What Are Laughter Clubs?

Posted On April 6, 2010 In Category About Laughter Clubs, Start Here

Laughter Yoga Clubs (also occasionally known as Laugh Clubs, Laughing Clubs, Yoga Laugh Clubs) are free gatherings of people who get together just to laugh. They are led by volunteers and are fully independent, not-for-profit, non-political, non-religious and non competitive groups where all are welcome regardless of gender, age, physical abilities, social or economic backgrounds.

Laughter Yoga Clubs were started by an Indian physician, Dr Madan Kataria, in Mumbai in 1995 with just five people. The initial group first used humor but quickly ran out of good jokes and started experimenting with simulated laughter. It worked even better and they kept laughing daily for 15-20 minutes as a form of exercise, steadily growing in attendance. After a couple of weeks the local media heard of this unusual group of otherwise sane adults who behaved like “idiots” in a public park every morning and wrote about them. Everything accelerated from there on and the idea bush-fired. Many came to check it out, took this laughter club idea home with them and duplicated it, leading in time to even more media coverage, leading to even more Laughter Yoga clubs, etc.

Today there are an estimated 6000 thousands Laughter Yoga Clubs in 60 countries. Laughter Yoga Clubs have become a social grassroots mass phenomenon. Realizing the tremendous power of laughter and its efficacy as an ideal prescription for wellness, they have brought smiles and laughter in the lives of many people suffering from physical, mental and emotional upsets.

Each Laughter Yoga club defines its own meeting frequency. People attend for various reasons. These include and are not limited to:

Boost Happiness
Break social isolation and create new friendships
Develop self-confidence
Foster Inner Peace
Health improvement
Improve and/or alleviate the discomfort of specific physical challenges
Learn to better manage stress and/or anger issues
Overcome sadness and depression
Play and have fun in a safe and non competitive environment

Social Benefits

Laughter Clubs have powerful social benefits and invariably turn into a social support network within their first 6 months of existence.

Here is possibly why:

Many people in our modern life do not have a network of caring and sharing relationships. The lack of two-way emotional dialogue and relationship leaves us without emotional grounding, often resulting in feelings of isolation and loneliness. Research has shown that while humans can survive without an emotional support system, they can also never thrive without one.

The amount of time spent with others is not what matters; it is the quality of interaction that is important. If there is lack of warmth and friendliness amongst people it leads to anxiety and stress. This type of interaction is important to our physical and emotional well being and is central to human happiness.

Laughter Clubs provide a rich social network of people who care about one another, and perhaps even more importantly, a way of getting to know new people who we care about. This provides a sense of emotional security which resists stress and promotes excellence in all other areas of life.

Trademark, Personal Liability & More

The name “Laughter Club” (Laugh Clubs, Laughing Clubs, Yoga Laugh Clubs) is a trademark of the Dr. Kataria School Of Laughter Yoga who created it and has been using it since 1995. Anybody can and is welcome to use it. The Laughter Clubs we promote are not for profit and a place where people laugh as a form of exercise for the reasons mentioned above. Our vision is to achieve Health, Joy and World Peace through Laughter.

It is very important that you understand that Laughter Clubs are 100% independent. They do not report to anybody, do not pay fees and do pretty much what they want. We strongly encourage you NOT to participate, or stop participating, in activities with which you feel uncomfortable.

The difference between a Laughter Yoga Club and a Laughter Yoga Class is that one is free and led by volunteers while the other is for fee and led by trained Laughter Yoga professionals who love to laugh and share their passion with others.

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