Dr. Madan Kataria, creator of Laughter Yoga

Laughter (Hasya) Yoga

It all began with five people coming together and laughing in a Mumbai park which has over the past decade cascaded into a worldwide movement with more than 5,000 laughter clubs all over the world.

Laughter Yoga was conceived by Dr. Madan Kataria in Mumbai, India. What started as a research assignment in 1995 on the benefits of laughter has taken on a life of its own.

Laughter Yoga is an effective routine that brings complete physical, mental, social and spiritual well-being. It instantly reduces stress by bringing more oxygen into the body, strengthening the immune system, fighting depression and creating a network of individuals who come together just to laugh.

The yoga in this therapy entails a series of breathing and easy movement exercises designed to teach the body to laugh without depending on jokes or humor. Dr. Kataria starts with the premise that the mind and body does not differentiate between laughing at something and laughing for no reason, so laughing for no reason is often the best medicine.

Drawing from India’s long array of yogic practice and with the help of his wife Madhuri, a yoga teacher, Laughter Yoga was invented. Laughing for no reason, is good for you.

There are laughter yoga clubs across Canada. Visit Laughter Yoga Canada for more information or contact:

Wendy Woods at 416.926.9450 or wwoods@watershedtraining.ca
Lynn Himmelmann at 416.469.2033 or himmelynn@sympatico.ca

Tonight's story in our "East meets West" series as part of Asian Heritage Month focuses on a local businessman from Indonesia who's making a difference for an orphanage back home.

Watch Dane Liu's full report (Runs 2:08)

Our series continues with a look at fusion art where message is universal and the style is East meets West.

Watch the full story (Runs 1:35)

Yi Li moved here ten years ago as a student. Now she's a professor of English as a second language at the University of Alberta. Hear her story. (Runs 5:18)

Listen to CBC Radio's Adrienne Lamb exploring Norman Kwong's life. (Runs 5:33)

The Asian community is the fastest growing community in Alberta, and we're featuring some of these immigrants in our series "East meets West."

Today we meet Noriko Yamamoto. Originally from Japan, she's called Edmonton home for almost three decades.

Noriko works as a cook at Glenora day care. CBC Radio's Dalia Thamin met up with her during busy lunch time at the daycare.

Listen to Dalia Tahmin's interview with Noriko Yamamoto (Runs 8:42)

Amy Loewan is a Hong Kong born artist who now lives in Edmonton. Her current art project is called The Peace Project.

It consists of floor-to-ceiling wall hangings made of rice paper strips woven in a simple, flat basket weave. Words of peace in many languages are interwoven, some legible and some obscured by other words. There are also faint charcoal markings and shadings on the hangings.

As part of our series East Meets West, CBC Radio's Dalia Thamin visited Amy in her studio, which is really a transformed garage behind her house in Edmonton's Ritchie neighbourhood.

Listen to Dalia Tahmin's interview with Amy Loewan (Runs 5:11)

We continue our series East Meets West, which celebrates the contribution of the Asian community in Edmonton.
Today we meet the Edmonton filmmaker, playwright and actress Mieko Ouchi.

She's been busy working on various projects ever since her career kicked off with the documentary Shepherd's Pie and Sushi, about her mixed family roots. And her latest acting role is in The Guard, a Canadian series that runs on Global TV.

CBC Radio's Dalia Thamin spoke with Mieko.

Listen to Dalia Tahmin's interview with Meiko Ouchi (Runs 8:42)

Dr. Gilmour Becina in the town square of Santa Cruz. Becina, like thousands of other Filipino doctors, has retrained as a nurse in hopes of a job in Canada or another western country. . (Ann Sullivan/CBC)

It's a growing trend in the Philippines, where thousands of doctors are retraining as nurses each year, in the hopes of working in western countries like Canada.

CBC Radio’s Ann Sullivan met Dr. Gilmour Becina in the social security office in Santa Cruz, Philippines.

Listen to Ann Sulivan's interview with Dr. Gilmour Becina. (Runs 4:18)

Edmonton's Chinese community is as diverse as the city itself.

Although the first Chinese immigrants arrived in Canada in 1858 for the gold rush, the first major wave of Chinese migration was between 1881-1885 when the Canadian Pacific Railway brought in nearly 6,500 Chinese workers to build the railway.

This timeline gives the full history of Chinese migration to Canada, Alberta and Edmonton. Click on a date to navigate.

RCI Digital Diversity Competition: Generation DX2

Last September, RCI viva invited high school students across Canada to express themselves on intercultural relations. To enter the Generation DX2 competition, students between 12 and 18 years old were asked to talk to us about their reality or to tell us a story about cultural differences through short film, audio work or photo story.

The jury selected 58 finalists' works: 49 in French (28 short films, 14 audio works, 7 photo stories) and 9 in English (5 short flims, 3 audio works, and 1 photo story).

View them all at DX2.

Dr. Gene Nisperos, with the Philippine healthcare advocacy group HEAD, in Manila, The Philippines. He's worried about the flood of health workers to Canada and other developed countries. (Ann Sullivan/CBC)

Two million Filipinos are expected to come to Canada for work in the next ten years. Many of them will come to Alberta to fill our desperate labour shortage, but with that growth comes concerns about brain drain. At issue is that we are taking their best and brightest, especially in the medical field.

Dr. Gene Nisperos is Secretary General of Health Alliance for Democracy (HEAD), a medical advocacy group in the Philippines. He calls the brain drain of workers leaving for Canada and other developed countries a brain hemorrhage. He sat down with CBC Radio's Ann Sullivan to talk about it.

Listen to Ann Sullivan's full story (Runs 5:29)

Listen to Ann Sullivan's extended interview with Dr. Nisperos (Runs 4:47)

Continue reading post to see more photos

Three videos from CBC Edmonton's television archives.

Edmonton's Chinatown Gate grand opening (Runs 1:14)
The official opening of the Chinatown Gate. The gate was a symbolic display of friendship between the people of the twinned cities of Edmonton and Harbin, China.

Mandarin language program one-of-a-kind in Edmonton (Runs 8:29)
Language is one of the strongest links to culture and community. For many Chinese immigrants, Edmonton's unique Mandarin school program is a way for their kids to keep in touch with their Chinese heritage.

Vietnamese restaurant Pagolac (Runs 2:48)
Thuan Ngo is one of many Vietnamese boat people who eventually found a home in Edmonton. Here, he managed to start over again, building a new life and the Pago-lacs--two of Edmonton's favorite restaurants.

The Flores children -- Cryljohn, Princess and Chris -- at their home in Manila. Merle sends $500 home each month, which pays for all their living expenses, including their university and school fees. (Ann Sullivan/CBC)

Each year Filipinos working in Canada send $600 million back home to support their families.

Merle Flores is one of them. She's a nanny in Edmonton. Her remittances support her three children in Manila.
Most of the money goes to their education. She spoke with the CBC Radio's Ann Sullivan.

Listen to Ann Sullivan's full story (Runs 5:42)

Listen to Ann Sullivan's extended interview with Merle Flores (Runs 4:47)

Continue reading post to see more photos

With the opening up of China, it's become a destination for parents in Alberta who want to adopt. CBC Edmonton's Dane Liu looks at the changing face of families in Alberta -- a Caucasian mother, her Chinese daughter, and what it means to be a non-traditional family.

Watch Dane Liu's full report (Runs 2:36)