Inner180

After years of weight-loss dieting, I’ve discovered a huge secret–what goes inside my head is much more important than what goes into my mouth.  The whole point of being thin is to be happy, right?  Why not skip the middleman and go straight for happiness?  Whether or not I ever fit into my skinniest pair of jeans, I intend to be ecstatically, deliriously, divinely, serenely happy.

There’s actually good science behind this idea.  Research shows that we’re born with a happiness “set point,” which is in our genetic makeup.  But this only controls about half of our happiness.  Scientists in the field of positive psychology, the study of “what goes right with the human psyche,” have discovered that intentional practices to lift our spirits can increase our happiness significantly.  As much as forty percent of our overall happiness is within our control, and we can boost it with our thoughts and actions.  That’s a humongous bunch of happy.

So, I’m going for my forty percent upgrade. I’m going to follow a daily joy program for ten weeks, based on Martha Beck’s bestseller, The Joy Diet.  If you don’t know Martha, pick up an O magazine—where she writes a monthly column, or one of her New York Times bestsellers.  Her writing is inspiring, intelligent, and hilarious, just like she is.

My joy project is actually part of an eleven week telecourse I’m teaching for Martha, exploring the ten essential ingredients of joy she writes about in The Joy Diet.  And you are invited to participate.  We’ll have a one hour class each week, beginning Tuesday, September 30.  Each class, we’ll talk about one ingredient of joy, and then we’ll practice it for a few minutes a day for a week. The next week we’ll add another component.

The class will have the power of the group behind it, too.  Just like some weight-loss diets take advantage of group support, this joy diet will be have the same kind of group support, where we’ll talk about our progress in class, and I’ll write about it here, on this blog.  We’ll be able to inspire and motivate each other as we incorporate an intentional practice of joy into our lives.

The most successful approaches to reach goals, whether it’s weight-loss, success, relationships, or anthing else, always begin with bringing you to the feeling of satisfaction and happiness that the accomplishment of the goal would bring.  If you want to be skinny, feel the joy of skinniness right now.  If you want a relationship, walk around in love right now.  If you want success in something, whether it’s a sport or a business, imagine the joy of success and live in it right now.  So no matter what your goal is, this diet can help you get there.

I hope you’ll join us.  It’s going to be a blast!

The Joy Diet Group Diet Adventure

Eleven Tuesday mornings, September 30 – December 16, 2008 (except Thanksgiving week)

8 am Pacific, 9 am Mountain, 10 am Central, 11 am Eastern

Can’t make that time?  No problem.  All class will be recorded and a downloadable mp3 will be emailed to you the same day as class (if the internet fairies cooperate.)  You can listen at your convenience, on your ipod or your computer, and still participate with the group.

Cost:  $199.  Here’s a link to register.

For questions or more information, email me at  terry.demeo at gmail.com.