project happiness

Happiness is not having what u have, it is appreciating what u have

Why project happiness ?

The World Health Organization has named depression as the greatest cause of suffering worldwide. 1 out of 5 deals with depression or anxiety. For youth, that number increases to 1 in 3.

Th fact is that 40% of our happiness can be influenced by intentional thoughts and actions, leading to life changing habits. It’s this 40% that Project Happiness Programs help to impact.

What is happiness Anyway?

Happiness can feel fleeting, elusive, and difficult to describe. But it’s not just an emotion, researchers studying social emotional well-being define happiness as a balance, the combination of how often and robust our positive emotional experiences are, how gracefully we recover from difficult experiences, and how meaningful and worthwhile we feel our lives are.

Happiness is the ability to consistently recognize that Life’s Good, even if it’s hard sometimes and the ability to learn from and bounce back from the hard times.

Objectives

  • To develop self-awareness and mindfulness amongst learners
  • To inculcate skill of critical thinking and inquiry in the learners
  • To enable learners to communicate effectively and express themselves freely and creatively
  • To enable learners to understand their expectations in relationships, develop empathy, and ensure healthy relationships with family, peers and teachers
  • To enable learners to apply life skills to deal with stressful and conflicting situations around them
  • To develop social awareness and human values in learners to engage in meaningful contribution in society

The Skills include learners

Mindful Monday
Mindfulness, the ancient practice of focusing non-judgmental awareness on the present moment and thoughts, is increasingly recognized in today’s scientific community as an effective way to reduce stress, increase self-awareness, enhance emotional intelligence, and effectively manage painful thoughts and feelings.
Grati-Tuesday
Research has found that gratitude can significantly increase your happiness, and protect you from stress, negativity, anxiety, and depression. Developing a regular gratitude practice is one of the easiest ways to counter the brain’s negativity bias, or the tendency to cling to the negative things in our environment. By intentionally focusing on the good parts of your day, the positivity grows.
Wellness Wednesday
Happiness is good for your health, and vice versa. A review of hundreds of studies shows compelling evidence that happier people have better overall health, and live longer than their less happy peers. Anxiety, depression, pessimism, and a lack of enjoyment in daily activities have all been found to be associated with higher rates of disease and shorter lifespans.
Thoughtful Thursday
Happiness and altruism are intimately linked – doing good is an essential ingredient to being happy, and happiness helps spark kindness and generosity. Science suggests that how we spend our time and resources is as important, if not more important, than the amount of money we make. Giving to others releases endorphins, activating the parts of our brains that are associated with trust, pleasure, and social connection. Being altruistic and spending money on others leads to higher levels of happiness than spending it on oneself.
Freedom Friday
To be clear, vulnerability does not mean being weak or submissive. To the contrary, it implies the courage to be your authentic self. The rewards of vulnerability are immeasurable. When you embrace an authentic and vulnerable stance to life, people will meet you there in that openness, allowing you to experience true connection. Forgiveness is a byproduct of living authentically and vulnerably. Forgiveness doesn’t mean tolerance of error but rather a patient encouragement of growth. Practicing forgiveness doesn’t only benefit the person you forgive; research shows that it has tangible benefits for yourself as well. So the next time you’re holding a grudge, try letting it go – for your own happiness!
Social Saturday
Our busy lives often leave us stretched for time to connect with others, but science suggests that social connection should be at the top of our to-do lists. Relatedly, happiness is collective. Our happiness depends on the happiness of those we are connected to. Science shows that through practicing happiness, we make those we come into contact with happier.
Soul Sunday
Researchees have found that the type of work you do is key: engaging in meaningful activity is a big indicator of happiness. As Harvard happiness expert Tal Ben-Shahar says, “Happiness lies at the intersection of pleasure and meaning.” In addition to seeking work imbued with a sense of purpose, scientists have discovered that people thrive in environments where their strengths are emphasized. If we are actively involved in trying to reach a goal, or an activity that is challenging but well suited to our skills, we experience a joyful state or what famous psychologist Dr. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi calls “flow.”
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Why is Social Emotional Learning (SEL) important ?

SEL is a process for helping our youth develop the fundamental skills for life-effectiveness. Socially and emotionally competent children are skilled in five core areas: they are self-aware and socially aware, are able to regulate emotions, have good relationship skills, demonstrate responsible decision-making throughout all areas of life, and can set and monitor progress towards goals wellbeing, helping to manage stress and foster resiliency.

happiness skills

Happiness is like a superpower. It influences our lives in healthy, creative ways, strengthening our connections with others and helping us achieve goals. But it’s not always easy. Even in the best of times we must work at it. Practicing the skills below can empower a better state of wellbeing, helping to manage stress and foster resiliency.

Self Awareness

Recognizing feelings as they occur, having a realistic assessment of one’s It is about being conscious of our strengths and especially gaps.

Emotional Intelligence

Emotional intelligence is the ability to recognize your emotions, understand what they’re telling you, and realize how your emotions affect people around you. It also involves your perception of others: when you understand how they feel, this allows you to manage relationships more effectively.

mindfullness

Being present in the moment without judgement while maintaining a kind, supportive stance towards oneself and others helps us develop focus, emotional balance, and builds resilience.

Gratitude

The simple act of appreciating and thanking others for the goodness they contribute to our lives and in our world, no matter how big or small, fuels optimism, encourages reciprocity, and reinforces trust.

Empathy

Empathy is quality of feeling and understanding another person’s situation in the present moment— their perspectives, emotions, actions (reactions)—and communicating this to the person. 

Technology ethics

Technology ethics is the application of ethical thinking to the practical concerns of technology. The reason technology ethics is growing in prominence is that new technologies give us more power to act, which means that we have to make choices we didn’t have to make before.

Positivity

The ability to envision the good or constructive outcome in any circumstance opens our awareness and helps us see more possibilities. Positive outlooks are fostered by being open, appreciative, curious, kind, optimistic, and sincere.

happiness through ECC

This curriculum focuses primarily on teaching children how to find happiness and how to cultivate one’s own authentic happiness. It covers topics such as gratitude, empathy, self – awareness, emotional intelligence, positivity, mindfullness and embracing your strengths. These “soft” skills are often overlooked in schools under the assumption that children learn them innately or at home.  By teaching children these skills from an early age, they are better equipped, emotionally and socially, to handle life’s challenges as they mature.

The Project Happiness curriculum is a teacher-friendly programme that offers step-by-step lessons to facilitate Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) and resilience-building exercises in the classroom. SEL is a process for helping children develop the fundamental skills necessary to navigate effectively through life.

6 ways of cultivating happiness

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