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desihorcrux's review against another edition
4.0
A book that explains the connection between our psychological structure to the biological science behind it? Count me in! This was time well spent and a solid 3.5 read for me.
'Habits of a Happy Brain' is a book that has taken the core of enzyme science and explained it in a simplified manner to help us understand on how to train our brain into becoming happier. The philosophy here is straightforward - Your brain secretes enzymes as a result of certain actions and this triggers happiness (or unhappiness) respectively. Not intricate or elaborate, but it works to convince everyone on my favorite core ideology that is "You are not your thoughts".
Let's meet our friends: Dopamine, Endorphin, Oxytocin, Serotonin and Cortisol (this is categorized as an 'unhappy' enzyme, however we learn to understand why we need him too). I love how the author mentions that forming new habits is like paving a dirt path in a rainforest with a highway through it. It is difficult, takes time and you'd rather use the highway of bad habits you have, but proceeds to explains that repeatability is the ultimate success formula. The book provides a simple approach to starting a new good habit in 45 days (mainly to train your brain to feel good about this habit despite initial resistance) and how to overcome obstacles along the way. This one has definitely made me want to pick up my guitar practice that I'd had abandoned at the beginning of the year. That's a win in my opinion.
"If you're always looking for wrongs, you will not find the rights even if you stumble upon it."
"We all have an idealized view of happiness. Our expectations will never match the actual. Try to feel happy about small things. Make it a habit to see the good in everything."
The only downside to this book was that it seems to written in a way that it expects everyone reading it is objecting/disagreeing with everything said within it. It has multiple sentences following an important statement that are along the lines of "but you might disagree with what I just said so let me explain more". I just wish the author had trusted me more to actually like it (which I did most of the time). I also wasn't a big fan of the repeatability of similar concepts within this book, but most self help books fall into that trap to drive the point home so I'm not going to hold this against the book.
The best parts of this was the last chapter where the Author provides a list of similar books, what they are about and why she recommends it. I just wish every book had this to make it easier for me to not seek out the next perfect read along similar lines (which I always end up doing).
'Habits of a Happy Brain' is a book that has taken the core of enzyme science and explained it in a simplified manner to help us understand on how to train our brain into becoming happier. The philosophy here is straightforward - Your brain secretes enzymes as a result of certain actions and this triggers happiness (or unhappiness) respectively. Not intricate or elaborate, but it works to convince everyone on my favorite core ideology that is "You are not your thoughts".
Let's meet our friends: Dopamine, Endorphin, Oxytocin, Serotonin and Cortisol (this is categorized as an 'unhappy' enzyme, however we learn to understand why we need him too). I love how the author mentions that forming new habits is like paving a dirt path in a rainforest with a highway through it. It is difficult, takes time and you'd rather use the highway of bad habits you have, but proceeds to explains that repeatability is the ultimate success formula. The book provides a simple approach to starting a new good habit in 45 days (mainly to train your brain to feel good about this habit despite initial resistance) and how to overcome obstacles along the way. This one has definitely made me want to pick up my guitar practice that I'd had abandoned at the beginning of the year. That's a win in my opinion.
"If you're always looking for wrongs, you will not find the rights even if you stumble upon it."
"We all have an idealized view of happiness. Our expectations will never match the actual. Try to feel happy about small things. Make it a habit to see the good in everything."
The only downside to this book was that it seems to written in a way that it expects everyone reading it is objecting/disagreeing with everything said within it. It has multiple sentences following an important statement that are along the lines of "but you might disagree with what I just said so let me explain more". I just wish the author had trusted me more to actually like it (which I did most of the time). I also wasn't a big fan of the repeatability of similar concepts within this book, but most self help books fall into that trap to drive the point home so I'm not going to hold this against the book.
The best parts of this was the last chapter where the Author provides a list of similar books, what they are about and why she recommends it. I just wish every book had this to make it easier for me to not seek out the next perfect read along similar lines (which I always end up doing).
cjfiebert's review
4.0
Reading this for my yoga studio's 30 Day Mind & Body Challenge.
So I read most of this book in October and just never finished the last chapter until now. I did really like this book. There was a lot of interesting information in it and a lot of things that gave me some good insight into why I have certain behaviors. I definitely highlighted a lot in this book and wrote notes in the margin.
Can I say that I would use her "retrain the brain skills"? No. But just recognizing how certain things trigger the neurochemicals in my brain to work was a help enough for me.
So I read most of this book in October and just never finished the last chapter until now. I did really like this book. There was a lot of interesting information in it and a lot of things that gave me some good insight into why I have certain behaviors. I definitely highlighted a lot in this book and wrote notes in the margin.
Can I say that I would use her "retrain the brain skills"? No. But just recognizing how certain things trigger the neurochemicals in my brain to work was a help enough for me.
blackbruh's review
Bad reading habits..will probably re-attempt considering the new year and I think this is a good book to read considering that.
chachanna's review
5.0
This book really helped me understand my brain and thought patterns, and also that I am totally not alone in my thinking. The author breaks down why we have certain thought patterns, where they come from and how to change them. I also learned the difference among serotonin, dopamine, oxytocin, and endorphin, and their purposes.
I felt this book didn't go into scientific, highfalutin mumbo jumbo like so many self-help books tend to do. The language and examples were easy enough for me to grasp and leave me feeling confident I understood what was being communicated.
If you are interested in how you can be happier, create new thought patterns and understand why you think the way you do, I suggest giving this book a try.
This book really helped me understand my brain and thought patterns, and also that I am totally not alone in my thinking. The author breaks down why we have certain thought patterns, where they come from and how to change them. I also learned the difference among serotonin, dopamine, oxytocin, and endorphin, and their purposes.
I felt this book didn't go into scientific, highfalutin mumbo jumbo like so many self-help books tend to do. The language and examples were easy enough for me to grasp and leave me feeling confident I understood what was being communicated.
If you are interested in how you can be happier, create new thought patterns and understand why you think the way you do, I suggest giving this book a try.
pandacat42's review
4.0
Very interesting how our brain kind of sabotages us but also tries to optimize survival in dysfunctional ways. This book is about trying to overcome habitual loops that can work against you.
vinterthunder's review
5.0
As a reader with a degree in psychology and neuroscience, the author did a fantastic job in explaining the science in lay people’s terms. Some stuffs are a bit oversimplified but I think it’s a good writing technique for a book like this to not overwhelm readers.
Everything is clear and easy to understand. The writing exercises are somewhat simplistic. Mostly to make you become more aware. Most exercises do not cognitively challenge your thinking or anything. They are asking you to look at your experiences and creating an action plan. This is not the book’s con. I put it here so you know what to expect.
All in all, it’s a great book. Easy to understand with explicit actionable steps.
Everything is clear and easy to understand. The writing exercises are somewhat simplistic. Mostly to make you become more aware. Most exercises do not cognitively challenge your thinking or anything. They are asking you to look at your experiences and creating an action plan. This is not the book’s con. I put it here so you know what to expect.
All in all, it’s a great book. Easy to understand with explicit actionable steps.
kellyreadingbooks's review against another edition
I'll tell you what, I'm in my DNF era and I'm so happy for it lol. DNF 30%/2 hrs. This is super simplistic "explanations" of hormones/emotions based on what our ancestors felt and what we have come to react to through evolution. While I'm sure bits and pieces of this is true, it was coming across as pseudo-science. Looked more into this author and it says she is founder of "Inner Mammal Institute, which helps people find their power over their mammalian brain chemicals".
Hmm, I'm good.
She's done a lot of research on mammals and is now trying to spin it for self-help and I just didn't find this very interesting or helpful to learn of animal's natural instincts and to correlate it to modern human life. I'd rather just read a book on the nature of mammals if that's what I was seeking. And stick to books from psychiatrists on humans :)
Hmm, I'm good.
She's done a lot of research on mammals and is now trying to spin it for self-help and I just didn't find this very interesting or helpful to learn of animal's natural instincts and to correlate it to modern human life. I'd rather just read a book on the nature of mammals if that's what I was seeking. And stick to books from psychiatrists on humans :)