Learn how to achieve the happiness you deserve "A guide to sustaining your newfound contentment." —Psychology Today "Lyubomirsky's central point is clear: a significant portion of what is called happiness . . . is up for grabs. Taking some pages out of the positive psychology playbook, she coaches readers on how to snag it." —The New York Review of Books You see here a different kind of happiness book. The How of Happiness is a comprehensive guide to understanding the elements of happiness based on years of groundbreaking scientific research. It is also a practical, empowering, and easy-to-follow workbook, incorporating happiness strategies, excercises in new ways of thinking, and quizzes for understanding our individuality, all in an effort to help us realize our innate potential for joy and ways to sustain it in our lives. Drawing upon years of pioneering research with thousands of men and women, The How of Happiness is both a powerful contribution to the field of positive psychology and a gift to people who have sought to take their happiness into their own hands.

We all want to be happy, but how do we achieve it? This unique workbook blends spiritual wisdom with evidence-based psychological practices to help you achieve lasting fulfilment. Most of us are searching for happiness in one form or another, but the “happiness” we’ve been conditioned to pursue is often elusive and fleeting. When we base our happiness on what we have—such as material possessions or status recognition from others—our happiness is no longer in our control. This workbook will show you that happiness is not about accumulating and consuming, or even achieving some deep state of spiritual bliss. Instead, you’ll find a fresh perspective on how to achieve authentic happiness rooted in spiritual values and actions. Written by two best-selling authors in the field of psychology (The Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Workbook), this guide blends mindfulness-based spiritual practices with evidence-based acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) to help you develop your own spiritual action plan. Using the practical guidance and exercises in this guide, you’ll create a set of principles and behaviors aligned with your deepest values and sense of purpose, and learn to make decisions with a wise mind. Every moment of your life is an opportunity to make choices based on your own personal, deeply held spiritual values—why not start now? This workbook will give you the hands-on tools you need to get started.

A PDF version of this book is available for free in open access via www.tandfebooks.com as well as the OAPEN Library platform, www.oapen.org. It has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 3.0 license and is part of the OAPEN-UK research project. There is growing evidence that rising levels of prosperity in Western economies since 1945 have not been matched by greater incidences of reported well-being and happiness. Indeed, material affluence is often accompanied instead by greater social and individual distress. A growing literature within the humanities and social sciences is increasingly concerned to chart not only the underlying trends in recorded levels of happiness, but to consider what factors, if any, contribute to positive and sustainable experiences of well-being and quality of life. Increasingly, such research is focusing on the importance of values and beliefs in human satisfaction or quality of life; but the specific contribution of religion to these trends is relatively under-examined. This unique collection of essays seeks to rectify that omission, by identifying the nature and role of the religious contribution to wellbeing. A unique collection of nineteen leading scholars from the field of economics, psychology, public theology and social policy have been brought together in this volume to explore the religious contribution to the debate about happiness and well-being. These essays explore the religious dimensions to a number of key features of well-being, including marriage, crime and rehabilitation, work, inequality, mental health, environment, participation, institutional theory, business and trade. They engage particularly closely with current trends in economics in identifying alternative models of economic growth which focus on its qualitative as well as quantitative dimensions. This unique volume brings to public notice the nature and role of religion’s contribution to wellbeing, including new ways of measurement and evaluation. As such, it represents a valuable and unprecedented resource for the development of a broad-based religious contribution to the field. It will be of particular relevance for those who are concerned about the continuing debate about personal and societal well-being, as well as those who are interested in the continuing significance of religion for the future of public policy.

From the author of What Makes You Not a Buddhist comes a fresh look at the foundations of Tibetan Buddhist practice, with practical advice and guidance for the modern practitioner Do you practice meditation because you want to feel good? Or to help you relax and be “happy”? Then frankly, according to Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse, you are far better off having a full-body massage than trying to practice the Dharma. Genuine spiritual practice, not least the Ngöndro preliminaries, will not bring the kind of comfort and ease most worldly people crave. Quite the opposite, in fact. But if your ultimate goal is enlightenment, Ngöndro practice is a must, and Not for Happiness your perfect guide, as it contains everything an aspiring practitioner needs to get started, including advice about: • Developing “renunciation mind” • Discipline, meditation and wisdom • Using your imagination in visualization practice • Why you need a guru

Mindfulness is a way of paying attention that originates in Eastern meditation traditions but is increasingly discussed and practised in Western culture. It is usually defined as focusing one's complete attention on present-moment experiences in a non-judgemental and accepting way. Buddhist traditions suggest that the cultivation of mindfulness through the practice of meditation reduces suffering and cultivates positive qualities, such as insight, wisdom, compassion and equanimity. In recent years, the Western mental health community has adapted mindfulness meditation practices for use in medical and mental health settings, and several interventions based on mindfulness training are now widely available. Those with the best scientific support include mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT), dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT). These treatments can be applied to a wide range of problems, disorders and populations and the evidence increasingly supports their efficacy. Practising Happiness is the first self-help book to integrate the wisdom, skills and practices available from the four leading evidence-based mindfulness treatments (MBSR, MBCT, DBT and ACT). FREE audio content and guided meditations are available at www.practising-happiness.co.uk

Looking for an introduction to positive psychology that offers real-life examples? This overview of the science of happiness supplies case studies from some of the world's most successful organizations and describes ways to experience the personal impact of this exciting scientific field. Rather than focusing on treating what is "wrong" with a person, positive psychology seeks to understand and foster the things that drive happiness, creativity, and emotional fulfillment. This is a relatively new area of psychological study, and this reference book presents the research and practice of positive psychology in an informative and accessible format. Readers are given a history of the field, its current applications, and the future implications of this psychological discipline. Case studies from companies such as The Body Shop, Volvo, Zappos, and Google highlight the impact of positive psychology when it's applied in a modern business setting. These case studies, along with biographies of leaders in the field, highlight each chapter and connect the dots between the empirical theory of positive psychology and its practice. Readers also receive tools to apply the practices to their own lives.

What is happiness? What can we do to be happier? Why does happiness matter? In this beautifully illustrated little book, leading Positive Psychologist Miriam Akhtar introduces us to the key ingredients of a well-lived and fulfilling life. Drawing on her expert knowledge of the Science of Happiness, the author shares 12 evidence-based Happiness Habits and the key practices that will help us obtain and sustain happiness in our daily lives - such as connecting with others, feeling gratitude, spending time in nature, being mindful, savouring the moment and practising positive emotion. Bursting with practical, accessible tools and easy-to-follow exercises, this little book offers readers invaluable advice on how to create the best conditions for a happy life, well lived.