Yoga and the Pursuit of Happiness: A Guide to Finding Joy in Unexpected Places

by Sam Chase

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 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 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.

Genres: Nonfiction, Health, Spirituality, Self Help, Philosophy, Adult, Psychology

232 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2016

About the author

Sam Chase is co-owner of Yoga to the People in New York City, NY, where he leads weekly yoga programs for everyday people and diverse organizations, including New York University and The United Nations. He received his Master’s Degree at Harvard's A.R.T. Institute, and certificates in Yoga and Positive Psychology from The Kripalu Center.

Reviews

[Karan Bajaj · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a rare, rare book which blends science, mysticism, and the hardcore tenets of yoga philosophy in an accessible yet deeply profound narrative. I've studied yoga and meditation texts for years and have found most either too dry or new-agey. Sam strikes a perfect balance by blending his personal story and humor into the book while not flinching even a little from the abstruse, mystical elements of it. An extraordinary book. Highly recommended for both beginners and advanced practitioners. It'll leave a lingering effect in your mind.

[Nichole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not what I expected. Too much history and meditation, not enough yoga.

[jocelyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sam Chase presents Eastern yogic philosophy (borrowing most heavily from the epic Mahabharata and Patanjali's Sutras) in conjunction with Western psychology to answer the age old question: what is happiness and how do I achieve it? This is an accessible and quick read that presents just as many questions as it answers. With chapters focusing on topics such as the self, meditation, and compassion, I'm sure many yoga practitioners will find use within the pages of Yoga and the Pursuit of Happiness.

[Lindsay · Rating 5 out of 5]

So meaningful, educational, and humorous. It's like a yoga/meditation textbook with humorous commentary throughout and examples from author's life.

Only critique, his son's name is Bridge??? I guess that's cool and I can see the spiritual meaning. But also lolz

[Debbie Carnes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting and life changing book. Well worth picking up and reading

[Archana Manohar · Rating 2 out of 5]

not an enjoyable read, not a page turner either.

[Lisa · Rating 1 out of 5]

The title of this book is misreading. It's not really a guide to yoga or happiness, but more a philosophical discussion of some of the ancient yoga texts--specifically the Gita. There are "inquiries" in every chapter, but the author doesn't tell us what to do with those inquiries and the discussion of the Gita and Sutras is at a very basic level. I didn't really see anything about yoga at all, except an emphasis on meditation. Obviously meditation is a major part of yoga, but that also seemed misleading.

I, too, am a Kripalu certified yoga instructor, so the descriptions of Kripalu and the author's early (and difficult) experience with meditation was touching, but I really didn't learn anything from this book about happiness or yoga--or yoga philosophy for that matter. I'm not sure who the audience would be for this book; perhaps someone who wants to learn a little about the Sutras and Gita from a very basic perspective.

[Artemisia Hunt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Combining ancient yogic wisdom and modern research in the field of positive psychology, author and yoga teacher, Sam Chase shows how contentment is really best found by letting go of any firm attachment to its achievement. Yoga and the Pursuit of Happiness is about a lot more than yoga or the performing of asanas, and much more about finding a deeper wisdom about living that could be summed up in three areas: self-discipline, self-study and surrender.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the perfect combination of psychology and yoga philosophy presented in a great down-to-earth way! LOVED IT!

[Brittney Kristina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed it & it opened my eyes up to goal setting and forgiveness, but I didn’t take away as much as I’d like tbh. I still don’t fully know how to feel happy, and the chapters felt a little random and all over the place, it wasn’t a clear guide like the synopsis made it out to be. It was packed full of psychosocial studies, scientific evidence, and just a lot of information. Not a lot of yoga. I can tell that the author is very intelligent. For a title like “Yoga and the pursuit of happiness”, it was a lot more intense than expected. It was a good read, but it was frankly a little hard to understand.

[Mrs. B. Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked up this book because I saw it on the shelf at Kripalu. It was a nice reminder of the ancient teachings and yogic philosophy that I learned during my yoga teacher training - and I was delighted to see my yoga teacher (Devarshi Steven Hartman) mentioned in this book!
A good, quick, enjoyable and approachable guide to yoga - not the physical poses, but the mystical, and spiritual aspects - this book is good for both beginners and advanced yogis ✨

[Jenni · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely wonderful. Not too theological, filled with an easy going rhythm and humor. Easy to understand both the concepts and the suggested exercises. A truly beautiful book, I was delightfully surprised to discover. I checked this out from the library, loved it so much that I am ordering it from the local bookstore so that I may read it again soon.

[Joanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

When neuroscience, psychology, and history intersect….you get this book! A fun read - took me longer than I expected only because there was so much information I wanted to take in. This non-fiction was way less about the actual physical practice of yoga and more about everything else that goes with it - which surprised me!

[Alexis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am honored to have first gotten to know Sam as a teacher at Kripalu, and then to read this book. His elegant language and deep understanding and melding of yogic philosophy and real study-backed psychology is a helpful read for any yoga instructor or practitioner looking to figure out how all this yoga stuff fits into a life well lived.

Thank you, Sam!

[Keila White · Rating 4 out of 5]

Practical book about yoga philosophy and happiness

He mixes the science of happiness with the ancient teachings of yoga. The book was well researched and a pleasure to read.

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am hoping to learn about yoga beyond my asana practice, and although I found this book to be helpful and interesting, my search continues. Not that that's a bad thing.

[Kelly K · Rating 3 out of 5]

This wasn't exactly what I expected this to be but it was fairly interesting with a bit of humor.

[Emily Wright · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not what I expected, there is more psychology and science with bits of meditation training. Some humor

[Jen Kalawur · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sam's voice is so wise, funny and authentic. He takes high-minded concepts down to earth for curious yogis to chew on. I referred to many of his passages during my yoga classes.

[L E · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. A great blend of yoga philosophy and science.

[Lynda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the writer approach to yoga. Could have been exanded.

[Meg · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars
Loved the incorporation of yoga + religion + science into 3 different pillars of “how to be happy”, not catered directly to yogis at all and would recommend to anyone

[Texjim · Rating 4 out of 5]

This a scholarly and cerebral (pun intended) discussion that focuses on the intersection of psychology, modern neuroscience, and the teaching of the ancient yoga masters. He relies heavily on the wisdom of Patanjali's Yoga Sūtras and the narrator of the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna. The author presents much of what makes us happy and how that happiness in all its many manifestations can be reinforced by the practice of yoga. He posits that "our response" to each and every change that confronts us leaves a small but real track on the surface of our consciousness. Each time we make a related response the track gets deeper and more difficult to resolve. Thus, if our response is negative it makes us unhappy and becomes harder to reverse. The most severe challenges can leave almost permanent scars like seen with PTSD. When yoga principles are applied and the response is positive/accepting it evolves into a good habit and makes us happy. The author suggests that true happiness can exposed by answering the question of "what we want", with an inwardly directed series of answers to the question "why" until one can go no further back. He suggests that through the application of meditative yoga one can use the same introspection to peel away the stories we have constructed to describe ourselves until we can approach that amorphous "self" at our individual center. He provides a cursory "how to" introduction to meditations and mindfulness starting first with the neutral inward focus followed then with a beneficent compassionate mantra of be happy, be healthy, be pain free, be at peace. After the inward practice, he then encourages everyone to direct their compassionate meditation toward others, first love ones, then to strangers and lastly toward those who annoy or oppose us. He discusses at length the evidence that the giver and/or forgiver are healthier, happier, and less stressed as a result. Since we always tend assume "us" and "them" postures, one prominent goal in the repeated meditative practice is to reach the point where the boundary between that inner self (us) and all life around us (them) begins to dissolve and we always treat everyone with the equanimity......This is an enjoyable inwardly satisfying and well documented but descriptive read. It is not however, a detailed "how to" instruction manual on meditation or postural yoga.

[Laurel Flynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I started this book as a coping mechanism and ended up reshaping my life around its precepts. Do I know more about yoga because of it? Oh, yes, this was my introduction to the ideas and meditation practices that I knew surrounded the asana (poses, to most people). Reading this book taught me that you don't focus on happiness, or even on yoga - in a way I learned how to explore further questions rather than look for answers.
This is a great little book with one caveat: there is occasional reference to psychology studies which, while supporting the progression of ideas in sorting out the Self, exploring the Mind, seeking Transformation and applying yogic precepts in a normal life, are a jarring juxtaposition. There is Western research alongside old Eastern ideas which, while the research supports the ideas the two worlds do not meld. I also found the book structure hard to follow and may make an outline the next time I read it. I started a list of the meditations and exercises in my essay book.
"Yoga and the Pursuit of Happiness" may put you at peace if you follow the program laid out in the chapters. There are periodic lines from the Bhagavad Gita to illustrate the queries. There are connecting threads made to other religious traditions and well-known self-help ideas. This is not the book for you if you are completely closed into one spiritual path.
I may revisit this review after I study yoga further but, for now, this was a wonderful path to walk for awhile and it helped me through a difficult time.

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book from Good Reads. I found this book very interesting. I had just started to research the benefits of meditation and have tried to practice meditation. This book is a fountain of useful and helpful information. I highly recommend it for both someone just learning about meditation and someone who has practiced meditation for years

[Virginie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Prière de la sérénité de Reinold Niebuhr : "Mon Dieu, donnez-moi la sérénité d'accepter les choses que je ne peux changer, le courage de changer les choses que je peux, et la sagesse d'en connaître la différence"

[PENNEY GANLEY · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you New Harbinger for the free Arc. This was a very interesting book. I didn't know much about yoga but it has some interesting information.

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is a must, read it today!

[Pam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actually I stopped reading this book as I decided I needed to purchase it to get the full benefit of all the exercises.

[Amelie · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 - 4 ? More philosophical (and scientifical) than I expected, but it was interesting and the author was fun.