Several of the BETA staff attended an intensive conference in Boston to learn the latest techniques on meditation, visualization and peak performance practices for everyday life. My colleague, Wayne Kessler, and I interviewed Dr. Dan Brown, the conference speaker, on topics such as the role of the psychotherapist in the spiritual and personal development of clients, concepts such as languishing and flourishing, peak performance, and learning tips for happiness from Dr. Brown.
For those of you not familiar with Dan Brown, he is one of the most highly respected educators in the field and has been teaching health and mental health professionals for many years. He is the Associate Clinical Professor of Psychology at the Harvard Medical School and has been on the faculty of Harvard Medical School for 24 years. Dan is the author of 14 books including Transformations of Consciousness (with Ken Wilbur & Jack Engler), and a new book on Mahamudra. Pointing Out the Great Way: The Mahamudra Tradition of Tibetan Meditation-Stages (Wisdom Publications), and two books on public dialogues with H.H. The Dalai Lama.
In this video focusing on tips for happiness, Dan makes it clear that actively stepping out into the world of others in a meaningful way can have a profoundly positive impact on our sense of well-being.
Dr. Brown notes that happiness derived from relationships is “most frequently reported as the best forms of happiness, that includes intimacy, friendship, but also includes community service and compassion giving to others in various ways.”
While most of us know in a general way that helping others is a "good thing to do" it is not often as clear that exhaustive studies have shown consistently that it tends to have a powerfully positive emotional and psychic effect on the person doing the helping.
Please let us know what you think about the video!