Madan Kataria

Madan Kataria (December 31, 1955) is an Indian physician, author, and motivational speaker. He is the developer of Laughter Yoga, a series of breathing and laughter exercises that stimulate laughter for better health. Known as the Guru of Giggling, Kataria is the founder and president of Laughter Yoga International, and the creator of World Laughter Day.

Early life and education

Kataria was born in the village of Mohrewala on the Indo-Pakistan border in Firozpur District, Punjab, India. He is the youngest of eight children, and his parents had never attended school, and none of his siblings was interested in academics. His mother dreamed he should become a doctor as there were no doctors in the village. He did his medical graduation (MBBS) from Amritsar Medical College, Gurunanak Dev University, Punjab.

Career

After his medical graduation, he went to Mumbai and started practicing as a family physician. He was also the editor of a health magazine 'My Doctor.' While writing an article on 'Laughter is the best medicine' for his magazine, he thought of starting a laughter club in the park in Lokhandwala Park, Andheri West, Mumbai. He started the first laughter club on March 13, 1995. Kataria is the pioneer of the laughter clubs movement worldwide and the developer of a technique of group laughter based on yoga. In his scholarly work, he became interested in the scientific evidence showing that laughter benefits mental and physical health. He realized that more laughter was needed to improve health and cope with stress and started a mission to find ways by which laughter could be prescribed to patients and people in need. In March 1995, while drafting an article for a health journal, he discovered many modern scientific studies describing laughter's proven benefits on the human mind and body. Impressed by Norman Cousins' book Anatomy of an Illness and the research work by Lee Berk, Kataria decided to field-test the impact of laughter on himself and others.

Kataria formed a laughter club with a group of friends to destress. He went to a park in Mumbai, India, with his wife and three friends, and they just laughed together every morning. Initially, they drew weird glances but eventually, others joined them, which expanded the activity into an organization called Laughter Yoga International. There are thousands of free social laughter clubs in more than 100 countries.

Kataria established World Laughter Day, celebrated on the first Sunday of every May. It was first celebrated in Mumbai, India, on May 10, 1998.

He was a practicing physician in Mumbai, India, for two decades. As a former general practitioner, Kataria has focused on promoting his exercises' therapeutic and health benefits. In India, he organized these exercises in maximum-security prisons and schools for homeless children and the blind. In the United States, he took to senior centers, universities, gyms, and medical settings, such as the cancer wards at Swedish Covenant Hospital in Chicago and Massachusetts General Hospital.

Kataria has been featured in Asia's Who is Who (NHK TV, Japan) and has appeared in several publications, including Time Magazine, National Geographic, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Daily Telegraph (UK), and Colors Magazine. He also appeared on BBC, The Oprah Winfrey Show, CNN, ABC News (USA), and other television networks. In 1999, director Mira Nair filmed Kataria and his work for the film Laughter Clubs of India. He has appeared on podcasts, including The Habit Coach with Ashdin Doctor, Curiosity Daily, and Miss Lafalot. Kataria is working on many medical research projects evaluating the benefits of Laughter. Retired from medical practice, Kataria devotes all his time to writing, teaching, coaching, and training laughter leaders.

Books

Kataria is the author of Laughter Yoga: Daily Practices for Health and Happiness and his self-published book, Laugh for No Reason, which has been translated into Italian, French, German, Farsi, Indonesian, and Korean. He is also a contributing author of a few books, including Laughter Exercises: The Great Big Anthology: Five hundred laughter practices for health, fun and friendship.

Personal life

Kataria is married to Madhuri Kataria.