Laughter Yoga Ontario

Laughter Yoga is a powerful exercise routine rapidly spreading worldwide. A brain child of Indian physician, Dr. Madan Kataria, it combines laughter exercises with deep yoga breathing (Pranayama) to provide a complete sense of wellbeing, enhance health, and promote joy and World Peace.

The first Laughter Yoga Club was started in March 1995, with just 5 people. Today, it has become a worldwide phenomenon with more than 6000 social laughter clubs in over 60 countries. In addition, Laughter Yoga is also being practiced in companies, old age homes, schools, colleges, fitness centers, community centers, prisons, hospitals, homes for the physically and mentally challenged and cancer self-help groups.

In this new concept, anyone can laugh without humor, jokes or comedy. Laughter is simply started as a body exercise by pretending to laugh while maintaining eye contact with others in the group and interacting with childlike playfulness. This soon leads to real and contagious laughter. It is based on the scientific fact that the body cannot differentiate between real and fake laughter. So all the benefits will be received whether pretending or laughing genuinely. 

Laughter exercises are interspersed with deep yogic breathing exercises which increase oxygen to the body and brain. Scientifically, it has been proved that twenty minutes of laughter is sufficient to develop full physiological benefits.

Laughter Yoga is the only technique that allows adults to achieve sustained hearty laughter without involving cognitive thought. It bypasses the intellectual systems that normally act as a brake on natural laughter. While laughing unconditionally, it not possible to be thinking, so it helps to empty the mind and more ealsily let go negative thoughts, judgements and limitations.

Laughter Yoga is non-political, non religious, non-racial and non-competitive. It transcends all barriers of language, age, gender, social or racial background.