The Joy of Living 
Unlocking the Secret and Science of Happiness

This is the newest book I’m reading, the author weaves together the principles of Tibetan Buddhism, neuroscience, and quantum physics in a way that will forever change the way we understand the human experience.

This is a great book and if your into meditation or want to try it for the first time; this tells you so much about how the brain works during meditation.

One chapter discusses how you breathe and the simplest method is counting your inhalations and exhalations. Count the first inhalation and exhalation as (1), buidling until you reach seven. Then start the process over again. Eventually, you can begin to accumulate even higher numbers of inhalations and exhalations. This small process is meditating and you can do this even in public because no one will notice you, they will just see you breathing and appear to be looking at something.

By doing this your placing your attention on the passage of air air through your nostrils or in the sensatin of air filling and eiting your lungs. Using your breath in this way is obviously a physical sensation, except without realizing it your changing your awareness and will be bringing a sense of calm to your brain.          

So, when your feeling stress take a minute or two and focus your brain on your breath. As you begin to build on this form of meditation you can add a mantra to the exercise.

Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche is a Tubetan Buddhist masters trained outside of Tibet. If you like to see more of his teachings you can visit his foundations website www.mingyur.org