History - Prairie View Research Study  back  

Ever wonder how one gets a research study published? For me you might say it is one of those amazing moments when all the planets of the universe perfectly align. Others might say it's when the angels join hands and surround you. Oprah says, "It's when God winks". What ever you want to call it is just fine with me, but let me tell you, it is an awesome thing. Maybe the word awesome is over used today, but it sure fits this situation.

Here is how my awesome miracle came about . . .

After explaining my laughter program to a very nice gentleman from the training department at a major aircraft company. I noticed that he became quite excited about the possibilities of laughter training in the workplace and the possible outcomes. However, he pointed out that all the research to date was on the use of humor to induce laughter and what I was proposing had nothing to do with humor. He said I needed a research study to back up my theory.

Just three weeks later, almost to the day, I had the privilege of meeting Dr. Nate Regier, from Prairie View, a renowned mental health facility in the midwest, at a career expo. Nate was giving a presentation on Emotional Intelligence in the Workplace. I was fascinated with what he had to say and could immediately see a connection with Laughter Links Leadership training. I approached him at the conclusion of his talk and handed him my card. I told him I would not take up his time, as there was a long line of people waiting to speak with him, but " . . . would he be interested in exploring what effect laughter might have on his work?".

Long story short, less than two weeks later, I was in his office and after five minutes of conversation we were making plans for the "very first ever" research study on the effects of laughter, in the absence of humor, in the workplace. You see, up to this time all studies done on laughter had used humor to induce the laughter. Whereas our study used the yoga breathing methods of Dr. Madan Kataria, a cardiologist, from Mumbai, India to induce laughter.

To say the least, we had amazing results from our study and we are so pleased to be published in the Journal of Primary Prevention.

Great article Giggles are Good at Work tells more about the fun we had doing the study. Enjoy!!!

If you would like for us to talk to your employer contact us here.        back

And, remember . . . laugh yourself silly, you'll feel better!!!