The Happy Body Virtues

From the publisher

Stoics saw happiness as flow in life, a combination of self-control and virtue. To be virtuous was to live life without waste and work toward perfecting yourself, not only physically but also intellectually. Wisdom was in recognizing where you have control in life, and how to achieve smooth progress with small incremen... Stoics saw happiness as flow in life, a combination of self-control and virtue. To be virtuous was to live life without waste and work toward perfecting yourself, not only physically but also intellectually. Wisdom was in recognizing where you have control in life, and how to achieve smooth progress with small increments, what we call in The Happy Body, "micro-progression." Wisdom also lay in recognizing where you don't have control and learning to let go. The Happy Body Program was developed with the same principles in mind. In three areas of our daily lifestyle practice we have a choice: food (what to eat, how much and when); exercise (the kind that will benefit our body over time and keep it healthy and fit), restoration of our body (with well-timed meditation or relaxation practice). By setting high standards and making hard choices to achieve them, you're becoming more virtuous. Socrates, one of the most famous Stoics, advised that we should eat to live and not live to eat. He taught his students that whenever we eat too much or drink when not thirsty weakens our character. He advised that we should take charge of our health and learn from professionals how to keep the body healthy, also learning from our own experiences what food or exercise makes bodies feel good. Over the years we've learned from our practitioners that the right words at the right time for the right person can work magic. These virtuous sayings were created spontaneously with clients at times when the connection was powerful and we were in a heightened, intuitive state. The words were a catalyst; our practitioners could suddenly understand and embrace what they hadn't before. They shifted. They had a new feeling. There are 52 virtuous precepts in this book, along with seven prompts for daily reflection throughout the week to encourage deep practice. A model follows, illustrating how working with these prompts can help you integrate the precepts on intellectual, feeling, and spiritual levels. A year will pass, let this one flow smoothly as you accumulate virtue, self-control and happiness.

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