Claire Scott (Laughter & Scream Club)

Most wellbeing sessions ask you to sit still and go quiet. Claire Scott’s do the opposite. She runs laughter sessions where the whole point is to laugh on purpose, without needing a single joke, and she’ll be bringing that to the Guildhall across both days in September.

Claire is a director of Feelgood Communities CIC, a Manchester organisation that’s been working with laughter, wellbeing and creativity since 1999. She’s a qualified holistic therapist and has led laughter sessions since 2009. Her own route into this work came through years of recovery, which is part of why she talks about healing that doesn’t have to feel heavy.

What laughter yoga actually is

Laughter yoga was developed by Dr Madan Kataria, and Claire’s sessions draw on his approach. The idea is straightforward. You begin laughter as a physical exercise, in a group, paired with simple breathing, and more often than not it tips over into the real thing before long. You don’t need to find anything funny and there’s no comedy to sit through. People tend to describe feeling lighter and a bit more awake afterwards, and that’s really what a session is for.

What a session is like

There’s no mat, no performance and nothing to get right. You stay in comfortable clothes, you can stand or sit, and you’re led through a mix of gentle movement, clapping, breathing and a fair amount of eye contact. The quiet permission to be a little silly, in a room full of strangers who are all doing the same thing, is a big part of why it works. It tends to suit people who feel self-conscious about the idea at first, because everyone is in exactly the same boat.

The wider work behind it

Feelgood Communities runs workshops and wellbeing programmes for schools, businesses and communities across the UK, and Claire’s work reaches well beyond a single event. She’s co-organised laughter festivals and runs a long-standing laughter club at the Monastery in Gorton. That grounding matters: this isn’t a novelty turn, it’s something she’s practised and led for well over a decade.

Something to try before you come

You don’t need a group to get a feel for this. Once a day, set a timer for one minute and laugh on purpose, out loud, even if it starts off completely fake. It’ll feel daft for the first ten seconds, and then it usually stops feeling fake. Notice how your breathing and your shoulders sit afterwards. That small shift is the same one Claire’s sessions build on, and it costs you nothing to try at home.

Claire Scott is one of over 70 readers, healers and stallholders at the Mind Body Spirit & Wellness Weekend, Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 September 2026, at Stockport Masonic Guildhall. Her sessions, like every session across the weekend, are included with entry.