Yoga and the Pursuit of Happiness

Book excerpt: Enlightenment isn’t a strange, mystical, or faraway place. It’s a fundamental human experience available to us all in different ways and in different moments.Learn how the ancient philosophy of yoga, modern neuroscience, and positive psychology can help you discover your life’s meaning and purpose, rewire your brain, and uncover lasting happiness and joy. Everyone is looking for happiness, but very few really know where to find it. Maybe it’s that house you’ve been dreaming of buying, or a new car, or the perfect relationship? Or maybe it’s a grand, epic revelation about the meaning of life? But when will that revelation come to you, and how long should you wait? And what if happiness isn’t something you achieve or obtain, but how you respond to the conditions of your life? After all, yogis can find peace and joy even when life is painful and unpleasant. In Yoga and the Pursuit of Happiness, you’ll discover that lasting happiness is already at your fingertips—in the small, everyday moments inherently infused with purpose and meaning. The philosophy of yoga—rather than the poses and postures—boils down to one fundamental process: overcoming suffering by coming to know ourselves and aligning our actions with our own intrinsic sense of spiritual purpose. And yoga gives us the tools to address two basic existential questions: Who am I? What should I do? Meanwhile, positive psychology and neuroscience show us how our actions are constantly rewiring our brain in helpful ways—which points to happiness as something we must practice and carry out each day. Happiness is, simply put, something we do. In this unique, lighthearted guide, celebrated yoga instructor Sam Chase blends ancient wisdom from the Bhagavad Gita and Yoga Sutras with his own personal journey of enlightenment to show you how to deepen your understanding of yourself and the world around you, end the cycle of materialism and greed that can get in the way of cultivating stillness of mind, and achieve lasting well-being.