Laughter Club

History of Laughter Yoga and Laughter Clubs

The community laughter club movement began in 1995.  Indian Physician, Dr Madan Kataria was impressed by Norman Cousins’ book Anatomy of an Illness and the research work by Dr Lee Berk on the benefits of laughter to one’s health and wellbeing. Madan decided to field-test the impact of laughter upon himself and others, gathering with four friends in a Mumbai public park. This happy little group had many bystanders, who quickly joined in and numbered over 50 after a couple of weeks. BUT, around that time it was discovered that either the jokes and humour ran out or became offensive and Dr Kataria went home to ponder how to change this. Otherwise it was felt that trying to laugh together on a regular basis would simply not work long term.

Read more about the history and Lynette’s involvement in her blog

This video is an example of a laughter session, similar to what we do in our laughter club.