In March 1995, in a Mumbai park

A general practitioner, Dr. Madan Kataria, was preparing an article titled “Laughter: The Best Medicine” for a newsletter he published in his community. His research led him to discover a staggering number of scientific publications demonstrating the benefits of laughter on the human body and mind. He was particularly interested in the book by American journalist Norman Cousins, *Anatomy of an illness*, in which Cousins recounts his recovery from ankylosing spondylitis through laughter. Several studies caught his attention, including those conducted by Dr. Lee Berk, who notes that laughter helps reduce stress levels in the body and impacts the immune system.

Knowing is good, but doing is better. Dr. Kataria decided on the spot to experiment and benefit from this apparently powerful activity himself, and recruited a few people in a public garden where the first laughter club was created. With the help of his wife, yoga teacher Madhuri, they created techniques combining deep breathing, stretching and fun exercises to stimulate laughter. Laughter yoga was born!

Intentional laughter was already being used elsewhere in the world – indeed, psychologist Dr Annette Goodheart employed the technique in her therapy sessions with patients.

Laughter Yoga, as it is practiced today, is a contemporary therapeutic method that uses laughter as an exercise, based on work and research that began in the 1960s.

Laughter Yoga is based on the principle of “action creates emotion”. In other words, the act of intentional laughter (if you put your mind to it) can lead to the emotions we often associate with hearty laughter.

Hello cheerfulness!

Contraindications

In certain cases, the Laughter Yoga method is not recommended. People with major, uncontrolled health problems, hernias, angina, eye problems or who have recently undergone surgery should not venture to do these exercises without the explicit advice of their doctor. Nothing prevents you from smiling or laughing softly, however. Use your common sense: no pressure, no new boo-boo!