Doctor Recommends Laughter Training
Comments:
People take part in a lot of different training programs at work and now, if Dr. Madan Kataria has his way, people will be learning how to laugh in the work place.
Kataria is making people laugh all over the world in an effort to reduce stress in the workplace and help improve productivity. His program, Laughter Yoga, was founded in 1995 and since then more than 5,000 laughter clubs have been formed using his unique yoga techniques in 50 countries, including the United States.
Laughter Yoga focusses on the fact that laughing is a voluntary act that people can do spontaneously without the aid of jokes, tickling or any other stimuli and turns laughing into an exercise. Various studies have shown that the act of laughing reduces neuroendocrine and stress-related hormones, but now two specific studies that used Kataria’s techniques have demonstrated that even as little as fifteen minutes of Laughter Yoga a day can have a significant effect in the workplace.
“I have always believed that laughter sessions were beneficial," says Kataria, "but I was surprised how conclusive the results of this scientific research are. One study shows improvements in work effectiveness of more than 100 percent, and the other confirms major stress reduction and a remarkable increase in emotional intelligence skills that are required for career and life success," says Kataria.
In the first study, conducted in the U.S., a group of 33 employees at a behavioral health center were taught to laugh together for fifteen minutes a day for fifteen days. During that time researchers measured the workers on a scale of sef-efficacy which measures 12 characteristics of workplace effectiveness. At the end of the research period employees demonstrated improvement in three areas; self-competency, relational competency and role competency . As well, following the study, the employees were judged as being better equipped to perform under stress and their improvements remained significant even two to three months after the Laughter Yoga was introduced.
The second study took place in India where computer programmers at three different IT Centers underwent three weeks of training in unconditional laughter. Their stress levels were measured before and after the training took place and researchers found that, "The laughter group showed a significant decrease in stress levels reflected in reduced heart rate and blood pressure, reduced cortisol levels and an 11 percent decrease in perceived stress levels."
Kataria summarized the significance of the results saying, "These studies provide solid evidence of the benefits of introducing laughter sessions in a corporate environment. Leading companies around the world are starting to provide laughter sessions as a means to improve sales and productivity and reduce stress. It makes the workplace a happier place, and that translates to better company performance."
Those interested in reading the research studies for themselves can do so by visiting www.laughternews.com. A free demonstration of Laughter Yoga in action is also available at www.youtube.com/laughteryoga.