Happiness Is an Inside Job :: Emotional and Mental Health

Happiness Is an Inside Job
by author HÃ©lÃ¨ne Meurer

by Sylvia Boorstein

Readers who seek happiness and those who already reside on the fringes of contentment should take a deeper look at Happiness is an Inside Job. But as with all books (and especially those on spiritual teaching), it is the degree of the readers’ open-mindedness that will determine its value and success.

Sylvia Boorstein is a best-selling author, columnist, psychotherapist, and teacher of meditation with a particular interest in “daily life as practice.” In Happiness is an Inside Job she uses personal anecdotes to impart how Buddhist teachings of Wise Effort, Wise Mindfulness, and Wise Concentration can help move us out of daily mind trappings such as dismay, impatience, and despair and toward greater calmness and joy.

For the uninitiated, consider this a training manual–one that attempts to retrain our automatic emotional responses that prevent us from being happy. And while it is laden with gentle reminders of how to keep moving in the direction of happiness, readers need only find a few ideas to resonate with and carry into the next moment in order to benefit from this book.

One of my favourite quotes was the author’s response to the suggestion that effort, mindfulness, and concentration are too demanding for inclusion in daily life. Not so. “Practising one hundred percent of the time,” she writes, “does not require any time.” By teaching us ways to relax into healthier decision making, Happiness Is an Inside Job is one more leg-up for those walking their private paths to happier living.

HÃ©lÃ¨ne Meurer is a writer and reviewer in Victoria, BC, who sometimes gets lost in the books she reviews and cannot be found for weeks at a time.

Source: alive #312, October 2008

The Meaning of Emotion
You walk past a woman, hair askew, muttering to herself. A man looks at the woman fearfully, steps out of her way. The woman's muttering becomes louder. You too look away. You'd think by the way we act that mental illness is contagious..

Taking Care of Our Men
He pays close attention to the size of his bankbook, ensures his car gets a regular checkup, and cleans his stereo system meticulously. Yet, when it comes to taking action on his own health, he is notorious for ignoring health complaints, and takes preventive steps only as a last resort.

Are You Emotionally Fit?
Our society is obsessed with physical fitness. We crave information and feedback about the latest diets and exercise regimes. We work hard to sculpt our bodies in what are often futile attempts to mirror those seen on movie screens and magazine covers.

Homeopathic Help for Teenage Troubles
The vulnerable teenage years can be an especially difficult time. Today's teens face the pressures of juggling school work, extracurricular activities, a social life and perhaps even a part-time job.

The Emotional Piece Of The Health Puzzle
What was once speculation has now been firmly established as fact: A healthy body cannot be divorced from a healthy mind or a healthy spirit. Emotional health, it can be said with certainty, is an integral part of our overall wellness.

The Gift Of Self-Health
How common is this scenario? It's late December and a large number of gifts have yet to be bought and wrappe.

The Emotional Piece Of The Health Puzzle
Attitudes toward emotions have changed over the centuries and a lack of emotional awareness plays itself out in different behaviours.

Ode to Silence
"How much farther do we have to go?" my friend asked. "It's not far now," I replie.

Are You Mal-Illuminated?
Overfed and undernourished-we call this malnutrition. Recently a new term has been coined: "mal-illumination. This is not used when one doesn't get to see light, or when things remain dark. Not at all. Mal-illumination is a condition we all seem to suffer from in one way or another when we do not get enough exposure to sunlight..

The Sad State of Mental Health in Canada
Mental illness is definitely on the rise.

The Family Meal is Nourishing Beyond Nutrition
When was the last time you had a special meal at home? Was it Easter, a birthday or even as far back as Christmas? Many of us grew up in homes where family meals were the nor.

Retirement: The First Year
I had overestimated my need to retire and underestimated my need to be significant. We planned our retirement 10 years in advance and updated the plan annually.

Breathe the Breath of Life
Breathing is life. When we're startled, we gasp; when we're stressed or afraid, our breath is shallow and rapid. Contentment or relief is accompanied by a deep sigh. Sadness and grief often result in limited breathing.

Head, Heart, and Health - Healing Toxic Emotions
A traditional Chinese approach - one that sees ultimate health as a consideration of the mind and body as a balanced whole - can help us determine the physical costs of poor emotional healt.

Hiding Our Feelings Can Impact Our Health and Longevity
Many of us hope for lives that imitate beer commercials, all happiness and fu.

Comfort Lies
One of the most profound "Aha's! of my entire life happened when I was in my early twenties and struggling with both my relationships and my professional career.

Overcoming Divorce
The climb was going well. We were physically ready, working well as a team, and all was going to plan. The peak was in sight. Suddenly the storm clouds appeared. We tried to ignore the warning signals: high winds, fast moving clouds, and poor visibility..

Taking Care of the Caregiver
In our worry about very ill patients we often forget to care for those who look after them. Caregiver spouses are at risk of becoming sick themselves unless they take special effort to stay healthy and happy.

Is Your Marriage Ripe for an Affair?
Quick, answer this question with the first thing that comes to mind: If you were worried that your spouse might stray, how would you prevent it? Maybe your knee-jerk response is "I would lose 20 pounds and upgrade my wardrobe or "I would shower my spouse with e.

Rationalizing Unhealthy Food Choices
In our fast-paced lives, food quality and quantity often suffer.

Finding Fulfillment
Recently I rented a canoe at a popular lake. The rental agency was extremely busy and people had to jostle with one another to get their canoes into the water. Just as I was about to embark, I spotted a father struggling with his three children and their canoe.

Locus of Control
We consider many of life's experiences as good, bad, or somewhere in between. We credit our accomplishments in life to luck or personal effort or, again, somewhere in between.

Eating to Feel
Not long ago, a friend confided that her daughter was having weight problems because of her tendency to "binge eat when experiencing stress, sadness, or just plain boredom.

Perfectionism Poison
Children and pets rush through the kitchen spreading mud in their wake. Mom just laughs at their youthful enthusiasm. She pulls out the wonder mop and in no time her kitchen looks perfect.

Glad to be SAHD
There's a quiet revolution taking place in Canadian households-one that we don't hear a lot of discussion about. With more and more women in the workplace making equal or larger salaries than their mates, many men are trading briefcases for diaper bags. More than 100,000 fathers act as the primary caregiver for their children in Canada, and that number has jumped by a quarter in only a few years.

Got Guilt?
You know guilt: it’s that uneasy feeling you get when you think you’ve done something wrong. But did you know that guilt can be either positive or positively toxic? Many people who suffer from toxic guilt don’t have a clue that guilt is the problem. Could you be one of them?

It's the New Year
New Year: The double capitals just make it sound so permanent. So daunting. No wonder many of us feel more than a little intimidated when this so-called "holiday comes around!

New Year's Humbug
January again, huh? While everyone else is starting the New Year with a fresh, positive attitude, embarking on a healthier lifestyle, you'll find me hiding under a rock somewhere, eating leftover fruitcake in denial and muttering some very crabby things not to be printed here.

Health Coaching for Men

Its coaches have a wealth of experience in men's issues, while the convenience and confidentiality of the weekly online phone sessions all.

Good health times four
Your ability to love and care for self-physically, psychologically, emotionally, and spiritually-is your assurance of a long and healthy life. Longevity is worthwhile only when it comes with the following types of good health:Good physical health-you know when your body needs exercise, rest, or nourishment.

Holistic Healing Groups

Watch Your Mouth

Mindfulness in Action
Often we end up advocating to others what we need to do ourselves. Mindfulness fits squarely in that category for me. I encourage my coaching clients, friends, and family to practise mindfulness, but regrettably I don't practise it often enough myself. Time to make amends!

Employees Unplugged
I recently returned from a mini-holiday as the guest of my fiancé, who was attending a conference. The seminar was held in a tropical locale, so we booked ourselves some extra time to just hang out.

The Sounds of Silence
In a world that inhales technology and exhales anxiety, we spend a good portion of our days in an endless, unrestrained orgy of noise. From cell phones bleeping in concert halls to music blasting from our neighbours' windows and machines buzzing across verdant lawns, noise assaults us from every conceivable direction. Natural silence, it seems, has become an exceedingly rare and increasingly endangered commodity.

If We Took a Holiday...
There's something about being able to greet the day with a yawn, pull on your favourite summertime playwear, and just let your instincts carry you through the day...but then you remember-work.

Healing the Stigma of Schizophrenia
When you think of someone with a tattoo, a woman like Jean Macdonald doesn't come to mind. She is a nurse, mother, and grandmother.

Unsung Heroes
Every year, millions of Canadians volunteer their time and energy to worthy causes at home and abroad. Some do it to contribute to their community, others for personal growth. I talked to four extraordinary volunteers about their experiences and found out why helping others is so rewarding.

The Trager Approach
Softness, freedom,spaciousness, lightness, ease: these are some of the feelings you can expect from an experience with the Trager approach.

The Shyness Solution
If you are one of the many people who describe themselves as shy, socializing can be a nerve-racking experience. While many, including shy people themselves, consider shyness to be a negative trait, being the silent type does have its upsides.

Feist Fuelled by Curiosity
As she stands under a highway overpass in Tulsa, Oklahoma, our telephone connection dies. When we re-establish contact, Leslie Feist is laughing. It's just one of those unpredictable glitches that happen on the road. Although she calls touring a "steamroller, Feist admits her curiosity keeps her going.

Embrace Love
The decline of passion and erotic energy in many committed relationships impacts the overall health of the individuals. Now, more than ever, we are being called to reclaim our innate erotic nature as an essential feature of a healthy intimate relationship.

Truth and Consequences
Whistle-blowers simply tell the truth, which,strangely, can be a high stakes endeavour.

Hitting a High Note
Exercise. Eat right. Get plenty of sleep. Join a choir. The first three are typical prescriptions for healthy living. But join a choir? Most people who join a choral group do so because they like to sing. However, many choristers soon discover the health benefits of following their passion for song.

The Gift of Gabrielle
In the nearly four years since Gabrielle Miller's last interview with alive, the award-winning actor has maintained a frenetic and hectic acting and promotional schedule. Not only has she juggled filming two television series, CTV's Corner Gas and Robson Arms, but Miller has also appeared in several movies, including a starring role in Love and Other Dilemmas, which was released in 2006. "It's been a busy few years since I last spoke to you, admits Miller, who is talking to me from Regina during a break in the filming of Corner Gas. As if being one of Canada's hardest-working actors wasn't enough, Miller has also found the time and energy to work with a variety of charitable organizations, including Vela Microboard and World Vision Canada.

Mind Games
Everyone loves her husband. He's charming, handsome, polite, and intelligent. Then why is she so miserable in this marriage? This is a common theme in relationships where emotional abuse occurs.

Four Regular Guys (in Tuxedos)
A taxi pulls into the gravel parking lot of Calgary's Edworthy Park on a hot June afternoon. As children spin on the roundabout, four handsome young men in tuxedos wait to get into the cab. Although they're overdressed for this casual setting, Giorgio Armani would agree that his formal wear looks good anywhere.

The Sandwich Generation
When Naz Deravian became a mom for the first time, she found herself embracing her new baby girl, Luna, and her new role, with utter joy. But the 36-year-old actor was also worried about her own mom, who at the time was undergoing treatment for breast cancer.

Are You Lonesome Tonight?
Loneliness can be overwhelming, and most of us have experienced it at some time in our lives. But there is hope. The tips below will not only improve your well-being, but they'll also help you avoid the risks associated with feeling lonely.

Awakening Your Intuition
Intuition is knowing something instantly without reasoning. The word "intuition comes from the Latin word intueri, which means to look within. Your own answers are continuously being revealed to you from inside yourself. Are you hearing the wise guidance that is yours to receive?

Best Friends Forever
My daughter went to summer camp this year, and of course she had a terrific time and made lots of new pals. Talking with her about it took me back to my own childhood; I recalled the wonderful feeling I had then: that I could never make too many friends.

Lacking Libido
A healthy libido or sex drive is a normal part of being human. While it is not uncommon to go through periods when sexual desire declines or wanes, libido problems become self-evident when these low periods recur and lead to personal stress and interpersonal problems.