Spirituality, Positive Psychology and the Pursuit of Happiness

This four-week course will give you practical tools and insights from psychology, neuroanatomy, and behaviour change to jumpstart your quest for an even more meaningful, satisfying, and enjoyable life. We will explore recent research into what a happy life looks like, with particular emphasis on understanding the role of spirituality (broadly defined) as an important dimension of human flourishing. Although we will occasionally draw on Jewish ideas as expressed by the late Rabbi Jonathan Sacks as well as the Jewish philosophers Martin Buber and Emmanuel Levinas, the course is designed for everyone regardless of their religious beliefs (or lack thereof). Sceptics of all stripes are particularly welcome!

The weekly Zoom sessions (Tuesdays at 8 pm GMT) will cover topics including:

• An introduction to the field of Positive Psychology
• The PERMA model of human flourishing
• How to cultivate Spiritual Intelligence in yourself and others
• The ‘4 characters’ neuroanatomy model and the ‘Brain Huddle’
• The 30-second rule for cultivating positive emotions
• The 90-second rule for processing negative emotions
• Strategies to reduce rumination
• The importance of celebration, play, levity and humour
• The aesthetics of joy
• The relationship between increasing happiness and decreasing unhappiness
• Productivity and the 'deep life'
• Why ‘happiness’ is  actually not something we need to ‘pursue’

In addition to the weekly sessions, students will learn to apply the ideas in their own lives using the ground-breaking Tiny Habits® method created by Dr BJ Fogg of Stanford University. The course leader, Dr Tamra Wright, is a Tiny Habits® Certified Coach. Over the four weeks of the course, Tamra will coach you, via email, in creating new habits and applying the skills of behaviour change.

Recordings will be available for those who miss a session. Tamra will also offer additional office hours over Zoom, to answer your questions about the Tiny Habits method.

Advanced booking is recommended to take advantage of generous Early Bird discounts. In addition, once you've registered you will receive further information about the course, optional background reading, and some journaling prompts to help you reflect on what changes you would like to make in the new year.

Course leader bio: Tamra wears many hats, both literally and figuratively. As an academic researcher and lecturer, she specialises in 20th century Jewish philosophy, particularly the ethics of Emmanuel Levinas and Jewish responses to the Holocaust. Inspired by Rabbi Sacks zt'l, she has developed an abiding interest in the points of intersection between positive psychology and Jewish teaching. She is particularly keen to explore how the Tiny Habits approach can help individuals and communities more effectively live their lives in accordance with their deepest values and aspirations.

Tamra blogs about Positive Psychology and Tiny Habits on her website. In addition to qualifying as a Tiny Habits® Certified Coach, she has studied Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP) and coaching and is an experienced mentor and educational leadership coach with over two decades of experience.

Tamra is also the Founder of 2020 Torah, an online learning platform she created during the Covid 19 pandemic.

She is a visiting research fellow at St Benet's Hall Oxford, Curriculum Development Adviser at Faith in Leadership, and Senior Research Fellow at the London School of Jewish Studies.

Photo by Matt Barton on Unsplash