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New Harbinger Publications - Sam Chase

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109 pages

English

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Publié par	New Harbinger Publications
Date de parution	01 février 2016
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781626252899
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0678€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

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“Yoga and the Pursuit of Happiness weaves together philosophy, centuries-old yoga tools, and the modern day sciences of psychology and neurobiology with incredible readability. It takes years of study, lots of deep thinking, and plenty of practice to untangle key threads and weave them together in in such a completely accessible, thorough, and totally relevant way. This is a must-read for all yoga practitioners—and anyone who wants to cultivate more happiness.”
— Megan McDonough , CEO of Wholebeing Institute, and author of Infinity in a Box and Radically Receptive Meditation
“This is one of those rare books that can change your life for the better. By bridging yoga and psychology, philosophical discourse and practical tips, and personal stories and rigorous research, Sam Chase takes us on a journey of self-discovery and self-transformation.”
— Tal Ben-Shahar, PhD , best-selling author of Happier and Choose the Life You Want
“In this book, Sam Chase manages to explain deep and complex questions that cut to the core of the human mind, heart, and body with the easy and intimate tone of good friends having a conversation over tea. I laughed out loud. I reached for my pen to underline sentences. I didn’t want to stop reading. The book is filled with so much wisdom, depth, humor, and compassion. Chase takes us on a journey to happiness that begins with an inability to touch his toes and ends with an understanding of ourselves as more vast and precious than we could possibly imagine.”
— Yael Shy , senior director of Global Spiritual Life at New York University, and founder and director of MindfulNYU
“Weaving together ideas from various traditions—including yoga, Buddhism, and positive psychology—Sam Chase gives his readers an enjoyable manual for developing happiness. Yoga and the Pursuit of Happiness contains no pictures or postures, just sound guidance on how to reconnect with your innate joyfulness.”
—Sharon Salzberg , author of Lovingkindness and Real Happiness
“ Yoga and the Pursuit of Happiness is a comprehensive book that presents the traditional goals of yoga as they are understood by modern neuroscience and positive psychology. Certainly, this is not a book about how to perform yoga poses. Sam Chase offers a heartfelt and genuine account of his discovery of yoga. With numerous personal anecdotes and scientific evidence—many of them written with candor and a great sense of humor—Sam advises us to take yoga as an exploration, and tells us that with open eyes and curiosity we can discover many things that we had not noticed before. From the opening pages, Chase affirms that the ultimate goal of yoga is to achieve happiness. This is a recommended book for all yoga practitioners and curious minds who would like to know and explore the true meaning of yoga.”
—Germán A. Bravo-Casas , president of the Yoga Club at the United Nations (UNSRC)
“Sam Chase’s new book is a delightful and extremely informative examination of the practical genius of yoga. Chase has a particularly good eye for storytelling and illuminating scientific discovery, and he weaves these together in such a compelling way that I guarantee that you won’t want to put this book down! Yoga students—beginners as well as advanced—will be very glad, indeed, to have this new book.”
—Stephen Cope , senior scholar in residence at the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health, and author of the best-selling Yoga and the Quest for the True Self

Publisher’s Note
This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering psychological, financial, legal, or other professional services. If expert assistance or counseling is needed, the services of a competent professional should be sought.
“The VIA Classification of Character Strengths and Values” in chapter 6 is © copyright 2004–2014, VIA Institute on Character. Used with permission; all rights reserved. http://www.viacharacter.org .
Distributed in Canada by Raincoast Books
Copyright © 2016 by Sam Chase
New Harbinger Publications, Inc.
5674 Shattuck Avenue
Oakland, CA 94609
www.newharbinger.com
Cover design by Sara Christian
Acquired by Melissa Kirk
Edited by Marisa Solís
All Rights Reserved
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Chase, Sam, author.
Title: Yoga and the pursuit of happiness : a guide to finding joy in unexpected places / Sam Chase.
Description: Oakland, CA : New Harbinger Publications, Inc., 2016. | Includes bibliographical references.
Identifiers: LCCN 2015049025 (print) | LCCN 2016001328 (ebook) | ISBN 9781626252875 (pbk. : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781626252882 (pdf e-book) | ISBN 9781626252899 (epub) | ISBN 9781626252882 (PDF e-book) | ISBN 9781626252899 (ePub)
Subjects: LCSH: Yoga. | Happiness.
Classification: LCC B132.Y6 C565 2016 (print) | LCC B132.Y6 (ebook) | DDC 204/.36--dc23
LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015049025
Contents
Introduction
Seeking Stillness
Inquire Within
The Bhagavad Gita and The Yoga Sutras
Part I: The Map
Chapter 1: The Pursuit of Happiness
The Why of Happiness
Three Happinesses
If You’re Happy and You Know It…
How WEIRD Are You?
A Biased Judge
Happiness Yesterday
Happiness Tomorrow
What Is Happiness?
Pleasure
In Search of Something More?
Meaning
Engagement
Chapter 2: Yoga: The Battlefield of the Self
The Bhagavad Gita
Krishna’s Counsel
The Call to Arms
The Roots of Yoga
Stuck on Our Selves
The Roots of Suffering
Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras
The Eight Limbs of Yoga
Into the Breach
Chapter 3: Meditation: Meet Your Mind
Alone with Your Thoughts?
The Hotel in Your Head
11,000,000 Rooms: No Vacancy
You Want to Drive or Should I?
The Myth of Multitasking
Accelerating Attention
Meanwhile, Back at the Ashram
Just Keep Coming Back
Finding Something to Settle On
Unexpected Doorways
Choose Your Own Adventure
Practice and Detachment
Chapter 4: The Pillars of Transformation
Change Upon Change
The Stress Response
Destined to Develop
Karma and Samskara
Trailblazing in Your Brain
A Meeting of the Minds
The Three Pillars of Transformation
Discipline
Self-Study
Surrender
Make That Four Pillars…
Sowing Compassion
An Everyday Superhero
Time to Hit the Highway
Part II: The Journey
Chapter 5: Now: Look
Mindfulness Meditation
Itching to Do Something
The Waves and the Witness
The Witness in the Lab
The Anatomy of Identity
From Many Streams, One Current
Letting Go of Stories
Insight in Action
Going with the Flow
The Criteria for Flow
The Experience of Flow
Where Did I Go?
Uprooting Suffering
Chapter 6: Dharma: Look Within
Wisdom at Work
Better to Struggle in Your Own Dharma
Patanjali’s Yamas and Niyamas
The Yamas
The Niyamas
Values in Action
The VIA Classification of Character Strengths and Virtues
1. Wisdom and Knowledge
2. Courage
3. Humanity
4. Justice
5. Temperance
6. Transcendence
Keep It Personal
Following Your Bliss
From self to Self and Back Again
Chapter 7: Connection: Look Around
A Two-Way Street
Altruism
The Case Against Having a Full Cup
Generosity in the Lab
Too Stressed to Care
When Love Is in Your Veins
The Other
The Maintenance Cost of the Ego
Hope for the Helping Spirit
Metta Meditation
The Consequences of Compassion
The Ties That Bind Us
Reconnecting
Take It to the Streets
Beyond self, Beyond Suffering
Chapter 8: Forgiveness and Gratitude: Look Back
Battling with Days Gone By
Let It All Out?
The Price of Getting Even
Forgiveness
Setting the Story Straight
Re-Storying
Dethroning Memory
The Good Times
Gratitude
The Gifts of Gratitude
The Paradox of the Past
Chapter 9: Goals: Look Ahead
The Ant and the Grasshopper
The Trouble with Goals
Don’t Set Your Sights on Happiness
Let Your Action Be an End Unto Itself
Inspiration from Within
Action without Attachment
Chapter 10: Look Again
A Call to Worship
An Echo from Patanjali
To Know One’s Self
The Color of Clarity
Holding On and Letting Go
Acknowledgments
References
Introduction
I started yoga because I wanted to be able to touch my toes. I had no higher aspirations at the time. Growing up severely asthmatic and comically unathletic, I finished the mile run during elementary school gym class dead last in 15 minutes, then promptly threw up. My body and I were not on what you would call “speaking terms.” I regarded it as a constantly malfunctioning annoyance, and it routinely lived up to the low expectation I set.
I knew a losing bet even as a grade-schooler, and quickly swapped physical pursuits for intellectual ones. For a while it seemed like I’d struck quite a deal on the trade: I graduated as valedictorian of my high school class, then of my college class as well. My mind was clearly succeeding where my body had failed, so “Good riddance,” I thought.
And that’s when things started to fall apart. At the end of college, I was invited to apply to a scholarship program to study in England, one of the most prestigious in my field at the time, with only a handful awarded among thousands of applicants around the country. I have a vivid memory of getting the congratulatory call that ought to have elated me. For a young academic, there was no higher pinnacle, and I was standing at the top. It was supposed to be the best moment of my life. Instead, panic flooded in where joy should have been setting sail, and the familiar wheeze of vanishing breath returned. And then I threw up.
With that, my old nemesis—my body—began its most brilliant betrayal. I tried desperately to will myself to enjoy the sudden success, but something in me refused. And whatever it was, it dug its heels in deep. In the days that followed, each congratulatory pat on the back felt like a punch in the guts. Every time