Swami Ishwarananda from Chinmaya Mission West describes the importance of happiness and laughter at the annual Mind-Body Health Seminar at Bakersfield Memorial Hospital April 17. Photo by Lisa Pinson

By Lisa Pinson

What is happiness to you? For Bakersfield Express board member Louis Medina, happiness is his dog and watching his tail wag. For Bakersfield Interfaith Conference attendee, Walter Reed, it is being happy in the now.

For six consecutive years, Bakersfield Memorial Hospital and Chinmaya Mission Bakersfield have joined forces to provide free Mind-Body Health Seminars to the public, reaching all walks of faith. This year’s seminar, held April 17, was titled, “The Pursuit of Happiness.”

The four-hour seminar was presented by guest speakers Dr. Paul McMahon, a clinical psychologist at Loma Linda Medical Center in Redlands, and Swami Ishwarananda, senior minister for Chinmaya Mission West. Medina served as MC. Attendees learned about the physical benefits of being happy and how happiness can produce a prolonged life expectancy.

In the program’s introduction, listeners were warned that those who are chronically unhappy are most likely to have a shorter life span due to the probable chances of suffering brain damage, dementia, stroke, or other condition.

McMahon sported a very chipper demeanor as he noted the pursuit of happiness was deemed an essential human right by our country’s founding fathers. However, pure happiness is not sustainable. Life comes with its ups and downs. Unfortunately, people today often feel as though they are entitled to have high levels of joy at all times, which just isn’t realistic.

As a result of these high expectations, depression can take a toll, McMahon said. He pointed out that 20 percent of Americans will suffer major depression at some point in their lives. Many of those who are severely depressed will numb themselves with alcohol or drugs.

McMahon insisted that happiness could indeed be taught. One important exercise is deep breathing, which reduces stress.

Next, Ishwarananda took the stage. Dressed in the traditional orange attire of the Hindu ministers, he sent a serene impression. For him, happiness is having peace with himself.

Throughout his speech, Ishwarananda compared how different cultures and religions discover happiness. He claimed that most Asian countries look for blessings from heavenly sources while many Western countries find happiness in personal achievement. But it’s the Western nations, with high degrees of individualism, that also tend to have the highest levels of suicide.

Ishwarananda concluded that happiness is more valuable than money, health and pleasure in things. He then gave advice on how to plan for happiness, suggesting listeners share jokes, meditate, forgive all, and let go.

During a question and answer session at the end of the seminar, Ishwarananda began to laugh spontaneously to prove the importance of laughter. Within a few seconds, the entire room was laughing in response. Not only is laughter contagious, it brings forth happiness – even if for a minute.