Happiness Express
A Journey to Everyday Well-Being
Art of Living teachers Khurshed Batliwala and Dinesh Ghodke share science-backed, field-tested techniques for sleep, nutrition, memory and lasting happiness.
Overview
Khurshed Batliwala and Dinesh Ghodke have spent decades teaching happiness — not as a motivational concept but as a daily practice assembled from sleep science, nutrition, physical exercise, memory research, and the study of how the brain acquires and retains knowledge. In Happiness Express, they make that practice accessible to everyone, using the same personal anecdotes and practical protocols they have refined through years of Art of Living workshops across India and abroad.
The book addresses five core domains: rest (why closing your eyes may be the single highest-leverage thing you can do for your mood and cognitive function), food (the gut-brain axis and what it means for your daily choices), physical exercise (not just for the body but for neurological age), learning (the Feynman Technique, Mind Mapping, and how adult curiosity can be revived), and memory (the Memory Palace and Spaced Repetition System explained for non-specialists). A final section on procrastination introduces the S.T.A.R. technique and an honest account of why this habit is so resistant to ordinary willpower approaches.
The chapters are independent; readers can move directly to whatever is most pressing. For anyone who has tried generic productivity advice and found it either too abstract or too rigid, the grounded, specific approach here — backed by science and field-tested in classrooms — offers a more durable alternative.
About the Book: We live to be happy, but the few moments of happiness we experience are fleeting-gone like dew drops in the morning sun. Art of Living teachers Khurshed and Dinesh have spent the greater part of their lives being happy and coaching others to be happy. In Happiness Express, they share the secret behind their smiles. This warm and funny book, which abounds in personal anecdotes and practical tips for everyday well-being, will make Happiness a more integral part of your life than ever before. Learn about the importance of rest-keeping your eyes closed is one of the biggest secrets to a long-lasting smile. Figure out the right types of food to eat-a healthy gut often translates into a happier you. Know how physical exercise not only gives you a stronger, healthier body, but even makes your brain younger. Unearth the thrill of learning all over again and give that innate curiosity you had as a child a second chance. Get over procrastination, the Dark Lord of bad habits, and do the things that you've always wanted to do! CONTENTS Brain 1 Sleep 25 Meditation 73 Food 126 Exercise 165 Learning 191 The Feynman Technique 204 Mind Mapping and Radial Thinking 218 Focused Mind Mapping 231 Memory 243 Procrastination 270 Happiness Sutras 285 Appendix 1. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar 309 2. The Art of Living Foundation Courses 311 3. Integrated Craniosacral Therapy 318 4. Workshops Offered by Khurshed & Dinesh 321 5. Recipes 326 6. A Brief Overview of the Bach Flower Remedies 333 PREFACE People often ask us how we manage to stay so happy and what our secret is. This book is the answer. The recipe for happiness involves five major ingredients, and that's how this book is structured. The chapters are quite independent of each other and you could read them in any order. Do you have trouble resting? Do you feel tired and worn out a lot? The chapters on Sleep and Meditation are for you. One of the best things you can do to get that elusive smile could well be simply closing your eyes. We can almost guarantee that following the steps in these chapters will dramatically improve the quality of your sleep, as well as your life. Feeling unfit and unwell? Read the chapters on Food and Exercise. Being physically active and eating healthy, tasty meals can make a huge difference to your well-being. Feeling stagnated? Head to the chapters on the Brain, Learning and Focused Mind Mapping. There's an incomparable joy in understanding and learning something new. Quite a few adults deny themselves this pleasure because they think they cannot learn new things or are afraid of making mistakes. That's where these chapters can come to your rescue. Do you tend to forget things? Do you wish your memory could function better? The chapter on Memory unravels the mystery of how our memories work and explores two memory enhancement protocols: The Memory Palace and The Spaced Repetition System (SRS). Keep getting into trouble because of habitually postponing stuff you have to do? The chapter on Procrastination provides insights into the working of your mind and includes an approach we call the S.T.A.R. technique to help you get over this and other infuriating habits. Want some quick tips on becoming happier? Read Happiness Sutras. This is your go-to chapter whenever you feel low. If you are doing everything right, yet somehow not finding yourself in the best of spirits, perusing this chapter should help you out and restore your smile in a jiffy. We were recently asked what our dream was. We replied: we are living our dream! Life is a dream. This book ensures it doesn't turn into a nightmare. Welcome aboard the Happiness Express! All the very best. Jai Gurudev! Love, Bawa n Dinesh
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