being happy: the science & practices of flourishing

Description

Being Happy is an experiential online 5 week course which can help you engage with the current science of happiness and also systematically helps teach and embed some simple, empirically-proven techniques to achieving greater happiness, satisfaction and ease in your life. The course consists of 5 X 1.5 hour in-person sessions run on the Zoom platform, which are supplemented by approximately 2 hours per week of home learning on a dedicated virtual study platform within this site. The online material comprises selected scientifically-validated assessments, some easy to digest primary source & original material and factual short video clips all designed to help move you further towards your happiness goals. There is also a dedicated community facebook group wherein we interact as a community and inspire each others progress. Being Happy is facilitated by Rod Francis and Ronit LeMon Drobey.

Week 1: Happiness 101

Topics we’ll cover:

• Defining what is meant by Happiness and why it is important to all areas of well being and health.
• The different types of happiness and how they contribute to our personal flourishing and sense of life satisfaction.
• Happiness Assessments –  exploring some simple yet scientifically validated methods of assessing all these different areas.
• The key steps and practices which help build, develop and sustain our personal sense of happiness and how might we most effectively engage with them.
• Mindfulness & Happiness: We’ll explore the practice of mindfulness and learn how to begin practicing this empirically proven pathway to greater wellbeing.

Week 2: Happiness & the Body

Topics we’ll cover:

• The science of physical health and wellbeing and its relationship to psychological health and optimal functioning.
• An overview of cutting-edge physical health hacks including diet, exercise, psychological interventions proven to shift the needle in physical health as well as happiness.
• Crafting proven strategies to implement these changes in your own life and (more importantly) how to sustain those changes.
• The science of embodied cognition: The role of somatic awareness in happiness, how to increase that and transforming negative self-view.
• Mindfulness and the body; Mindful eating – changing our relationship to food!

Week 3: Happiness & Emotions

Topics we’ll cover:

• How emotions relate to Happiness and how we can begin to work more skillfully with all of our emotions.
• Emotional Intelligence (EQ) and the nascent field of Emodiversity and how they relate to human flourishing.
• The role of positive emotions in health and wellbeing and what practical steps we can take to develop them.
• What is meant by Flow, why it is important to our happiness plus how to create more Flow in life and skillfully find opportunities in daily activities to build it in.
• Mindfulness and emotions – building literacy and emotional management skills which take us from reactivity to mature response.

Week 4: Social Happiness

Topics we’ll cover:

• The importance of social relationships to happiness, health and longevity.
• Relational skills building including practical exercises, tips and hacks.
• Relational Assessment – What is the state of your current relational world?
• Communication skills-building and developing healthier and more effective ways of communicating to support relational health – including effective ways to manage conflict and difficult communication.
• The role and practice of Loving-kindness meditation in health and better relationships and also it’s impact on overall health and wellbeing.
• The role of forgiveness practices in Happiness. Learning practical skills to help us let go of old hurts, anger and resentments, as much to ourselves as well as to others.

Week 5: Happiness & The Meaningful Life

Topics we’ll cover:

• The importance of having a personal sense meaning & purpose to finding lasting happiness. Learning some simple, powerful techniques which can help gain clarity on those qualities and create a more purposeful and values-aligned way of living.
• A brief introduction to the powerful and transformative area of human development known as Positive Psychology and what it offers us in building greater life satisfaction and happiness.
• What is learned optimism as opposed to learned helplessness? And how do we build and develop a more mature and helpful mindset?
• Building Wonder, Awe & Curiosity. Why these qualities are important to our happiness and uncovering ways to build them into our daily life.
• Nudge Theory in action – how small changes create large shifts. Why we don’t always have to make radical changes and instead how momentum builds and change can come via small, incremental yet consistent shifts in behavior.

When: Live classes next commencing online in January 2018.

Dates: Saturdays January 13th, 20th, 27th & February 3rd & 10th.

Times: US West coast 9am; Eastern 12 noon. Each class will be 90 minutes. They are all recorded and recordings will available for participants in the online learning platform following each live call.

Ronit leMon Drobey has been teaching for 25 years, and has more than a decade of coaching experience. Ronit is a Professional Certified Coach through the International Coaching Federation. She has a BA in Political Science from UCLA, a double MA in Teaching Writing and English Literature from HSU, and a Certificate in Teaching English as a second language. Ronit & Rod are both senior faculty on the Bulletproof Coach Training program.

For Rod’s bio please go to the About page.