Dorothy Pincus, USA: I always considered myself a spiritual person, but nothing could have prepared me for the loss of my mother. Instead of dealing with the reality of her passing, I was in search of anything that could take my grief away. I tried everything prescription drugs, food, and shopping to feel better. But nothing worked. So I turned within for answers and what was hidden underneath was chronic pain. I didn’t know how to release it. It was so much pain that a year later I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia – one of the most common chronic pain conditions.

One day while working, I was in so much pain that I started laughing and the more I laughed; the better I felt. I started feeling good and thought to myself, if I could go to some place and just laugh for an hour. This pursuit led me to Laughter Yoga and to Jeffrey Briars’s Laughter Club in Laguna Beach. I signed up for training with him and became a Laughter Yoga leader.

After my training, I began laughing daily. My friends thought I was insane, but it felt good and I didn’t want it to end. Fibromyalgia became a thing of the past now. I got my check up some six months to a year later and my rheumatologist was amazed by the transformation! Laughter Yoga had completely healed me. It helped me release all my pent up emotions and kept me in a state of feeling good.

Before Laughter Yoga, I barely had a support system, emotionally, mentally or physically. People just assumed I was “Super Woman”. But, it was not easy for me to deal with loss and pain. In fact, at one point I even thought about ending it all because it felt like no one cared or understood my suffering. No matter what I did, I just could not bring myself to be happy and was really miserable. But Laughter Yoga changed all that. It taught me how to cope with the challenges of life and laugh in the face of adversity. I am stress free of illness, healthy and laughing every day. My objective no is to spread the word of laughter and teach others how Laughter Yoga exercises can make them feel good, recharged and happy.