History of Laughter Yoga – Chicago Laughter Club; A Great Laughing Club
In March 1995 Dr. Madan Kataria, a family physician from Mumbai, India, decided to write an article called "Laughter - the best medicine" for his monthly health magazine "My Family Doctor". His desk research led him to discover an overwhelming body of scientific literature that described in great length the proven benefits of laughter club on the human mind and body. In particular he was very impressed by American journalist Norman Cousins' book "Anatomy of an Illness" and the research work undertaken by Dr. Berk from Loma Linda University. Profoundly inspired and being a man of action rather than an academic, he immediately decided to field-test the impact of laughter and laughter clubs and laughing clubs on himself.

At 7 am the next morning he went to his local public park and somehow managed to motivate four people to start a “Laughter Club” with him. This small group quickly grew to over 50 participants within a few days.

In the beginning, everybody stood in a (laughter club/laughing club) circle while one person would come to the center and crack a joke or tell a humorous anecdote. Everybody enjoyed the fun and felt nice for the rest of the day. After about 2 weeks however the stock of good jokes ran out and the "bad", hurtful, sexist jokes came up. Two women were offended and complained. It became clear that an alternative to jokes had to be found if this "Laughter Club" was to survive.

Dr Kataria re-read all of the scientific research he had on laughter and found the answer he was looking for: the human mind doesn't know how to make a distinction between fake and genuine laughter. Either way it produces happy chemistry. The concept of laughing for no reason was born. His wife Madhuri Kataria brought in her (laughter club/laughing club) experience as a Yoga Teacher and suggested gentle breathing and other yoga exercises be included in the routine to deepen its impact.

The resulting Laughter Yoga technique is a blend of yogic deep breathing, stretching, simulated laughter exercises and cultivated child-like playfulness.

The unique concept of Laughter Yoga and Laughter Club is the brain child of Dr. Madan Kataria, a physician from Mumbai, India. Any one can laugh in a group (laughter club/laughing club) for 15-20 minutes without depending upon great sense of humor, jokes or comedy. Laughter Yoga combines simple laughter exercises (simulated laughter) and gentle yoga breathing, which turns into real laughter when practiced in a group.

Laughter Yoga is supported by powerful tools derived from the Western psycho analytical methods as well as Eastern spiritual laws. It will help you to stay in high spirits when life throws up challenges. It will enhance your ability to laugh and smile when dealing with negative emotions, situations and negative or difficult people.

These powerful tools include: (laughter club/laughing club) how does the human mind work? What is the meaning and purpose of life? Understanding laws of the universe which govern our life? Understanding negative emotions like anger, fear, anxiety, greed, guilt, sadness, lust and attachments. And cultivating positive attitudes like appreciation, forgiveness, service and devotion.

To promote laughter club around the world we are organizing Laughter workshops, laughter seminars, laughter yoga leader training, laughter yoga teacher's training, and laughter yoga spiritual retreat and laughter yoga holidays.

At present there are more than 5000 laughter clubs (laughter club/laughing club) world wide and Laughter Clubs have been covered by prestigious television channels like BBC, CNN. ABC (USA), NHK (Japan), Channel 7 & 9 (Australia), ZDF Germany and newspapers, magazines like TIME Magazine, National Geographic, New York Times, London Times, and LA Times, the Guardian, Wall Street Journals and many others.