Life is full of unexpected turns. The more easily we embrace them, the better. Today, I can share that my life is a shining example of this.

2009. Bangalore. I floated my own HR firm. 

After quitting my job due to the recession, I was encouraged by a client to start my own. With Rs. 10,000 in my pocket, and in a scenario where companies were shutting down, I floated Du Kaizen. I met opposition from my conservative family but I went on. At Du Kaizen, I started off as a one-woman army but soon tasted success as I set up a 7-member team.  

I put brakes in 2013 during the second recession. 

I saw a downside on the personal front as well. As I experienced stress in my life, I also attracted it from the outside. At work, clients fretted that they were unable to strike a work-life balance. Neighbors’ kids complained of exam stress. Parents cited performance pressure. 

As stress was mounting, I drew strength by watching TED Talks.

One night, I stumbled upon a Laughter Yoga TED Talk by Dr. Madan Kataria, the founder of Laughter Yoga.  Those 18 minutes uplifted my mood instantly. My problems did not vanish, but I suddenly felt relaxed and lighter. 

Laughter helped me reduce stress.

The easy-going mindset helped me change my focus from problems to solutions. I had struck upon a simple and beautiful technique to reduce stress. I immediately enrolled myself to be a laughter yoga trainer with Dr. Madan Kataria himself. Those 5 days changed my life: I had never laughed like this before. I wanted to come back and spread this gift of laughter with people.

I started delivering laughter yoga sessions for social causes.

In return, these laughter sessions started bringing in so much more joy, happiness, and peace in my life. Soon, a corporate invited me to share the joy of laughter yoga with children affected by AIDS. Interestingly, the CSR team had many business leaders as well. They experienced laughter yoga and wanted me to take this fun and effective technique to their employees. So, I now had to formalize my offering.

Laughter Yoga India as a Company was born.

The corporate scenario was a different ball game. There were challenges like team building, bridging communication, and even cutting Monday blues. In fact, I remember this one Monday morning, when laughter echoed across my client’s office and changed the entire vibe. Today, my journey goes on as I look forward to including more companies in the wings of laughter yoga. And why not? It’s fun, easy, and effective.

So whatever your journey may be like today, I want to leave you with one message. Ups and downs are a part of life. Why not experience laughter yoga as a beautiful technique to make the most of life, even in challenging situations? Drop me a line on archana@laughteryogaindia.org and let me help you discover it.