World Laughter Day is celebrated on the first Sunday in May each year. It was established in 1998 by the founder of the international Laughter Yoga movement, Madan Kataria, with the aim of manifesting and celebrating the importance of peace by building global consciousness through laughter.
But why laughter? Laughing relaxes us and makes us feel good, science says so too: laughter and smiling are good stress relievers, they strengthen social relationships and facilitate communication, they release endorphins giving the feeling of euphoria and serenity.
For these reasons, the Indian doctor Madan Kataria strongly wanted this day, to remedy the uncertainties of the time (in his speech he speaks of nuclear conflicts and, as we can see even today, the situation is not very different) and to make us reflect on the war we have with ourselves, the reason why war exists in the world.
The Indian doctor's choice makes us reflect on one thing above all: choosing how to act. When faced with negative situations, many act with anger, sadness, disappointment and distrust towards others or even ourselves; there is another way, however, to act constructively. There could have been many ways to react to the war and the decision to use nuclear weapons, yet the founder chose a different way, he chose despite everything to radiate positivity.
We wish everyone a good day of laughter, that it may help us to deal positively with unpleasant situations and, in general, to try to be surprised by what the unexpected can sometimes offer.