Laughter Yoga is the practice of laughing as exercise in order to boost our physical and mental well-being.   Scientific studies have shown that our bodies are not aware of the difference between real laughter and fake laughter.  So, by “practicing” laughter we gain all the physical, mental,  and emotional health benefits of laughter. While real laughter does tend to be the result of simulating laughter, it is not our goal.  Our goal is to bring better health and well-being into our bodies and our lives.

Through a series of laughter exercises,  yogic breathing, and childlike playfulness,  laughter yoga  serves to improve one’s mood, boost the immune system, lower stress, increase confidence and productivity, and offer a new perspective  and approach on one’s life and work experience.

Laughter Yoga approaches wellness from a Body-Mind perspective.   In can be challenging to make changes in our thinking, yet usually we can get our bodies to follow a command.  When we work with the body by increasing oxygen into the brain and bloodstream, practicing laughter to gain the health benefits, and engaging in playful behavior, it begins to have significant physical, emotional and mental health changes.  Rather than waiting for something to be funny.  In Laughter Yoga, we laugh for no reason and consequently, more things are funny to us.

Laughter Yoga was founded in 1995 by Dr. Madan Kataria of Mumbai, India while researching the use of laughter in his medical practice.  His pivotal findings of the brain’s inability to decipher between real and simulated laughter have opened up doors to the possible applications laughter can have in our lives.

This discovery has launched a worldwide movement in over 60 countries.    As its popularity is gaining, there is more and more research to support Dr. Kataria’s original findings.  Now, health care professionals are  prescribing 15 minutes of laughter a day for better health!  Laughter Yoga is now being practiced in corporations,  schools, hospitals and local clubs.   Also expanding are the populations it benefits:  business people, children, seniors, cancer patients, and prison inmates.