Recommendations based on "Happiness, Pleasure, Joy, Bliss"

ECPA BESTSELLER • A compelling emotional and spiritual case against hurry and in favor of a slower, simpler way of life—from the New York Times bestselling author of Practicing the Way“Prophetic, practical, and profoundly life giving . . . provides a way forward that creates hope, hunger, and a vision of a beautiful life. I consider this required reading.”—Jon Tyson, lead pastor of the Church of the City New York and author of Beautiful Resistance“Who am I becoming?”That was the question nagging pastor and author John Mark Comer. Outwardly, he appeared successful. But inwardly, things weren’t pretty. So he turned to a trusted mentor for guidance and heard these words:“Ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life. Hurry is the great enemy of the spiritual life.”It wasn’t the response he expected, but it was—and continues to be—the answer he needs. Too often we treat the symptoms of toxicity in our modern world instead of trying to pinpoint the cause. A growing number of voices are pointing at hurry, or busyness, as a root of much evil.A perfect gift for Father’s Day and graduation that inspires readers to focus on what really matters, The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry is a fascinating roadmap to staying emotionally healthy and spiritually alive in the chaos of the modern world.

A neuroscientist’s powerful framework for enhancing quality of life through the regulation of four key hormones: Dopamine, Oxytocin, Serotonin, and Endorphins.The brain’s ability to change and adapt is one of the most powerful tools we can harness to create positive changes in our lives. Renowned neuroscientist and co-founder of Neurify, TJ Power, believes in the human ability to optimize and rewire brain chemistry to unlock one’s full potential. However, to do so, one must first implement a series of practical, life changing strategies.The Dose Effect reveals the secrets of our brain chemistry, offering simple and accessible ways to make modifications to your lifestyle that can transform your brain. Drawing on clinical expertise and cutting-edge science, Power explores how biohacking your brain can not only enhance cognitive performance but also improve the aspects of your life that ultimately control a happier, healthier, and more productive lifestyle.The Dose Effect proves the intrinsic connection between lifestyle factors and mental and physical wellbeing Split into four sections, this essential guidebook provides the most effective techniques for understanding the key hormones that rule our thinking and our behaviors:1. Dopamine, the motivation and reward drug of the brain.2. Oxytocin, the “Great Facilitator of Life.”3. Serotonin, the “Confidence Chemical.”4. Endorphins, the chemical warriors responsible for reducing stress and pain.Research-driven and deeply inspiring, Power’s revolutionary strategies allow readers to harness behaviors and practices to improve mental health, manage stress, elevate mood, and promote overall wellness. His key findings include the influence of effortful activity on dopamine production, the significance of social connection in oxytocin levels, the value of connecting with nature and maintaining gut health for optimal serotonin levels, and the beneficial effects of physical exertion and laughter on endorphin release. By emphasizing the importance of understanding and optimizing our brain chemistry, this revolutionary book offers a path to a more fulfilled and meaningful life for all that are willing to take the first step.

In this inspiring, empowering book, Shetty draws on his time as a monk in the Vedic tradition to show us how we can clear the roadblocks to our potential and power. Drawing on ancient wisdom and his own rich experiences in the ashram, Think Like a Monk reveals how to overcome negative thoughts and habits, and access the calm and purpose that lie within all of us. The lessons monks learn are profound but often abstract. Shetty transforms them into advice and exercises we can all apply to reduce stress, improve focus, improve relationships, identify our hidden abilities, increase self-discipline and give the gifts we find in ourselves to the world. Shetty proves that everyone can and should think like a monk.

One of the great fears many of us face is that despite all our effort and striving, we will discover at the end that we have wasted our life. In A Guide to the Good Life, William B. Irvine plumbs the wisdom of Stoic philosophy, one of the most popular and successful schools of thought in ancient Rome, and shows how its insight and advice are still remarkably applicable to modern lives.In A Guide to the Good Life, Irvine offers a refreshing presentation of Stoicism, showing how this ancient philosophy can still direct us toward a better life. Using the psychological insights and the practical techniques of the Stoics, Irvine offers a roadmap for anyone seeking to avoid the feelings of chronic dissatisfaction that plague so many of us. Irvine looks at various Stoic techniques for attaining tranquility and shows how to put these techniques to work in our own life. As he does so, he describes his own experiences practicing Stoicism and offers valuable first-hand advice for anyone wishing to live better by following in the footsteps of these ancient philosophers. Readers learn how to minimize worry, how to let go of the past and focus our efforts on the things we can control, and how to deal with insults, grief, old age, and the distracting temptations of fame and fortune. We learn from Marcus Aurelius the importance of prizing only things of true value, and from Epictetus we learn how to be more content with what we have.Finally, A Guide to the Good Life shows readers how to become thoughtful observers of their own lives. If we watch ourselves as we go about our daily business and later reflect on what we saw, we can better identify the sources of distress and eventually avoid that pain in our life. By doing this, the Stoics thought, we can hope to attain a truly joyful life.

An acclaimed philosopher shows us how—in an age of unprecedented anxiety—we can find fulfillment by embracing the present and living more fully in the now. He is "the perfect guide for a course correction in life" (from the Introduction by Deepak Chopra).  The brain can only assume its proper behavior when consciousness is doing what it is designed for: not writhing and whirling to get out of present experience, but being effortlessly aware of it. Alan Watts draws on the wisdom of Eastern philosophy and religion in this timeless and classic guide to living a more fulfilling life. His central insight is more relevant now than ever: when we spend all of our time worrying about the future and lamenting the past, we are unable to enjoy the present moment—the only one we are actually able to inhabit. Watts offers the liberating message that true certitude and security come only from understanding that impermanence and insecurity are the essence of our existence. He highlights the futility of endlessly chasing moving goalposts, whether they consist of financial success, stability, or escape from pain, and shows that it is only by acknowledging what we do not know that we can learn anything truly worth knowing. In The Wisdom of Insecurity, Watts explains complex concepts in beautifully simple terms, making this the kind of book you can return to again and again for comfort and insight in challenging times. “Perhaps the foremost interpreter of Eastern disciplines for the contemporary West, Watts had the rare gift of ‘writing beautifully the unwritable.’” —Los Angeles Times

Everyone says they want to be happy. But that's much more easily said than done. What does being happy actually mean? And how do you even know when you feel it?Across the millennia, philosophers have thought long and hard about happiness, and come up with all sorts of different definitions and ideas for how we might live a happier life. Here, Derren explores the history of happiness from classical times until today, when the self-help industry has attempted to claim happiness as its own. His aim is to reclaim happiness for us all, and enable us to appreciate the really good things in life for what they are.Fascinating, entertaining and revelatory, this is a book for anyone who has ever wondered if there must be more to life...

"Powerful, poetic, transformative."--Tara Brach, author of Radical Acceptance\"Henry Shukman is one of the wisest and most poetical teachers of dharma we have today. In an increasingly fragmented world, he is unusually good company."--Sam HarrisNew York Times bestselling author of Waking Up and host of the Making Sense podcast\\The essential meditation guide for the twenty-first century: renowned mindfulness teacher Henry Shukman replaces the concept of original sin with original love, teaching us to tap into the love that shapes our world and can transform who we are.An increasing number of people today feel disconnected, disengaged, and lonely. Many of us are seeking solace, beginning with ourselves. Original Love is the secular spiritual handbook we need to ease our troubles and find the highest possible happiness.Henry Shukman, spiritual director of Mountain Cloud Zen Center in Santa Fe, New Mexico, provides a way forward based on four paths--Mindfulness, Support, Absorption, and Awakening--that promote growth and healing through meditation for practitioners of any level. And it works! Shukman includes inspiring stories from the students of his Original Love program that reveal how it has transformed their lives.Urgently needed, Original Love helps us create peace for ourselves and our times byreducing stress, anxiety, and depression;relaxing the mind and body;easing feelings of worry, regret, anger, and irritation;and improving decision-making and executive functioning.Finding a sense of love is a critical purpose of meditation. Finding your way back to the loving peace that lives at the center of things is Original Love.

A brilliant guide to living a happier life (even if it's not so perfect) Bestselling author Tal Ben-Shahar has done it again. In Being Happy (originally published in hardcover as The Pursuit of Perfect, 978-0-07160882-4), he gives you not only you the theory but also the tools to help you learn how to accept life as it actually is instead of what you think it should be. By using the science of positive psychology along with acceptance, Ben-Shahar shows you how to escape the rat race and begin living a life of serenity, happiness, and fulfillment. With the same technique that made Happier such a great success, Being Happy shows you how to let go of unrealistic expectations and truly accept your emotions for a more serene life. Praise for Ben-Shahar: "[Tal Ben-Shahar has] a rare brand of good sense that is embedded in scientific knowledge about how to increase happiness." -- Martin E. P. Seligman, author of Authentic Happiness "Ben-Shahar teaches that happiness isn’t as elusive as people think." -- Publishers Weekly "One of the most popular teachers in Harvard’s recent history." -- Ellen J. Langer, author of Mindfulness and On Becoming an Artist Tal Ben-Shahar is the New York Times bestselling author of Happier. He consults and lectures around the world to executives in multinational corporations, the general public, and at-risk populations. For more information, visit www.talbenshahar.com

If you are looking for a practical guide to help you achieve peak health, increased energy in your day, optimal weight and a calm mindset even amidst chaos, then The Satvic Revolution is for you.Authors Subah and Harshvardhan battled chronic diseases for many years. After trying all available solutions with no success, they turned to natural health wisdom. They adopted seven life-changing habits, using which, they were able to fully heal themselves. In this book, they share these with you.These habits draw from the best of both worlds--ancient wisdom and modern science. While the first four elevate your physical health, the last three focus on deeper aspects that are often overlooked--your mental and spiritual health.Designed to be an easy and fun read, this book includes engaging stories, illustrations and activities, making sure you never have a dull moment throughout your journey.

Whatever culture we come from, emotions play a huge role in our lives and in every relationship within them. Whether anger, joy, fear or sorrow, they can be incredibly powerful things - but can be equally hard to understand or control. In EMOTIONS REVEALED, Paul Ekman draws on a lifetime's study to take the reader on a complete tour of the emotional self. Against a background of specially commissioned photographs and forceful news images from around the world, he examines and explains how, when and why we become emotional and how far we can change what we get emotional about; why we sometimes get emotional when others don't; how to recognise and understand the subtlest signs of emotion both in ourselves and other people, and much more. This stunning volume contains a test to find out how good you are at spotting emotions, excercises to improve your awareness of the bodily sensations involved in each emotion and an explanation of how to apply all this information to enhance your daily life.