Touching human lives with laughter

By Jagat Singh Bisht

 Jagat and Radhika Bisht

During the last hundred days, we (Radhika, my wife, and me) have laughed with more than a thousand people. It has really been a life changing experience! We are now proud to have a life skill with us with which we can connect to any group of people anywhere, anytime and make them laugh unconditionally. We feel cheerful throughout the day. The life is full of joy. We have converted our bodies into factories that utilize oxygen from the atmosphere, rejuvenate each and every cell of our system and manufacture feel good endorphins. We are as healthy and energetic as one can be, touch wood, and have not taken any medication since we turned Laughter Yogis. We feel deeply fulfilled as we are instruments of happiness and health for others and are able to touch their lives with a new joyous way of life. Our lives now have a meaning and a mission – to make others happy and healthy!

I had my tryst with Laughter Yoga one fine morning in Mumbai, more than a decade ago. Dr Madan Kataria and Madhuri Kataria, the founders of laughter yoga, were leading a laughter session in Lokhandwala park. The experience was simply out of the world! I had to wait for more than a decade after that. In the month of October this year, Radhika and myself, along with more than 20 laughter professors from all over the globe, were baptised by Dr Kataria himself at Bengaluru.We have never looked back after that..

We run two laughter clubs – the Suniket Laughter Club and Laughter Club of State Bank Learning Centre, Indore - regularly. Here are some experiences shared by the members..

Let us begin with ourselves. The pain in my knee joints is a thing of the past. I get up early in the morning every day and work till late in the night without any feeling of fatigue. Radhika doesn’t need her blood pressure pills any more and her frequents bouts of sinusitis have simply disappeared.

Many among a group of newly promoted bank officers felt nervous to face the audience in their public speaking sessions. They were asked to join laughter yoga sessions, after which they shed all their inhibitions, and gathered the courage to speak freely.

Another group was required to appear for a tough test for promotion to the next cadre. They felt tired at the day end and had no energy left to study. Those who attended laughter exercises in the morning not only improved their attention span in classes but could also study for a couple of hours more in the evenings.

An elderly businessman felt severe pain in his neck which travelled across his shoulders and back. The pain was acute and disabling. After he joined our laughter club, the pain is gone. He has developed a regular habit of getting up and going for morning walk. His wife tells us that he seldom laughed earlier and never mixed socially with people. She is pleasantly surprised at the transformation.

An income tax officer, who has retired recently, has shared that his lungs are fully cleared after the laughter session and the feeling of freshness lingers throughout the day. We get feedback of feelings of well being, energy and health on a continual basis from our member friends.

We were also invited to conduct a laughter therapy session for about 80 persons in a camp organized recently by the National Institute of Naturopathy, Pune at the Naturopathy and Yoga Research Centre, Indore. The response was overwhelming. They found such great value in this alternate therapy that they decided to honour us on the spot after going through our session. The standing ovation, with chants of Very Good Very Good Yay, lasted for more than ten minutes..

We look forward to touch many lives with joy and bliss.

Wish you a very happy and joyous new year!

Jagat Singh Bisht

Laughter Professor

coolbisht@hotmail.com