The world has become a far less happy place in the last four months.  We talk about it more in related terms–stressed, anxious, even fearful, however, this happiness deficit has us rushing out into potentially contagious situations now that restrictions are being lifted, to seek its remedy.  This unhappiness, from a variety of current and historic causes, has certainly added fuel to the recent unrest.  Considering the great importance that sages such as Aristotle and Satchidananda (Integral Yoga) and the Founding Fathers placed on happiness, we should be talking about it much more now.

We often forget a most important truth that the newly-released Happi Focus Trainer Pro and Happitation can teach us–that the real source of happiness is within ourselves, originating in the brain/mind/spirit. With training, we can use Happitation and Happi Focus to access it when we intend to and keep it with us.  When we are happy, we are naturally less stressed and anxious.  Although this will not solve the external problems, it will help us to live a better life under the circumstances.  Dr. Jonathan (Jon) Cowan discusses this in more depth in an interview with Jamie Bussin, on Tonic Toronto, a radio show devoted to wellness. 

Jonathan Cowan, Ph.D., has been studying the brain/mind/spirit, and particularly emotions, for over 50 years at the University of California San Francisco and the National Institute on Drug Abuse, in clinical practice as one of the first brainwave biofeedback therapists, and as a researcher and product developer for Peak Achievement Training.  He has discovered new, highly effective neurofeedback methods for training single-pointed focus, alertness, learning, memory, happiness and other positive feelings, and the related improvements in health and immunity.

The Happi Focus Trainer Pro is a simplified training system–a result of many years of collaborative research efforts–which is suitable for both professionals and consumers at home.  Dr. Cowan has studied positive psychology with Dr. Martin Seligman, but soon found that this discipline admits that they ignore 50% of the origins of happiness, writing it off as genetic, rather than recognizing that there are basic biological systems, such as the dopamine-based reward system discovered by psychologist Dr. James Olds, which can be modified by training.  The positive psychologists only claim to be able to change 10%, so this neurofeedback training is likely to turn out to be more powerful, especially when combined with genetic testing and supplements tailored to the individual.

While integrating insights from positive psychology, Dr. Cowan continued with his neuroscientific approach to enhancing happiness, from his previous education and research, and has now developed the Neureka! protocol, which selects and trains a particular gamma brainwave frequency, and the basic brain system related to it, which is also tied into the dopamine reward system that promotes new discovery and learning.  He has created two products which enhance happiness–the Peak BrainHappiness Trainer Pro and the Happi Focus Trainer Pro, and a third one which uses Neureka! in a effective new approach to autistic issues, the Socialize ACE.

In a published study, Dr. Estate Sokhadze found that twelve pleasant sessions of this training enhanced the happiness of their subjects by 33% to 50%, and that this lasted for four months at the same level.  It also improved attention and memory, as dopamine does.  It is an ideal training for these difficult times.

The Neureka! protocol distinguishes these training systems from every other training system that is available.  It is a major improvement because it recognizes the importance of one part of the high frequency gamma brain rhythm, the 40 cycle per second component that originates in the center of the brain, part of the thalamus.  This rhythm scans the cortex 40 times a second, and brings back the important information to the brain’s center, where it is assembled and understood as an event.

This is the basis of how we discover and learn new material and is vital to our survival.  That’s why the brain rewards us by giving us positive feelings like happiness and enjoyment, by a connection to the dopamine systems, which project to the front of the head, right below the Trainers’ electrical sensor.  By detecting these 40 cycle rhythms and clarifying them to eliminate other 40 cycle signals, the Trainer can determine their size and display it on a computer screen as a bar chart, and use it to control the size of a video that users watch.

Users wear a headband or cap that detects brainwaves and send it to their PC via Bluetooth.  They soon learn that enjoying and appreciating any video on the screen makes it get bigger, and they become absorbed in improving their performance by becoming lighter and happier, not by actively making an effort.  After a few training sessions, they become able to take this learned self-control out into their lives, and practice Happitation.  This basically involves starting off with a moderately deep inhalation, and then remembering the transition to greater happiness that they had learned as they exhale.