the laughing club

Dr. Madan Kataria, a physician from Mumbai, India, developed this new technique of “thought-free” group laughter (laughter minus the joke) based on yoga.

He was inspired after observing how his patients’ immune system improved following episodes of laughter. Dr. Kataria has helped form hundreds of Laughing Clubs in the United States, Australia, Europe, the Far East as well as India.

The power of laughter is obvious to the clubs, and members say that they are happier and live fuller lives. In “The Laughing Club of India”, a documentary which premiered on Cinemax in August of 2001, filmmaker Mira Nair explores the laughter movement with footage of daily 20 minute laughing sessions and the communities’ adaptation of the Club’s principles into day to day living.