Laughter yoga is the brainchild of physician Madan Kataria and his wife Madhuri, who, in 1995, created a laughter club in Mumbai, India, to document the positive effects of sustained laughter on human beings. There are now over 6,000 laughter clubs in 65 countries. In May 2011, Certified Laughter Yoga Leader Mary McDonald created Laughter Hours to offer laughter yoga classes in her community and throughout the Blackstone Valley.

You will feel more relaxed after a one-hour session of Laughter Hours than you have felt in a very long time. After six months of attendance, your entire life will be joyfully altered.

Anyone who wants more laughter in their lives—men and women, seniors, kids and teens. Laughter yoga is appropriate for athletes, handicapped people, the physically fit, and the wheel-chair bound.

The only people who should not attend are those who have a medical condition that forbids aerobic exercise. If they have stitches, for example; or a chronic heart condition, or are pregnant, they should not attend a laughter class. Anyone who questions if laughter yoga is appropriate for them should check with their personal physician prior to attending.

In a typical hour, we will perform playful laughter exercises in a group setting while sitting, standing, and walking. For instance, we may pretend to toast each other with champagne and then laugh. We will chant and clap, celebrate, breathe deeply, and relax, sometimes accompanied by music and/or singing.  We then spend time in laughter meditation, which seems to be everyone’s favorite part of the class.  We end the session with affirmations and sharing.

Never! The yoga part of laughter yoga is in the deep and rhythmic breathing we practice in between laughter exercises.

Laughter relieves stress because it is a right-brain activity. Thinking, worrying, and anxiety are left-brain activities. Since you cannot activate both sides of the brain at the same time, laughter gives you immediate relief from stress and anxiety. Imagine what a full hour of sustained belly laughter can do for you!

Then laughter yoga is for you. We do not depend on humor because telling and understanding jokes requires the use of the left brain. Best of all, your brain cannot tell the difference between laughter obtained from humor and simulated laughter. So we laugh or we “fake it ‘til we make it” and still feel the relaxed effects. Very often, simulated laughter turns into real laughter, especially in a group setting.

Yes! You can lower your blood pressure, strengthen your immune system, relieve your chronic bronchitis, and find pain relief. Please go to the “Best Medicine” page in this web site to read about the many health benefits you can obtain from regular laughter.

Check out Dr. Kataria’s web site at www.laughteryoga.org. Also visit the American School of Laughter Yoga at www.laughteryoga.us, www.followthelaughter.com/links.htm and the Laughter Yoga Institute at www.LYInstitute.org to obtain all the information about laughter yoga that you will ever need to know.