Laughter Yoga History
In 1995 Dr. Madan Kataria was writing an article "Laughter, The Best Medicine" for an Indian health journal. In his research he discovered many modern scientific studies that described the many proven benefits of laughter on the human mind and body. Dr. Kataria immediately decided to field-test the impact of laughter on himself and others.
On March 13th, 1995, Dr. Kataria went to his local public park and persuaded four people to join him in starting a "laughter club." They laughed together in the park, and everyone enjoyed laughing and felt good for the rest of the day. The small group quickly grew to more than 50 participants within a few days.
Dr. Kataria soon added a range of laughter exercises including elements of role-play and other techniques.
As Yoga practitioners, Dr. Kataria and his wife Madhuri (co-founder of Laughter Yoga), saw the similarities between laughter and Pranayama exercises and incorporated elements from this ancient form of Yoga into Laughter Yoga, including the deep breathing exercises now used between laughter exercises to deepen the impact.
The final result is Laughter Yoga: a blend of yogic deep breathing, stretching, and laughter exercises that cultivate child-like playfulness. Today Laughter Yoga has become a worldwide phenonenon.
On March 13th, 1995, Dr. Kataria went to his local public park and persuaded four people to join him in starting a "laughter club." They laughed together in the park, and everyone enjoyed laughing and felt good for the rest of the day. The small group quickly grew to more than 50 participants within a few days.
Dr. Kataria soon added a range of laughter exercises including elements of role-play and other techniques.
As Yoga practitioners, Dr. Kataria and his wife Madhuri (co-founder of Laughter Yoga), saw the similarities between laughter and Pranayama exercises and incorporated elements from this ancient form of Yoga into Laughter Yoga, including the deep breathing exercises now used between laughter exercises to deepen the impact.
The final result is Laughter Yoga: a blend of yogic deep breathing, stretching, and laughter exercises that cultivate child-like playfulness. Today Laughter Yoga has become a worldwide phenonenon.
