Awakenings Laughter Club to celebrate first anniversary

Portland, OR—

The Awakenings Laughter Club has been filling a small studio in SE Portland with peals of laughter since last October.  Led by Andrea Crisp, a certified Laughter Yoga Teacher and Holistic Health Counselor, the club currently has members ranging from ages 23 to 70. All ages are welcome and regular attendance is not required. Some members come alone, some in pairs; some every week, others only during the summer or whenever their schedules allow. But everyone enjoys the many scientifically proven health benefits of hearty laughter.

The club at Awakenings is currently the only free, regularly scheduled laughter club active in the Portland area. The Awakenings Laughter Club meets every Tuesday morning from 7:10 to 7:40 am in the studio at Awakenings Wellness Center at 1016 SE 12^th Ave. The weekly club is free, although donations are collected for the use of the space. Members will be celebrating the anniversary all month long. Everyone is invited to join in the fun this month or in the future! Members wish to thank Jim Davis, the owner of Awakenings, for his initial and ongoing support. For more information on the free club or other Laughter Yoga events in Portland check out http://www.portlandlaughteryoga.com.

The unique concept of Laughter Yoga was created in 1995 by Dr. Madan Kataria, a physician in Mumbai, India. He realized that laughter truly could be "the best medicine," and started working with a small group of people in a city park. They discovered that anyone could laugh for 15-20 minutes without depending upon a sense of humor, jokes, or comedy. It has since grown into a worldwide movement with more than 6000 clubs in over 60 countries around the world. The concept of Laughter Yoga has been featured on Oprah, Dancing with the Stars, Wife Swap, CNN and the BBC. For more information on the movement check out Laughter Yoga International’s web site at http://www.laughteryoga.org.