself every day after meditation. The laughter exercises include chants of Ho Ho, Ha Ha and deep breathing. I also do these exercises even while walking. I allow myself to be spontaneous and childlike and make funny movements. I also sing some positive affirmations like:

I am happy tee hee hee; I am free tee hee hee; I am healthy tee hee hee; I am strong tee hee hee…

Regular practice of laughing alone has had a tremendous effect on my health condition. Though suffering from a tumor for some time, I can feel it getting smaller. Even my specialist was amazed when he realized it had shrunk remarkably. He cancelled the radiotherapy and said,’ I am happy to keep an eye on it for now. I really believe it’s laughter, meditation and positive affirmations that have worked so wonderfully together.’

I also think laughter is anti-ageing. Though I’m 60 I feel very energetic, there is less pain and I can easily do a lot of things. People remark I look much better and younger!

I’m very grateful to Dr. Kataria who taught me to laugh on a daily basis as the clubs only meet once a week. Now laughing everyday has completely changed my life and given me a more positive outlook.

Thank You,

Namaste,

Des Nicholson
(Eltham Laughter Club, Melbourne, Victoria- Australia)

This is one of the most magical healing instances I came across. The dramatic change in Dianne’s condition confirms the effective therapeutic power of Laughter Yoga. Depression is number one sickness in the world and it is estimated that more than 12000 million dollars are spent in producing anti depressant pills in USA alone.

In January 1997, my thoughts of suicide became frequent and by April 1997 I was officially diagnosed with Clinical Depression. Over time my condition became severe and by this year I was spending over $400 on depression medication each month.

I first heard about Laughter Yoga on the American TV show ‘Dancing with the Stars’. It seemed delightful. Then on April 11^th 2007, I happened to see LY on the Oprah Winfrey show. Even before the show ended I signed up for the May Sierra Madre training and tried to find a local LY group. The next day I met Jeffrey, a Laughter Yoga teacher who guided me to my initial session.

Just two months after my first LY experience on April 12, I had amazingly decreased the use of medicines by almost 80%. In fact, I’m completely free of all medication now and am saving over $400 each month. I sleep better than I ever have in 11 years; people tell me I look great, especially at 64!

My life has undergone a remarkable change. I have been interviewed on three TV programs and I also co-host a local cable TV show. I have more requests to conduct sessions than I can handle.

Love, light, laughter and many blessings

Dianne Theil McNinch

The basic fact is that human beings want to be happy and do not want any pain or suffering. We all have different needs and desires, which if unfulfilled, can lead to a stressful situation. As we try to achieve these goals, many a times we find ourselves frustrated and helpless. This hampers the accomplishment of happiness and creates anxiety and constant nervous tension. It is then, that the people invoke a higher intelligence or a higher force like spirituality to help them cope with their inabilities and accept reality.

Spirituality is working Smart not working Hard: Spirituality is all about working smart, not working hard. With a spiritual approach one can attain everything that one ever wanted with minimum efforts.  This is how universal intelligence works. Instead of toiling and struggling, one needs to flow effortlessly. It’s like walking with the wind assisting you from behind. All one has to do, is to align oneself with spiritual laws and laws of nature and let these forces glide you to happiness.

Expanding your unlimited potential : Spirituality helps to create new ideas, new visions, creativity, and intuitive abilities to reach our aspirations.  It helps to build a magnetic aura around you that attracts the people towards you. It creates an energy that gives a sense of security, power and fearlessness. 

Better emotional intelligence : Handling emotions is perhaps the most difficult of all human abilities. We spend almost 75 per cent of our time trying to sort out the varied and complex emotions, while the other 25 per cent is spent in emotional reactions to the situation and the people around us. Negative emotions, literally drain our energy and affect the quality of our lives.

Since it is difficult to manage these reactions with a logical mind, one needs to resort to a process that helps us to rise above all that is depressing. This is where the spiritual approach helps us as it has the power to alter the negativity of the mind to a positive pattern.

I have personally used this approach to spread the laughter mission worldwide.  Without many resources and any great assets, I managed to set up more than 5000 laughter clubs in 55 countries. It was spirituality that helped me cope with any obstacles that came my way. It is indeed a powerful tool that helps in realization and fulfillment of one’s dreams and aspirations.

In the forthcoming articles on spirituality and inner spirit of laughter, I will share with you some amazing stories of mysterious coincidences that occurred in my life.  Stay tuned.

We know that a few of you have been having problems logging in and seeing the stories in my diary.

To help you Bill Gee has made a new page that sets out to help you resolve the problems and make it easier to log in and understand our premium zone system. He answers questions like how to tell when you’re logged in, how to find the old premium zone content like the laughter bank and more…
Visit the new problems page by clicking the Problems? link under the yellow shop icon at the top of each page. If that page doesn’t fix your problems it includes a link you can email for help.

We have launched a brand new section of the premium zone exclusively for certified laughter yoga leaders and teachers who are registered with us.

The PROZONE is a space where laughter professionals can keep right up to date and learn from each other’s knowledge and experience. We hope to publish at least FIVE videos of new laughter yoga exercises (and old ones done in new ways), together with tips, tricks and techniques to make you a better LY pro.

If you are a CLYT or CLYL registered with us please have a look at the new section at http://www.laughteryoga.org/prozone. If you are qualified but not registered please contact Bill Gee at lyspamfilter@gmail.com with details of your teacher and when you trained.