To view a VIDEO of a laughter club workshop, shown on the program tètes@kat, Radio Canada, January 24, 2005 click the image:
Laugh for no reason is the introductory workshop, suitable for all milieus, ages and occasions: the workplace, associations, social activities, schools, meetings, etc. John Lejderman presents an introduction to the idea of laughing for no reason, with audiovisual suport, followed by an active session of laughter games, adapted to the background and needs of the participants. The conference/workshop usually lasts between one and two hours. To organize a conference/workshop in your milieu, click here for contact information.
Discover the joy of laughing for no reason.
In this workshop/conference, you explore a new way of energizing yourself through the pleasure of laughing for no reason. You will rediscover the laughter of your childhood, releasing the energy of the inner child within you that bubbles with the joy of being alive. You will replace stress, worries, depression and anxiety with an inner smile. As "laughter is the best medicine", your mental and physical health will receive a positive boost.
If you can laugh for no reason, you can also be happy for no reason. Your life becomes an opportunity to enjoy being creative, rather than a problem to solve through struggle.
This is not a comedy show or a joke-telling session. You learn to make yourself laugh through a series of warmup exercises, or "laughercise". You apply the principle that "it's not happiness that makes us laugh, it's laughing that makes us happy." The effect creates the cause. Even the sound of you own fake laughter, will make you laugh for real. (Fake it till you make it.) And the contagious nature of laughter in a group deepens this effect, so that you end up laughing longer and deeper than any laughter provoked through the use of humour.
Relaxation through laughter
Many people are looking for ways to relax. In this workshop, you will discover the well-known relaxation effect obtained by laughter. The laughter exercises are followed by a guided relaxation session in which you can take full advantage of this effect.
Connecting in organizations - the workplace, schools, associations,
Residences, etc.
Laughter is said to be "the shortest path between two people". Group laughter can serve to break the ice between strangers, make people feel closer and create openness between participants. It can thus foster closer collaboration in the workplace, encouraging productivity and creativity, helping to defuse stressful situations, and generally promoting a positive work atmosphere.
Laughter Clubs
This workshop employs the "laugh for no reason" technique or "laughter yoga" popularized in recent years by the Indian doctor, Madan Kataria. After this workshop, you may be tempted to participate in one of the thousands of Laughter Clubs that he has inspired all over the world. The leader of the workshop is also the coordinator of the Montreal Laugh club.
To find a laughter club near you:
Quebec:
Canada:
Playfulness
The exercises in this workshop are actually games that bring out the child within you. It is through playfulness that you can contact your spontaneous laughter. It's an opportunity to overcome the fear of being ridiculous and free yourself from inhibitions. An Invitation to stop taking yourself so seriously.
Inner jogging, or "laughercise"
The techniques practiced in this workshop, if applied regularly, develop your capacity for laughter and even your sense of humour. In a society more and more stressed out, where we have less and less time to laugh, taking time to laugh "seriously" is no luxury. Just as our increasingly sedentary lifestlye has inspired many people to run for no reason (jogging), laughing for no reason (inner jogging) corresponds to a contemporary social need.
Laughter… the best medicine
Laughter has well-known qualities to counter the negatives effects of too much stress. Thus, laughing for no reason contributes to prevent a range of psychosomatic ailments (ulcers, high blood pressure, insomnia, back pain, etc.). It also reinforces the immune system. A good session of laughing for no reason is the equivalent of a period of cardio-vascular exercise that can even help to lose weight.
Laughter and world peace
The first Sunday in May is World Laughter Day, and laughter in fact reaches beyond borders of all kinds: religious, national, age, gender, political, etc. Laughter is common to all human beings. It is an international language that denotes our belonging to a single hyuman family.
Extracts from the book by Dr. Kataria, Laugh for No Reason:
- Chapter 1:
Laughter Yoga - A Breakthrough!
- Chapter 8: The Benefits of Laughter Therapy
September 12,
2004"These people take their laughter seriously. The group practices Hasya Yoga which is based on a set of principles developed in India by a physician named Madan Kataria. It was the '90s and he had been writing an article based on research that showed how mirthful laughter decreased the stress hormone levels in the body, thus strengthening the immune system. Just try laughing for an hour or so. You'll find the drearies of the days have disappeared. Whoosh, gone."
June 17, 2003
"An adult should laugh an average of 30 minutes per day to relax. However, in reality, we only laugh about thre or four minutes, compared to a child, who might laugh up to 300 minutes a day. Life is too fast? Work is making us too serious? What if we made a habit of laughing?"
Apri 6, 2004
"Like the millions of people who go to sports clubs to work out their bodies, more and more laugh enthusiasts are meeting to exercise their laugh muscles in a laughing club."
