Hardwiring Happiness: The New Brain Science of Contentment, Calm, and Confidence

by Rick Hanson

This month we will be reading Hardwiring Happiness: The New Brain Science of Contentment, Calm, and Confidence by Rick Hanson. In this book Dr. Rick Hanson, an acclaimed clinical psychologist, describes the brain’s negativity bias that makes us focus on the bad and ignore the good in our lives. But he also points out that each day is filled with opportunities to build our inner strengths and override the brain’s default pessimism.

“Hardwiring Happiness lays out a simple method that uses the hidden power of everyday experiences to build new neural structures full of happiness, love, confidence, and peace. You’ll learn to see through the lies your brain tells you. Dr. Hanson’s four steps build strengths into your brain to make contentment and a powerful sense of resilience the new normal. In just minutes a day, you can transform your brain into a refuge and power center of calm and happiness.” (Amazon book description)

I picked this book because it uses very simple accessible language and metaphors to explain some complex neurological processes (for example, “Your brain is like Velcro for negative experiences but Teflon for positive ones.”) It also offers some simple straightforward strategies that we can all use to rewire our brain circuitry. I believe that those suggestions are particularly useful for yoga teachers because we can integrate them into our teaching (and practicing) yoga with ease.