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The Happy Map : Your roadmap to the habit of happiness
Everyone wants to be happy. In fact, most everything we do is because we believe on some level it will make us happy. Why then do over 70% of people report living in a state of chronic stress, contributing to 80 to 90% of doctor visits? And why is it easier to worry or ruminate about stressful issues, than it is to focus on feeling happy and peaceful?
We have been led to believe that when we are unhappy or stressed, all we need to do is change the way that we think and we will be happier. For many years, Drs. Hilary Stokes and Kim Ward believed and practiced the same. They were students and teachers of the positive thinking movement until they realized this led to a cycle of diminishing returns. They had diligently applied this strategy to their own issues; Hilary had been diagnosed with PTSD at 18 years old, while Kim experienced the disempowering frustration of feeling purposeless and unfulfilled. Over time they discovered positive thinking alone is not a complete formula for lasting happiness. This discovery sent Drs. Hilary and Kim on a passionate happiness quest. The Happy Map is a result of two decades of seeking, researching and applying the best of conventional and unconventional methods and strategies for happiness.
Through their research, Hilary and Kim discovered that the conventional approaches they’d been taught to practice were missing some significant elements. Amongst these were; the executive power of emotions, the fact that stress hormones take priority over happy hormones, your mind-body connection is more powerful than your thoughts alone and focusing on your strengths is more effective than analyzing your weaknesses. In short this means that the strategy for being happy is a holistic journey of mind, body and spirit.
In the Happy Map, Hilary and Kim take you on a step by step journey to developing the habit of happiness. Throughout the book you will learn the new science of happiness that forms the basis of The Happy Map system. In this practical roadmap you will tap into your innate ability to be happy and to change the pathways in your brain associated with stress and rewire them for happiness. By the time you finish the Happy Map you will have learned a new lifestyle for living the habit of happiness in your daily life.
We have been led to believe that when we are unhappy or stressed, all we need to do is change the way that we think and we will be happier. For many years, Drs. Hilary Stokes and Kim Ward believed and practiced the same. They were students and teachers of the positive thinking movement until they realized this led to a cycle of diminishing returns. They had diligently applied this strategy to their own issues; Hilary had been diagnosed with PTSD at 18 years old, while Kim experienced the disempowering frustration of feeling purposeless and unfulfilled. Over time they discovered positive thinking alone is not a complete formula for lasting happiness. This discovery sent Drs. Hilary and Kim on a passionate happiness quest. The Happy Map is a result of two decades of seeking, researching and applying the best of conventional and unconventional methods and strategies for happiness.
Through their research, Hilary and Kim discovered that the conventional approaches they’d been taught to practice were missing some significant elements. Amongst these were; the executive power of emotions, the fact that stress hormones take priority over happy hormones, your mind-body connection is more powerful than your thoughts alone and focusing on your strengths is more effective than analyzing your weaknesses. In short this means that the strategy for being happy is a holistic journey of mind, body and spirit.
In the Happy Map, Hilary and Kim take you on a step by step journey to developing the habit of happiness. Throughout the book you will learn the new science of happiness that forms the basis of The Happy Map system. In this practical roadmap you will tap into your innate ability to be happy and to change the pathways in your brain associated with stress and rewire them for happiness. By the time you finish the Happy Map you will have learned a new lifestyle for living the habit of happiness in your daily life.
325 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 1, 2014
18 people are currently reading
45 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 18, 2021
HIGHLIGHTS:
1. A prime directive of the subconscious mind is to bring up unresolved issues for healing so that you can reclaim your personal power…that is why you repeat patterns until you solve them.
2. Stress can be caused by: perceived lack of control over life circumstances, events, or people. Incorrect breathing.
3. Perception + Response: The solution lies in increasing your experience of internal control, the only place where you have true power.
4. Exploring your "interpretation" is powerful work…brings you to the empowered place of self-responsibility. We always have a choice in how we interpret our world.
5. Happiness = degree in which you can focus your mind. This allows you to face challenges that come your way with a sense of certainty and empowerment.
6. Release the residue of stress + Increase ability to focus = Your mind is being cluttered with keeping track of whether you’re keeping everyone else in your life happy so you can be happy. It ultimately results in a very busy, undisciplined mind disconnected from itself.
7. Align your strengths by contributing to something greater than yourself. This translates daily into finding positive meaning in all of life’s experiences, especially the challenging ones.
8. Social Support – spending time with other releases oxytocin. Socializing when you’re conscious of the benefits is a powerful strategy to increase health, vitality, and happiness. When we compare ourselves to others we forget who we are. We forget the amazing and beautiful celebration of our life.
9. “No” is a choice. It’s an affirmation of your worth and character far more than an affirmation or lack thereof of someone else’s worth.
10. Chronic stress results in a buildup of energy that gets suppressed in the body that has to be expressed and released.
1. A prime directive of the subconscious mind is to bring up unresolved issues for healing so that you can reclaim your personal power…that is why you repeat patterns until you solve them.
2. Stress can be caused by: perceived lack of control over life circumstances, events, or people. Incorrect breathing.
3. Perception + Response: The solution lies in increasing your experience of internal control, the only place where you have true power.
4. Exploring your "interpretation" is powerful work…brings you to the empowered place of self-responsibility. We always have a choice in how we interpret our world.
5. Happiness = degree in which you can focus your mind. This allows you to face challenges that come your way with a sense of certainty and empowerment.
6. Release the residue of stress + Increase ability to focus = Your mind is being cluttered with keeping track of whether you’re keeping everyone else in your life happy so you can be happy. It ultimately results in a very busy, undisciplined mind disconnected from itself.
7. Align your strengths by contributing to something greater than yourself. This translates daily into finding positive meaning in all of life’s experiences, especially the challenging ones.
8. Social Support – spending time with other releases oxytocin. Socializing when you’re conscious of the benefits is a powerful strategy to increase health, vitality, and happiness. When we compare ourselves to others we forget who we are. We forget the amazing and beautiful celebration of our life.
9. “No” is a choice. It’s an affirmation of your worth and character far more than an affirmation or lack thereof of someone else’s worth.
10. Chronic stress results in a buildup of energy that gets suppressed in the body that has to be expressed and released.
September 7, 2015
The Happy Map is a life-changing tool for empowering the creation of a life lived with purpose and joy. Kim Ward and Hilary Stokes explore self-responsibility for personal fulfillment by guiding the reader through their own journeys of healing, combined with science-based solutions for developing the habit of happiness.
I am thankful they have written this handbook with easy to understand explanations, clear examples, and focused exercises. I will be utilizing this powerful information with the soldiers I counsel; many of whom have an addiction to drugs or alcohol, in part, because they do not know appropriate tools for quieting their mind and relaxing their body.
The Happy Map is an influential tool for positive change; for those who desire to enhance their own life, and for those who provide assistance to others.
I am thankful they have written this handbook with easy to understand explanations, clear examples, and focused exercises. I will be utilizing this powerful information with the soldiers I counsel; many of whom have an addiction to drugs or alcohol, in part, because they do not know appropriate tools for quieting their mind and relaxing their body.
The Happy Map is an influential tool for positive change; for those who desire to enhance their own life, and for those who provide assistance to others.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews