The World Laughter Tour and Laughter Therapy

"Just thought I would let you all know that we just completed our first laughter therapy session. We had 10 patients total, kinda small group but we wanted to start out that way. Everyone had a blast. Grace commented that she had never seen a couple of the patients smile like that before AND one of our constant 'take-me-to-bed patients' asked if she could stay up until after supper. That was a miracle in and of itself."
K.P., CLL, Physical Therapist, South Carolina

To me, the bottom line is clear: Laughter is its Own Reward.

Even if there were not a single shred of evidence that it affected my biology or health, I would opt for a life filled with laughter because a life absent of laughter is too dreadful to contemplate.

Laughter reminds us that we are joyously and joyfully natural beings, of nature not merely surrounded by nature. Laughter reminds us of the ecstatic potential of our existence. Laughter is the primary outer manifestation of joy. Give me a joyful life any day, every day, and I would never need to bother about the research "data".

However, when I consider what is known about the pervasive physiologic and psychological impact of mirthful laughter in human beings, it is clearly a significant and integral aspect of human functioning. Rather than trivial or ancillary, laughter is momentous and central to our understanding of the human condition and of our optimal functioning. The science of laughter should, therefore be far more intensive and extensive than it has been; should be deeply respected and highly valued.

You can count on us expanding on this idea in the future.

 
 

Grand Vision: Together we can lead the world to health, happiness, and peace through laughter.

Mission: To create and disseminate an adjunctive therapeutic modality called laughter therapy by properly interpreting promising laughter theories and practices into multi-generational, multi-cultural, systematic health and happiness program; promoting attitudes that support mental and physical health, thereby helping primary treatments work better; providing methods that are uplifting, simple and powerful; making the world a better place; helping people make better health choices; providing the best value in training; for individuals, organizations, and service to the community.

Role: World Laughter Tour will act as a major catalyst in the development of laughter therapy; will be a clearinghouse for information, ideas & news about therapeutic laughter and the role of emotions and attitudes in health and happiness; helping people achieve their fullest potential by choosing enjoyable, systematic, life-affirming, healthy self-care strategies.

A Better World

We promote a worldwide movement for health, happiness and peace. We encourage everyone to tap into the benefits of positive laughter & humor, which are natural pathways to mind-body, mental & physical health. PLUS, we teach a method that changes attitudes:
From tuning in to the negative to tuning in to the positive;
From rigid thinking to flexible thinking;
From self pity to gratitude;
From selfishness to kindness;
From harboring resentments to compassion and forgiveness;
From guilt and stress to joy, pleasure and relaxation. 

Why is There So Much Excitement About the World Laughter Tour Training?

SIMPLY THE BEST WORKSHOP YOU’LL EVER TAKE

With more than forty years of experience as a mental health educator and private-practice psychologist, Steve Wilson continues to lead a design utilizing proven, modern educational methods. There are plenty of ha-ha’s and ho-ho’s but nothing ho-hum about this classroom experience. A highly interactive and participative format holds student attention and increases retention. We have assembled a Professional Advisory Committee, a team of eminent researchers and clinicians, to guide the development and direction of the curriculum. Lively discussion, expert instructors, experiential exercises, and a comfortable pace help students absorb the required knowledge and acquire the particular skills.

The generous use of multi-media insures that teaching methods appeal to a variety of learning styles. The high-interest core curriculum covers fascinating evidence from recent science as well as ancient wisdom. Instructional techniques such as demonstration-and- return-demonstration insure establishment of entry level skills in only 2-days.  

The workshop experience affects students on both the personal and professional levels.

Originally, these workshops were only offered in major cities, self-produced, and conducted in (expensive) hotel meeting rooms. As economics became more of a factor, we began receiving many requests for training “closer to home”, and hospitals and colleges began inviting us to conduct our training on site at their facilities. We saw the opportunity for hosted workshops to be very convenient and economical. We could pass savings along in the form of reduced tuition and tuition waivers. We watched hosts receive terrific PR value and goodwill in their communities, too. The Host-Site Partner Program is the result.

When Steve Wilson coupled his 15-year studies of the undeniable physiologic and psychological importance of humor and laughter with the interest he observed in the laughter clubs of India, realized that the components of a breakthrough adjunctive therapy were at hand.

Art Therapy and Music Therapy have long established the viability of adjunctive therapeutic modalities. Now there is Laughter therapy. It is the natural outflow of the convergence of the need for effective, efficient activity programming, the anticipation of a population of New Seniors (Baby Boomers), a growing body of evidence from gelotology (the science of laughter), acceptance of an integrative approach to medical treatment, and the creation of a curriculum that meets professional continuing education requirements.

The foundation of the Host Site Partner program is economy without sacrificing effectiveness, mutual respect, common goals, and convenience. Hosts maintain high standards and achieve a competitive advantage while delivering innovative programming that embraces the joy of living.

A POSITIVE OUTLOOK

“Two of the surest indicators of mental health are a great sense of humor and getting enough laughter. Systematic exposure to true-mirthful laughter in a supportive environment, shifts perspective and contributes to mind-body balance. 2-day Certified Laughter Leader workshops teach practical, cost-effective applications of therapeutic laughter for mental & physical well-being. Our program acts as a mood regulator, lifting day-to-day depression, discharging tension, relieving anxiety, perking up energy, improving social relations & self-confidence; instilling attitudes of optimism, tolerance, kindness, forgiveness, compassion; and, promoting peace. Tuition includes a year of follow-up support. WOW! What a concept! Join us!"
~Steve Wilson

In the modern era of humor and laughter, laughter therapy takes forms ranging from prescribed hospital activity to public laughter clubs around the world. This modality represents something new and different yet ancient and familiar. We are now able to bring the world a revival of an ancient prescription, with a modern twist; a unique combination of systematic methods, information to improve physical health and emotional balance, and a socially responsible value system.

Everything Old Is New Again

The so-called humor & laughter movement has been going strong for many years. Some date efforts to promote the positive uses of humor and laughter back 5,000 years to Tibetan Buddhist practices. Others identify the onset of the modern movement with the publication of Norman Cousin’s 1979 “Anatomy of an Illness As Perceived by the Patient.” Dr. William Fry, Jr., reported the official establishment of Gelotology, the science of laughter, in 1964. Whatever you think about when it all started, laughter therapy is the most recent practical, and potentially beneficial contribution to the humor & laughter movement.

Some of us, and our best friends, have been in the movement for twenty years or more. We come from every walk of life, including speakers, clowns, clergy, educators, stand-up comedians, trainers, writers, consultants, researchers, healthcare professionals, and more. For us, gelotology and laughter therapy offer something new and different because it allows us to bring new ideas to our “audiences” and new ways to get people involved in taking greater responsibility for their own health and well-being. Laughter therapy adds a new dimension to all the good work and important ideas that we have been teaching up until now.

We have read the books and articles, attended the conferences and workshops, and learned a lot of good ideas and information for helping people bring more humor and laughter into theirs lives. We have learned from clowns and scholars and even an occasional scholar-clown. We have heard humorists, comedians, actors, ministers, physicians, business people and more, hold forth on the importance of humor and laughter. Although some get carried away with enthusiasm, and the claims get somewhat exaggerated, by and large the information is worthwhile, and many of the presentations are downright hilarious.

And still, therapeutic laughter programs are different. For the first time we have an economical and highly practical application of theories that are being proved correct every day. It is now indisputable that laughter, along with other pleasant emotions and particular attitudes, plays a role in healing, staying healthy, controlling stress reactions, and maintaining emotional balance. We believe that when enough people have enough of the spirit of laughter, the world will be more peaceful.

What Makes the World Laughter Tour Laughter Therapy Different From Other Humorous And Laughter-Filled Activities? This is not a comedy club or joke fest.

Laughter therapy is as a profession concerned with promoting health and well being through laughter. Therapeutic laughter utilizes a systematic activity approach that is based on a foundation of both ancient practices and modern medical science. Laughter therapy is considered to be an adjunctive therapeutic modality, not a primary treatment. It is a method that helps primary treatments work better because of the known physiologic impact of mirthful laughter and the tendency to promote calm, raise spirits, increase relaxation, release tension, and elevate mood.

A standard laughter therapy session has a distinct sequence, with each part having particular content.

Participants are engaged as active and interactive participants, not a passive audience being entertained.

Based on known scientific findings, laughter therapy promotes mirthful laughter as a form of light physical exercise, as a contributor to mental health, and as having beneficial physiological implications.

Therapeutic laughter programs make the natural and positive power of laughter a widely accessible health option, in long-term care for example, through the work of lay-person volunteers as well as Nurses, Activity Therapists and Recreation Therapists, Case Managers, Social Workers, and other health & human services professionals.

Laughter therapy principles can be applied in communities such as schools and workplaces as a form of social glue; people who laugh together work together better. Sometimes the laughter therapy session is called a laughter club, which has the added therapeutic advantage of supporting a psychologically satisfying sense of belonging.

The designation Certified Laughter Leader™ is conferred only by World Laughter Tour, after successful completion of the standard 2-day workshop “How to Create Therapeutic Laughter and Laughter Clubs”.

In laughter therapy, laughter is initially evoked by "self-starting” not by humor, jokes or comedy. Participants voluntarily engage in brief enjoyable group exercises that combine laughter with familiar movements. They learn to connect to their original, authentic, satisfying laughter. They learn to appreciate the value of true mirthful laughter.

We consider humor, or any activity that evokes mirthful laughter, to be advantageous to healing, reducing stress, and enjoying life, and in that sense is therapeutic.

Under the right conditions, all human beings are capable of laughing and smiling virtually at birth. Our approach emphasizes and encourages the development of a particular set of attitudes as a means of self-care as well as a contribution to a better world.

One does not need to have a sense of humor in order to laugh. Even people who claim to be completely devoid of a sense of humor can enjoy and benefit from laughter therapy. However, over a period of time, systematic participation in a therapeutic laughter program appears to have the effect of improving the sense of humor.

Most often, laughter therapy activity takes place in a group that comes together with the common purposes to experience, embrace, and support laughter, as well as to enjoy social support.

Laughter therapy can be learned; leaders can be trained. Trained, qualified leaders demonstrate, motivate, educate, and inspire groups.

When there is humor in a laughter therapy session, it is most often a spontaneous occurrence within the group, whereas joke-telling or "being funny" is not expected or required. This is mainly because humor is personal and subjective but laughter is universal. When jokes are used to evoke laughter, many people don’t get the joke, or don’t like the joke. Using jokes runs the risk of being offensive or hurtful. Laughter therapy operates on a value system that minimizes and eliminates the risks of embarrassment or hurt feelings. The group is laughing with each other, not at each other.

Humor is difficult to define; “funniness’ is impossible to measure. On the other hand, the physiological changes that accompany laughter are relatively easy to measure, which means that, compared to humor, the benefits have been observed and studied more readily.

Laughter therapy can be repeated as often as you like without becoming stale or boring; a joke is usually only funny one time.

Because of shared values and interests in gelotology, there is a loosely organized global network to share ideas and to give encouragement and inspiration. An important professional organization in the field is the Association for Applied and Therapeutic Humor and Laughter.

World Laughter Tour maintains and supports a network of Certified Laughter Leaders(tm), helping the method to improve continuously, inventing new exercises and activities as well as discovering necessary cultural adaptations.

World Laughter Tour's therapeutic laughter programs are open to everyone; nobody is excluded. Programs are non-political, non-religious, non-exploitive. The systematic therapeutic laughter methods are adaptable to all ages, backgrounds, and even adapt to various physical and mental (cognitive) limitations. Systematic therapeutic laughter methods address body, mind, and spirit. Certified Laughter Leaders(tm) subscribe to a Code of Ethics.

Through laughter therapy, participants achieve better balance of emotions, reduce the harmful effects of stress, release harmful anger and judgmentalism; this makes life more enjoyable and helps the world be a better place.

Certified Laughter Leaders are encouraged to promote observances of World Laughter Day (the first Sunday in May) and of National Humor Month (April).

Because there is a common ground of science, philosophy, and values, therapeutic laughter enthusiasts and professionals connect all around the world.

Laughter therapy is not limited by language differences. Laughter has no accent.

Click here for information in other languages.

Click here for Benefits of the WLT's Laughter Club Program  |  Unique Features of WLT's Laughter Club Program |  Good-Hearted Living(tm): Day-by-Day the WLT Laughter Club Way