Laughter Yoga: Out of the mouths of babes



Yes, Victorians laughed also...

Psalm 8:2 certainly had it right when it comes to this week’s viral-video extraordinaire.  Thus far, over five million folks are laughing along with Micah McArthur (aka “the laughing baby”) as he watches his PhD-laden dad rip up a job-rejection letter.

When PhDs are struggling as much as anyone in today’s job market, what else is there to do but laugh?  In fact, laughter might be one of the healthiest responses to any situation.  Thus speaks Dr. Madan Kataria, the driving force behind Laughter Yoga.

Dr. Kataria, a family physician from Mumbai, India, had decided to write an article in 1995 about the health benefits of laughter.  While researching it, he became more and more impressed with the preventive and therapeutic effects of a hearty ha-ha.  He was especially impressed with the history of Norman Cousins, who

outlived a fatal diagnosis by 27 years, allegedly due to a propensity for self-induced laughter.

Dr. Kataria then thought to himself:  Why not start a laughter club?  That way, participants could induce one another to laugh (which could be a lot more fun than sitting at home alone watching Marx Brothers reruns).  However, members of Dr. Kataria’s new club soon found that they were no match for the Marx Brothers.  The club jokes ran out quicker than a flick of Groucho’s eyebrows.

What to do?  Luckily, Dr. Kataria is as astute as he is creative.  During these joke-fests, he had noticed that

one person’s laughter could be enough to spark the laughter of many others.  He decided to drop the jokes and instead begin laughing for no apparent reason (the absurdity of which can also be quite funny). According to laughteryogaamerica.com, this worked really well because “the brain cannot distinguish self-

induced laughter from the laughter of external stimuli.”

The rest is humor history.  According to Dr. Kataria’s official website, Laughter Yoga Clubs are now springing up all over the world.  The universal tongue of laughter is now helping to increase overall joy.  It’s that simple.

Resources

http://www.momlogic.com/2011/03/laughing_baby_today.php

http://www.laughteryoga.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=180:what-is-laughter-yoga&catid=85:about-laughter-yoga&Itemid=265

http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/275000.html

http://www.laughteryogaamerica.com/learn/history-laughter-yoga-1532.php

Copyright March 5, 2011 by Linda Van Slyke   All Rights Reserved