Greetings, Doctors,

Kudos to you for your show today on the benefits and healing power of laughter. Laughter is indeed the best medicine, and it is freely available to everyone.

I am a Laughter Yoga teacher certified by Dr. Madan Kataria, the Indian physician and founder of the Laughter Yoga movement. I share Laughter Yoga with people of all ages, and currently lead a weekly community group and offer laughter to children in the public school system. So with great anticipation I watched your program this afternoon.

I enjoyed the segment with Pauly Shore touching on the ability to “let go” of stress. The ease with which we are able to “let go” varies with individuals and even varies day to day with each of us. “Letting go” of stress surely takes practice….ha ha.

I found it interesting that the program began with “What makes us laugh?” I was hoping The Doctors would then explore the difference between conditional laughter (humor based and/or comedy) and unconditional laughter, the latter being the essence of Laughter Yoga. Learning to laugh and access joy without being dependent on outside stimuli is both empowering and an invaluable tool for healthy living.

The concept of learning to laugh when we least feel like laughing is perhaps the most unique aspect of Laughter Yoga. Willing participants play with pretending to laugh while making eye contact with others. Because laughter is naturally contagious, it then becomes spontaneous, and effortless. And as Dr. Travis Stork mentioned, spontaneous laughter is really fun.

Additionally, another important distinction in Laughter Yoga is we do not laugh at people, we laugh with people. Comedy and jokes can sometimes be at the expense of others and not fun for everyone.

The Doctors might consider having an entire show on Laughter Yoga and invite Dr. Kataria to join in the discussion. He is a most generous man, fun, and full of laughter.

Cheers and Ho Ho Ha Ha Ha!