The Five Hurdles to Happiness: And the Mindful Path to Overcoming Them

by Mitch Abblett

Overview

A practical approach to becoming aware of the "five hindrances"—the negative qualities that inhibit living the awakened life—and to breaking free of them in order to live more mindfully, effectively, compassionately.

Five obstacles stand in between you and true happiness. What are they and how can you overcome them? Buddhist traditions teach that there are five negative qualities, or hindrances, that inhibit people from living an awakened life. Here, Mitch Abblett gives this teaching a modern, secular interpretation and helps you identify the hurdles that are blocking your contentment—desire, hostility, sluggishness, worry, and doubt—and how you can take your first steps to overcoming them. Combining traditional wisdom with contemporary psychology and using examples from his psychotherapy practice, Abblett uses the hurdles as a frame for engaging you in a process of contemplating your own life and learning to lean into your experience rather than merely repeating bad habits. By doing this, you can break free from the hurdles and live more mindfully, effectively, and compassionately.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781611807288
Publisher:	Shambhala
Publication date:	07/14/2020
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	5.67(w) x 8.66(h) x 0.73(d)

About the Author

Mitch Abblett, PhD, is a licensed clinical psychologist and consultant with a private practice. He speaks and trains nationally and internationally on the applications of mindfulness for enhancing professional and personal communication patterns. He has been the executive director of the Institution for Meditation and Psychotherapy and was the clinical director for eleven years at the Manville School at Judge Baker Children’s Center at Harvard University.

Table of Contents

Foreword Christopher K. Germer, PhD vii

Introduction: Brutal Honesty Regarding the Hindrances to Awareness xi

1 The Karma of Closing: Our Emotional Inheritance 1

2 Meditation and How the Hindrances Have Us over the Barrel of Our Monkey Minds 19

3 Sidestepping Cookie Monster; Learning to Dance with Desire 36

4 The Boiling Point: Opening Up to Turn Down the Dial on Hostility 70

5 Waking the Wilting Mind: Managing Sluggishness and Dullness 95

6 Worrywarts: Restlessness and Leaping Forward 135

7 Becoming a Know-(Nothing)-It-All: Working with Doubt 170

8 Karma Chameleon: The Path of Opening Up One's Patterning 219

Notes 231

Index 241

Editorial Reviews

This is a lovely, profound book. It takes the Buddha’s ancient teachings about the five primary blocks to happiness and inner peace and applies them to our modern, busy, stressful lives. Grounded in science, informed by the penetrating insights of an experienced therapist, and practical on every page, this heartfelt book will help change many lives for the better.”—Rick Hanson, PhD, author of Resilient: How to Grow an Unshakable Core of Calm, Strength, and Happiness 

 “Full of engaging, provocative insights based on years of both psychological and spiritual practice, Dr. Abblett brings to life the Buddha’s insights into how our minds create suffering and how we can transform this suffering into wisdom and compassion. Written with unusual honesty and wit, and full of practical examples and exercises, this book helps us let go of the self-protective habits that make us unhappy, and cultivate instead open, awakened, hearts and minds.”—Ronald D. Siegel, PsyD, author of The Mindfulness Solution: Everyday Practices for Everyday Problems

“An honest and compassionate manual for relaxing the grip of our conditioned reactions. With humor and practical clarity, Mitch Abblett illuminates the painful responses we reinforce every day and offers kinder practices in return—ones that support the gradual, skillful process of opening our hearts.”—Sharon Salzberg, author of Lovingkindness and Real Love

“Clinical psychologist Abblett (The Self-Compassion Deck) provides a handy and humorous guide to using mindfulness to overcome the five hindrances of Buddhist tradition—unconscious habits that envelop the mind, create obstacles to a happy life, and limit potential. With numerous meditation practices included, this is a comforting guide for mindfulness practitioners and lay people alike.”—Publishers Weekly

“Drawing in his rich clinical experience and sound research, Abblett offers the heartfelt wisdom of mindfulness delivered in practical, easy-to-implement practices that will help anyone move beyond the self-protective patterns that keep us unhappy and into a much richer, more fulfilling, and happier life.”—Psych Central

From the Publisher

07/30/2018
Clinical psychologist Abblett (The Self-Compassion Deck) provides a handy and humorous guide to using mindfulness to overcome the five hindrances of Buddhist tradition—unconscious habits that envelop the mind, create obstacles to a happy life, and limit potential. “Do we want our days to be small and safe or large with loving awareness?” he asks. Abblett describes the five destructive patterns that can entangle daily life: desire (shopping, overeating), anger (hostility, agitation), sloth (laziness, distraction), restlessness (stress, overreaction), and doubt (losing faith, self-defeating thoughts). Abblett asserts that one should strive not to eliminate these hindrances, but to change one’s relationship with them and forge a path of liberation through self-assessment, expansion of awareness, and moment-to-moment mindfulness. In approachable, familiar language, he describes the science of how the human brain is wired for hindrance and offers abundant stories, parables, and anecdotes about those who have used meditation to overcome obstacles. Examples of people who have successfully incorporated mindfulness principles into their lives are taken from his life and clinical practice as well as from philosophers, psychologists, teachers, and scientific studies that are relatable and motivating. With numerous meditation practices included, this is a comforting guide for mindfulness practitioners and lay people alike. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly