A psychologist offers fifty science-backed ideas, activities, and adventures for cultivating a happier mindset. From positive psychology expert Edward Hoffman, Ph.D., Paths to Happiness guides you through fifty fun, stimulating, mind-opening ways to achieve greater joy and feel more fulfilled. From dabbling in watercolors to expressing gratitude, embracing nostalgia to power napping, each suggestion in this book has been shown by scientific research to increase happiness and support well-being. Every topic is explored in a digestible manner and invites readers to reflect on their lives, with easy ways to cultivate a happier mindset. The easy dip-in, dip-out style and engaging activities make this accessible guide to finding happiness in daily living—one that can be revisited again and again.
Drawing from years of groundbreaking research in positive psychology, cognitive behavioral therapy, mindfulness-based practices, and neuroscience, Real Happiness provides a simple path to reach lasting happiness. The principles of happiness - gratitude, kindness, mindfulness, forgiveness, self-compassion, optimism and connection - are masterfully presented with fresh ideas and insight. 35 easy-to-implement exercises increase awareness to achieve lasting change to your life. It is indeed possible to become happier; Real Happiness shows you the way. Reviews: “Fresh, insightful and enjoyable read on the important topic of well-being.” - John B. Arden, PhD, author of Brain2Brain,The Brain Bible, and Rewire the Brain “Paquette presents readers with the latest in the science of happiness, and does it in a way that is both accessible and practically useful.” - Acacia C. Parks, PhD, Scientific Advisor to Happify.com “Simple strategies and exercises rooted in scientific research to help you improve your emotional well-being and feel more content, optimistic, and yes, happier!” - Nataly Kogan, co-founder and CEO, Happier Inc
In this important, entertaining book, one of the world's most celebrated psychologists, Martin Seligman, asserts that happiness can be learned and cultivated, and that everyone has the power to inject real joy into their lives. In Authentic Happiness, he describes the 24 strengths and virtues unique to the human psyche. Each of us, it seems, has at least five of these attributes, and can build on them to identify and develop to our maximum potential. By incorporating these strengths - which include kindness, originality, humour, optimism, curiosity, enthusiasm and generosity -- into our everyday lives, he tells us, we can reach new levels of optimism, happiness and productivity. Authentic Happiness provides a variety of tests and unique assessment tools to enable readers to discover and deploy those strengths at work, in love and in raising children. By accessing the very best in ourselves, we can improve the world around us and achieve new and lasting levels of authentic contentment and joy.
The sequel to "Mindfulness in Plain English" delivers a simple message: Living a happy life is not a theory or dream, but something eminently practical and achievable through the Buddha's Eightfold Path.
A Practical Methodology For Greater Happiness An excerpt from Your Path to Happiness: Now, I leave you with a pragmatic way of living that, if practised, can help you to achieve hedonic and eudaimonic happiness in life, solve your problems and fulfil your dreams. In this psychology book about self-actualization, Chua introduces a straightforward way of understanding of how happiness can be achieved and how unhappiness can be corrected. In the book, concepts from evolutionary psychology, behavioural psychology, humanistic psychology, cognitive psychology, psychoanalysis, social psychology, positive psychology, applied psychology, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism and Islam are explored and integrated together as one. By synthesizing various branches of psychology together, Chua suggests a few psychological interventions that you can utilize in your life to enjoy positive affect, reach your full potential, achieve your dreams, overcome your difficulties and solve your problems. Learn how to: Increase your self-control Get rid of perfectionism and self-hatred Identify the sources of aggressive behaviour Become more authentic and spontaneous Seek happiness within instead of from the external world Be better at your job Find freedom in life Become your true self Improve your relationships with others Break your bad habits Take responsibility for your life Practice mindfulness Lead a purposeful life Remove regrets from your life Become more resilient in the face of adversity Reduce anxiety and depression symptoms Enjoy greater vitality and creativity Deal with binge-eating, self-harm, addiction, smoking and drug-taking ...and much more. Placing emphasis on the scientific method, the interventions in Your Path to Happiness are made to be practical. Thus, if they are applied, Your Path to Happiness can help you to become the best version of yourself, transform from your current self to your true self, and remove any problematic behaviour that you may exhibit. Anyone, regardless of how miserable or detestable they currently are, can stand to benefit.
A true global giant, the European Union is a unique confederation of 15 member-states whose collective economic power is second only to that of the United States. Already encompassing 375 million citizens, the EU will soon grow to include a further 10 states from Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean.
For the first time, an award-winning Harvard professor shares his wildly popular course on classical Chinese philosophy, showing you how ancient ideas—like the fallacy of the authentic self—can guide you on the path to a good life today. Why is a course on ancient Chinese philosophers one of the most popular at Harvard? Because it challenges all our modern assumptions about what it takes to flourish. Astonishing teachings emerged two thousand years ago through the work of a succession of Chinese scholars exploring how humans can improve themselves and their society. And what are these counterintuitive ideas? Transformation comes not from looking within for a true self, but from creating conditions that produce new possibilities. Good relationships come not from being sincere and authentic, but from the rituals we perform within them. A good life emerges not from planning it out, but through training ourselves to respond well to small moments. Influence comes not from wielding power but from holding back. Excellence comes from what we choose to do, not our natural abilities. In other words, The Path “opens the mind” (Huffington Post) and upends everything we are told about how to lead a good life. Its most radical idea is that there is no path to follow in the first place—just a journey we create anew at every moment by seeing and doing things differently. “With its…spirited, convincing vision, revolutionary new insights can be gleaned from this book on how to approach life’s multifarious situations with both heart and head” (Kirkus Reviews). A note from the publisher: To read relevant passages from the original works of Chinese philosophy, see our ebook Confucius, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi: Selected Passages, available wherever books are sold.
Why is it that all of us want to be happy, and yet we continue experience and cause ourselves distress? Are there specific skills that the wise have practiced for many centuries that helped them feel joyful and happy? Are these skills still relevant today? Can we learn them and apply them to our daily lives? Xiankuan has studied and practiced both Western psychological methods and Eastern meditative techniques. In the Six Pathways to Happiness, Xiankuan integrates Western psychology with ancient Buddhist wisdom. He presents six pathways: calming the mind, cultivating clear insight, improving loving-kindness and compassion, deepening concentration, maturing our wisdom, and being of benefit to all beings. This is the first of three volumes in which Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy is shown to be supported by Chinese Buddhist practices. In addition, Xiankuan discusses the etymology of basic Chinese characters in order to help the reader literally picture how ancient masters understood the world.
How to reduce stress, anxiety, high blood pressure, and even chronic pain-by refocusing your mind A cutting-edge meditation therapy that uses self-control techniques, mindfulness has taken off across the globe as a way of overcoming negative thoughts and emotions and achieving a calmer, more focused state of mind. Written by a professional mindfulness trainer, this practical guide covers the key self-control techniques designed to help you achieve a more focused and contented state of mind, while maximizing the health benefits of mindfulness-from reducing stress, anxiety, and high blood pressure to overcoming depression and low self-esteem and battling chronic pain and insomnia. Includes self-control techniques (such as body posture, sitting practice and breathing exercises) and routines Includes an audio CD featuring narrated meditations and exercises Introducing you to a new and powerful form of meditation therapy, Mindfulness For Dummies outlines how to use it in your everyday life to achieve a new level of self-awareness and self-understanding and reap the long-term rewards of better health. Note: CD files are available to download when buying the eBook version
This book describes Buddhist-Yogic ideas in relation to those of contemporary Western psychology. The book begins with the Buddhist view of the human psyche and of the human condition. This leads to the question of what psychological changes need to be made to improve that condition. Similarities between Buddhism and Western Psychology include: Both are concerned with alleviating inner pain, turmoil, affliction and suffering. Both are humanistic and naturalistic in that they focus on the human condition and interpret it in natural terms. Both view the human being as caught in a causal framework, in a matrix of forces such as cravings or drives which are produced by both our biology and our beliefs. Both teach the appropriatenss of compassion, concern and unconditional positive regard towards others. Both share the ideal of maturing or growth. In the East and the West, this is interpreted as greater self possession, diminished cravings and agitations, less impulsivity and deeper observations which permit us to monitor and change our thoughts and emotional states. Buddhism, Yoga, and Western Psychology, especially the recent emphasis on positive psychology, are concerned with the attainment of deep and lasting happiness. The thesis of all three is that self-transformation is the surest path to this happiness.
