JOIN THE LAUGHTER CLUB!
A lot of research had been done suggesting that laughter is good for us and there are many benefits to the mind and body. In 1995, Dr Madan Kataria decided to follow up on the research findings. He went to a public garden in the city of Mumbai, in India and spoke to people there about starting a laughter club. At first, not everyone was enthusiastic but as he explained the health benefits of laughter, a number of people showed interest and the first laughter club was born. It had just four members, who would stand-and tell jokes in a quiet corner of the garden to get each other to laugh. Although everyone enjoyed the fun, they soon ran out of good jokes. So Dr Kataria decided the club members would laugh without jokes at their future meetings.
From then on, they started their meetings by laughing out loud without any real reason. This false laughter soon turned into the real thing, and they realised they really could do without the jokes. The doctor had them try different kinds of laughter, stopping every now and then to practise deep breathing. Doctor Kataria also came up with some stretch exercises for the neck and shoulder muscles they could do as well as deep breathing.
Today there are about 6,000 laughter clubs in 60 countries around the world. The members of these clubs get together daily or weekly to laugh together for about 20 minutes. They gather in parks and on beaches. Any outdoor public place will do as long as it is far away from peoples’ houses. That way the sound of 20 or so people all laughing together won’t disturb people in their homes. Meetings are usually held early in the morning when there is less air pollution.
These clubs appeal to people for a number of reasons. Firstly, there are the health benefits: club members say that it helps them with their asthma and it can help with headaches too. According to Dr Kataria, laughter clubs also help young people. Our teenage years can be difficult ones, he says, and laughing can help us get rid of feelings like anger or jealousy. It can also help with the stress young people often experience at school or college.
In addition, people form friendships at laughter clubs, and will usually lend a hand to any club member who is in trouble. For example, when the shop of one laughter club member burnt down, the other members raised some of the money he needed to rebuild his shop. People who have few friends or relatives find that loneliness is less of a problem after they join a laughter club because they get to know the other people.
So, if you feel that laughter has been missing from your life recently, why not find out if there is a laughter club in your area? It might be just what the doctor ordered.
According to the passage, doctor Kataria wanted to start a laughter club because .
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