Cooking recipes to be happy

By Adrian Salama

This book is essentially a guide to personal growth, a simple way of bringing together many topics that ultimately lead to the same goal, to enjoy life to the fullest.

To do this, as the title says with a bit of irony, there is no recipe or list of steps to follow, you just have to understand some concepts that seem very obvious but that sometimes we lose sight of.

It is told with a series of stories with which it is very easy to identify and with a sense of humor that is very pleasant for the reader. 

It is a simple text to read but with a very deep content, it shows a whole philosophy of life that balances all aspects that influence a person to enjoy life, from the physical to the mental without passing through the emotional, it is that the reader understands that you can achieve everything you want as long as you want it from the heart.

Going through Taoism and Gestalt, the book explains how important it is to live in the here and now, to live in the PRESENT, which makes a lot of sense since it is the only time you can live in, there is no way to go back to the past nor to travel to the future to know what will happen. How to start living in the here and now?  You have to understand that each person is born with the possibilities of having EVERYTHING he or she wants and that all things come at their own time so one of the first challenges that the book poses is to have patience and enjoy every moment, because when we are running through life the obvious is the only thing that is not seen.

One of the questions the book answers very well is why do things happen to us in life?   Everything begins with thought, everything outside is a projection of what we have inside, so if a person has positive thoughts, of harmony, of love, his environment begins to change immediately.  It is important to know that there are no coincidences but CAUSALITIES, everything that happens to us is for a reason and from every situation you can learn something, what happens is that the human being tends to see the negative of a situation.   We must be very aware that when we make a decision is always the right one according to the time and the tools you have. Many of the situations of daily life become problems because we are not used to generate solutions for the same situation.

Continuing with the mental aspect, something that the book does not forget is to emphasize the importance of meditation, which allows the reader to get out of the daily stress and relax. 

One of the basic messages of the book is to make the reader understand that all people are beautiful, unique and unrepeatable and that this makes us extremely valuable and when we actually accept it and feel like successful people, the magnetism that we emanate is captured by any being. "The main idea to keep developing is not to look for answers outside but inside"

• Language: English
• Publisher: BadPress
• Release date: Jan 18, 2020
• ISBN: 9781071526552

Book preview

Cooking Recipes to be Happy

Adrian David Salama Lowenstern

Introduction

The idea for this book is because my patients asked me to write support for their growth in psychotherapy. Some didn’t understand... How was it possible that in such a short time they could have so much personal, work, family and spiritual development? When I told them about my philosophy of life, they asked me to explain more. The reality is that I think it's easier to write a book than to go one by one explaining my philosophy and that's why I ended up agreeing to their requests and this work was born.

The first challenge I encountered was to describe my philosophy. How do I explain it in such a way that everyone can read it and adapt it to their own lives? The answer is not simple, because with each of my patients I have learned something. That something has led me to reinvent myself so many times that I couldn't say that the philosophy I follow is the same today as the one I had a year ago. However, the essence of it remains the same.

Many years ago, I suffered from a disease known as Mediterranean Fever which, in me, manifested itself as muscular contractures and intense general pain. As I got to know myself, I realized that my illness was not far from common illnesses such as the flu, diarrhea or infections. All this led me to realize that the symptoms we are presenting are only messages that the body uses to communicate. And that they are perfect teachers for learning.

Throughout my studies I have seen that these diseases (stress, flu, headaches and others) are caused by all the psychological disorders and problems that flutter in our heads. Many of the recurring ideas that continue to act even though we want to stop them, harm us every day, and that is why we cannot become the people we idealize.

Let’s add to this, all the resentments we can have, all the unpleasant memories that haunt us to date, among other things, can be the cause of not felling happy, as well as avoiding having a better future and avoiding continuing to evolve as human beings.

Since my education in the Gestalt, more than 26 years ago (which is the age I have at the time of writing this book), I can presume that since I was born I have had contact with this beautiful theory), and my learning about the philosophy of Taoism, more than 14 years ago.

I have come to realize that, in the world, most people tend to ignore themselves and others because of the fear of knowing themselves and perhaps meeting their inner demons or simply realizing that we are responsible for everything that happens to us (it sounds terrible, yet there are many philosophies in addition to the Tao that demonstrate this point).

However, dear reader, I have not been able to reduce the complexity of life to a single book. I'm afraid to say that this book only tries to bring you closer to a way of life that has made me quite happy and that doesn't require circus, rope and theatre.

In the book you will find humor and several stories that have helped me to better exemplify this theory. For me, the best way to teach is with humor. Humor opens, humor gives hope, it gives the possibility of redefining what we are living. As far as I am sure, it will be a very simple book to read, but with a lot of depth in its content.

Each of the techniques presented here, as well as the philosophy, has been carefully researched and applied to demonstrate its effectiveness. I'm writing this because I don't want you to think that this book is a stone-throw, it's not a motivational work, even if it can motivate you. Everything written here has been verified for your benefit. From a very young age I was taught to have a method, a way of doing things, where the result could be repeated regardless of the situation. In the Gestalt that I learned, there is a method and that method has led me to know how wonderful it is to be able to give someone a tool knowing how and why. That tool is the one I want to pass on to you today.

I chose the name Cooking Recipes to be Happy because curiously, I always tell my patients that there are no Recipes for Happiness, however, these are not just any recipes, they are very profound teachings seen from Gestalt and Tao perspectives.

They may look very silly at first, but as you read and practice this in your life, you will realize how profound it can be to learn to shape your life with a philosophy that you can make your own.

I hope you enjoy this book as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Recipe 1

Before you start, you should read the recipe book

Philosophical fundamentals. A mixture of Gestalt and Taoism.

This philosophy was born in me, when I was studying the Master in Gestalt[1] Psychotherapy and in the program, I saw that in the Philosophy class we were going to study the philosophy of Taoism from the vision in psychotherapy.

This was very strange to me, the idea of implementing a philosophy of life to a psychotherapy. Actually, I even thought it was impossible. For me gestalt therapy was simply to help people find their own tools and thus heal their past and improve their here and now for a better future vision. At first, I felt that, if I started teaching them about the philosophy of Tao in therapy, they would look at me, just like I don't want classes. When I began to enter the subject, I realized that the idea of teaching the Tao was not for my patients to receive classes in their therapies, but a way to teach them that there is nothing more real than the here and now. And, truth be told, there is no better philosophy than Tao to teach this. It was then that I understood the true nature of the Tao. I began to understand what was it that I applied to my life? The Tao stopped being a path of rules to follow and became a way of life, the path I wanted to take.

Before going on with my ideas I want to write a little about what these two philosophies are. I think that with a little summary you will be able to understand me a little better.

Taoism: is a philosophy from China. One of the most advanced cultures in human history.

Taoism is a philosophy that dates back some 5000 years (if not more), and its main sustenance is to see man as an essential part of nature and not separated from it. This is important, because we now live in a world where the EGO is overfed and man in general feels that he has to modify nature to feel good. What is the EGO and how is it overfed? For many cultures, the ego is the mask of the 'I'. For us gestaltists, the EGO is the NO SELF or the neurotic part of the personality. We could say that it is a part of the 'I' that feeds on the negative, in order to take control of our life in that way. When we are angry and hurt our loved ones, the NO SELF is present. When we do not take responsibility for our life, the NO I or EGO is present.

For Taoism, the EGO can dominate the mind and cause us, like a runaway horse, to alter ourselves and not be able to stop thinking about certain things. From having accidents or assaults, to not being able to leave the past. We will address this issue later.

Let's get on with the story. Taoism was born, so to speak, with Lao Tse (author of Tao Te King).

Legend has it that Lao Tse did not want to write a book, indeed, Lao Tse's method of teaching was not to speak, but only to live next to the disciple (in this way one learned, only in the presence of the master). Sounds very interesting, doesn't it? The truth is that only by living can you learn to live and is one of the great teachings that despite being simple and even silly, is very deep and powerful. It was said that he was the only human bridge between Yang (heaven) and Yin (earth); that is why being by his side was enough to absorb the wisdom of the universe.

From this philosophy are born schools such as Feng Shui, Chi Kung (qi gong) and Tai Chi. In addition to Kung Fu, among other schools. The power of this philosophy has transcended frontiers, reaching down to business and sports. In Japan, when Tao is mixed with Buddhism, the Zen Buddhist religion is generated, a religion that is very beautiful and respected worldwide. Fromm himself wrote a book on Zen Buddhism and Psychoanalysis with the collaboration of Dr. Sussman.

Gestalt.

It has its beginnings with Fritz Perls, who when knowing the Psychology of Gestalt[2] (presented by his wife Laura Posner) realized that, mixing this theory with the Zen Religion, could achieve a more effective and powerful therapy than psychoanalysis itself.

Perls does this, because when he presented Freud with his essay on Ego hambre y agresión Freud ignored it and for Perls, that was unacceptable. That's when he broke with psychoanalysis and began to create his therapy.

But what happened to this therapy?  The truth is that after 1960 many Gestalt pseudo-therapists began to be created who, by taking only one course, thought they could do the same as Perls; causing Gestalt Therapy to decline terribly[3].

It is here where Dr. Salama enters; he created in Mexico the methodology that gives rise to a scientific Gestalt and recognized worldwide for its advances and processes in magnifying its strength. Dr. Salama's genius was to have combined the regenerating power of < here and now>> with his many years of study in Freudian psychoanalysis. The same co-founder of Gestalt Laura Perls asked Dr. Salama to make Gestalt academic and for that psychoanalytic bases were needed.

With this, Dr. Salama, showed the world that Gestalt was not only shows and catharsis, but was a way to correct problems of daily life in a very short time and very effectively.

With the creation of the methodology, Dr. Salama was able to achieve a therapeutic force with levels of verification and effectiveness of more than 80%. Making a type of psychotherapy that even the Gestaltists do not want to accept, and achieving certification before the government of Mexico, for the acceptance of the first methodology or master in the world on this therapy.

Why is this so important?

Today, most people live in a state of fast food, by which I mean that we live in an age where everything has to be in the shortest possible time and with the best gratification; we are running towards a goal that we do not know if one day it will come, but we believe that, just as we are going, it will be enough.

The idea of enjoying the moment no longer exists, and it doesn't exist because we've lost it by trying to be more productive. By this I do not mean that it is not good to be productive, what I want to show is that