Wired For Joy!: A Revolutionary Method for Creating Happiness from Within [Paperback]

Laurel Mellin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 15, 2010

Can you imagine a world where drug companies throw bake sales to make ends meet? A world without all the jaw clenching, nail biting, and stress-induced melt downs? Eighty percent of health problems today are due to the downstream effects of stress, so learning to break free from stress could dramatically improve your mood, your relationships, your health––and your life.

In Wired for Joy, researcher and New York Times–bestselling author Laurel Mellin presents a simple yet proven way to train your brain to move through stress and back to joy. Her method has been called the missing link in health care, as it focuses on rewiring the emotional brain—the caldron of our stress—rather than the thinking brain, which has been the focus of most other stress-busting methods.

Based on the cutting-edge science of neuroplasticity, Mellin outlines the five states of the emotional brain. For each state she presents a specific tool that easily and quickly switches the brain back to a state of well-being. Once you know how to make that switch, life becomes easier, and stress symptoms—depression, anxiety, overeating, high blood pressure—tend to fade. Finally, instead of focusing on the symptoms of stress, we can change the wiring that triggers it and experience new sense of freedom in our lives.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Laurel Mellin, author of the New York Times–bestseller The Pathway, is an associate clinical professor of family and community medicine and pediatrics at the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine. She is the founder of emotional brain training (EBT) a method that focuses on alleviating stress to promote high-level well-being.

        Mellin has been involved in a variety of research and teaching roles and has received awards from the American Medical Association, the American Bariatric Society, and the U.S. Department of Consumer Education. Her research has been featured in Fortune magazine, U.S. News & World Report, and Time and has appeared on Oprah, Good Morning America, Today, and The Early Show.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Hay House; 1 edition (June 15, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1401925863
• ISBN-13: 978-1401925864
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #29,857 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Laurel Mellin is an associate professor of family and community medicine and pediatrics at the University of California, San Francisco, where she directs the Center for Emotional Brain Training Research.

Emotional brain training (EBT) is based on a new paradigm in health care -- rewiring the stress response to enhance rewards, and decrease the drives for overeating and other common external solutions. EBT is based on the strategy of moving up the brain's emotional set point, to decrease the range of stress symptoms and enhance the higher order developmental and spiritual rewards of life.

She began developing the method (www.ebt.org) as part of a federal project to train leaders in adolescent medicine, and began exploring brain-based methods to turn off the drive to overeat in children (www.childobesity.com). Currently, her first program, the Shapedown program is delivered in the US and Canada. The method evolved to provide tools that mirror the brain's natural processes from each brain state, and to provide individual with the techniques to rewire their own emotional brain.

Mellin's Institute for Health Solutionstrains therapists and physicians in EBT, and her programs (6 EBT Kits) are used by EBT practitioners to progressively rewire the emotional brain through group training, one-on-one coaching and social networking. She is a New York Times bestselling author, and speaks widely to professional and lay groups. She has three children and lives in Marin County, California.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Like a life changer, vacation and new experience of the world all in one., June 6, 2010

By 

Zach Gold (New York, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Wired For Joy!: A Revolutionary Method for Creating Happiness from Within (Paperback)

This is really more than a book, it is like a vacation and a reality check and a life changer.

I suddenly felt unburdened, it shows you how to take weight and issues off your shoulders and
simply enjoy the fruits of life.

Just finished reading it. It was a quick, direct read, just engaging and real.
Completely recommended. The author has worked for around 30 years in the field, I read her last book
when I saw it on the NYT bestseller list. It pragmatically teaches you how to be happier -- you know
when you have a friend who things always go well for, and you have another who is always down/ frustrated?
You realize these are just pathways we establish. It teaches you how to switch tracks and just be, how to
be happy- or joyful - everyday.

I was in southern mexico near belize recently, and the poorest villagers had healthy and happy families, smiles
on their faces. You realize happiness is a state of well-being, internally. This book shows you how to be in
control of your happiness no matter the circumstances. It is incredible.

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This Method Changed my Life, June 8, 2010

By 

Margaret M. Suddeth "Papillion" (Bowie, MD USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Wired For Joy!: A Revolutionary Method for Creating Happiness from Within (Paperback)

I am a graduate of the EBT method and fully believe that I am a healthier, happier person as a result. Five years ago, before I discovered this life-changing method, I was an overweight yo-yo dieter who used food as a stress reliever. Today, I am a healthy weight and have kept off the 60 pounds I lost thanks to the tools discussed in this new book. I have also overcome several stress related illnesses, again using the tools I learned in this method, as mentioned in this new book.

I found the book easy to read and entertaining. I was fascinated and riveted by the scientific explanations on how the brain works in regards to the stress we encounter in our everyday lives. Even as a graduate and practitioner of the EBT method I am continually amazed by the refined development this method employs to embrace new science and research in brain science.

The methods and tools outlined in this excellent overview and practical guide of the EBT program are effective and easy to use in everyday life. Read the book, try the tools and see if you agree with me that this book can change your life for the better, freeing you from the strangle-hold of stress and moving you to more moments of joy.

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great introduction to the method!, June 8, 2010

By 

Liat M. Gat "Liat Miriam" (Bozeman, MT) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Wired For Joy!: A Revolutionary Method for Creating Happiness from Within (Paperback)

I couldn't wait for this book to come out, and I just finished reading it. I'm so glad I bought it. I've been involved in the EBT community for a couple of years, participating in telegroups and practicing the skills. Even so, this book helped me tremendously, especially in the area of identifying my brain state. It really helped me increase my commitment to using the tools to switch my brain state to 1, over and over again, until it becomes second nature. Also, it can help explain to others what you are doing and they can see if they might like to try it themselves! For therapy-skeptics out there, this book is different! It's not talk-therapy: it's brain science (neuroplasticity). Read it, and then join a telegroup and the EBT community!
With Joy,
Liat