Before coming to laughter yoga teaching, I’d pursued the different career paths of hotel management, counselling, occupational therapy and eco-sustainability work, know now that these experiences led me to the laughter. Many occupations lead onto stress, the number one cause of illness in today’s modern world. Laughter yoga can help alleviate such problems in the most joyful exercise known to man. As well as the varying career paths, there has been considerable time spent discovering self-developmental spirituality, Buddhism, yogic meditation and psycho analysis.

During college in 1996, days were spent playing basketball while studying psychology and performing arts, have memory of hearing about Dr Kataria and laughter yoga in the media. Forgot all about it and never heard of it again until 2009 when my mother began offering classes. At the time I was absorbed in a serious hatha yoga practice, decided mum’s class would not be for me.

Then in the February of 2010 while attending a friend’s birthday event, we met at his house for laughter yoga then went to restaurant for a meal. Who was leading this session? None other than my very own mother, a woman of new unique ideas- I thought “just keep an open mind- this might be fun.” And it was fun, healing, exciting, challenging, relaxing and engaging, “wow mum, what an awesome exercise discovery you’ve made!” Consequently for weeks after, this one event still resonated in my body/mind; laughter vault had opened, never laughed so much in my life, we found the childlike joy of stress free release.

Furthermore it was decided to take the two day leader training, enabling one to learn the skills required to lead a laughter yoga session. The training was wonderful, especially as great cousin Tim also trained with us; he was a real trigger for highly contagious belly rippling laughter.

Only days after this leader training a friend lead a meditation program within a convention setting, seizing the opportunity to practice these newly found skills, the convention was my first place of leading a laughter yoga session. Furthermore, it was a great success, had people approaching me afterwards asking for business cards- truly found a career with my name on it “stretch…”

Since the two day training, there have been three 5 day teacher trainings with Dr Madan Kataria, allowing me to pass on this tremendous skill of leading to others. First one in Switzerland.

With the second and third in India.

In actuality, the mainstay of the training is within one’s personal practice of laughter alone, there’s also on-going support from other teachers including my mother, the international school of laughter yoga and local laughter club members.

While in India this year, four months were taken doing various laughter activities. Of course the teacher trainings, then sessions with a blind band.

Volunteering within rehab centers for 2 months really awakened joy within four psychiatric units in Bangalore. Working in such a sensitive vulnerable groups heightened my sense of group leadership, learning importance of incluseivity and individual needs. Feedback from both the patients and the center managers proved to be most rewarding.

While in Bangalore other work happened, including a world laughter day event in Koshy’s cafe, seminars at Rotarian evenings the Gold’s gym and a two day training provided at the Medico centre .

Delighted to be back in Scottish home where the laughter can be shared with various groups, from senior persons home, corporate groups to the prison, the joy is to be experienced by all.