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

First three chapters were great. I was fascinated to have an explanation of why the brain (The most powerful organ) would work improperly, causing stress, anxiety, depression, etc. The explanations were clear and also offered hope to change the neural paths that led to improper brain function. The next six chapters were about making the changes necessary day to day. It got very repetitive then. I believe all those chapters could be summarized in one or two chapters. I didn't finish the book. I read about half of it but still recommend it.

This is a good book on how important it is to really make sure you notice the good stuff and replace the bad stuff with 5x more good stuff in order to rewire your brain so you can enjoy more of life. I found it helpful. But it doesn't cover how to reclaim your nervous system once fight/fight has hijacked your brain.

I read this book and two other books about happiness at the same time. The other books were by Shawn Achor. They were a much more enjoyable read than this book by Rick Hanson. Although Hanson’s research and ideas are solid his writing is so redundant. He says the same things over and over again in ways that I find vague and boring. I recommend Achor’s books on happiness, they are fascinating and easy to apply to our own lives.

I was expecting something like Shad Helmstetter's very helpful self-talk books, but this just seems like rehashed Thích Nhất Hạnh without the enlightening wisdom. I also find that this author writes primarily for privileged married couples with children, whereas there are so many others out there. To me, this boils down to many pages to just say be thankful for what you have, appreciate what you experience. I love Thích Nhất Hạnh and have read countless books from him, but this is not inspiring to me and unfortunately falls into the category of most self-help books that one reads. They have nice ideas, then they're forgotten. I expected more than just be thankful from a title about hardwiring and new brain science. Although from the reviews, it looks like this books speaks to many--which is great, for me, however, it's back to Shad Helmstetter.

A survivor of childhood trauma, when one of my perpetrators died, my Sober friends couldn't figure out why I wasn't RELIEVED, EVEN HAPPY; as I learned I WASN'T ENTITLED to being Happy, I knew LACK, DEPRIVATION of it MAY have been LEARNED. Seeking to find out whether or not Happy could be CHOSEN, I stumbled onto a handful of writer/researchers that were sure IT CAN; This is the least dry, most joyfully accessible book on the subject. Inclusive of, recognizing a variety of spiritual traditions in support of much of the science, I SPECIFICALLY URGE Conservative Christians NOT to dismiss this, when they're mentioned. In the week since acquiring this, I've read a few pages at a time, then set my Internet device to wake me up, playing one of the authors' YouTube videos, and, when troubles, gone to bed LISTENING to one.**I am ALREADY EXPERIENCING waking up SMILING, and sure - since I ALREADY was meditating and eating differently [after all, "what we do to the body, we ALSO do, to THE MIND"], I HAVE been READY & CAPABLE of Happy. I assure you... it's - perhaps QUITE accidentally - one of the GREATEST SINGLE Self - Help books to be published in my lifetime (& I'm 59).

Truly intelligent, interesting and insightful; this is a great book for understanding why negative experiences are so impactful; whereas our positive life experiences have a way of sliding out of our thoughts due to our innate fight or flight response and modern day life not properly allowing our bodies to take in and store in our brains our happy experiences without a little extra work, but very doable work. I have extensive psychology background (though not a professional) and I read this as part of a book club consisting of only professionals. They suggested this book not be read by those who may be suffering PTSD, or if someone is but still wants to give it a read, maybe do so with a professional as the book can trigger some strong emotional responses from some readers.

Hanson explains some good research that may increase your happiness (very simply put: taking time to savor good experiences strengthens their neural pathways in your brain) but runs out of gas after 40 pages or so; from there on, it's all filler and repetition. There isn't enough here to justify a book; a long magazine article would have been enough.

Awesome book. Currently letting a friend borrow it. Love Hanson's explanation about the brain and how it works. This book appeals to your those who are more logically minded while also introducing some spiritual aspects but without getting too far off on the spiritual side which can turn some people off. He keeps his explanations clear, and makes you want to find out more. Highly recommend this book.

This is not a positive thinking book and that is one of the reasons I like it. It helps you to see life with all its colours and shades, and helps you to practise feeling good. He teaches the HEAL technique for example, as a way of getting you to notice good things/moments/feelings and how to enrich these, absorb them and link positives to negatives.

So glad my friend badgered me to read this book. I almost didn't buy it as I thought it was a book about positivity but its not. If you are hesitating then buy it. Its more than helpful. Its a go-to book. Excellent

This book is fantastic, super interesting, and I'm learning a ton. Really helps you see the mind/brain connection and it's a useful way to approach mindfulness I hadn't considered previously.

This book explains our natural tendencies to negative thoughts and how some people are more susceptible than others. It also explains how you can change that around and move away form those thoughts which hold you back. Great book.

To me, this is the best book ever. I have been practising taking in the good now for three years and it has fundamentally changed my life. Taking in the good is the perfect complement to my standard mindfulness practice. I would recommend that every person in this world should read this book. It's awesome!!!!!