The Art of Happiness

I am currently reading Thich Nhat Hanh’s book No Mud, No Lotus and came upon a beautiful chapter on the art of happiness. After last week’s letter on happiness as a practice, I thought you’d appreciate these words by one of the world’s most incredible teachers of mindfulness.

“The essence of our practice can be described as transforming suffering into happiness. It’s not a complicated practice, but it requires us to cultivate mindfulness, concentration, and insight. It requires first of all we come home to ourselves, that we make peace with our suffering, treating it tenderly, and looking deeply at the roots of our pain. This requires that we let go of useless, unnecessary suffering, release the second arrow, and take a closer look at the idea of happiness. Finally, it requires that we nourish happiness daily, with acknowledgments, understanding, and compassion for ourselves and for those around us. We offer these practices to ourselves, to loved ones, and to the larger community. This is the art of suffering and the art of happiness. With each breath, we ease suffering and generate joy. With each step, the flower of insight blooms.

While in the studio preparing a booth to show at the Yoga Conference next weekend, I found 3 copies of this book and thought it would be fun to gift them to the first three people that order any silver or gold no mud, no lotus medallion from the Being Peace collection.

As you know I'm a big believer in wearing words that help cultivate our intention. And this is a great book of wisdom to teach us to embrace our suffering in such a way that cultivates happiness.. nice marriage.

If you are local to Toronto, please come to the Yoga Conference. It will be my last public show and I'd love to see you. Here is a free pass once again. Just print this pass or leave this email on your phone.