There are now over 200 happiness classes at college campuses across the U.S., including programs at prestigious institutions like Harvard University. Here are some of the things students in these courses learn about how to increase their daily happiness levels.
Focusing on What Brings Happiness
Every night, students in happiness courses are instructed to spend some time thinking about the good things that happened that day.
Some happiness class assignments require the participants to think of three good things that happen each day during the course. Writing these good things down in a journal helps focus the day's events in the mind, according to professors.
Mindfulness Leads to Happiness
Students of Harvard professor Dr. Ben-Shahar are instructed to meditate for 15 minutes in class. Other professors give homework to attend a daily yoga class over the course of a week or so. These activities help boost happiness by increasing mindfulness, something scientists say is vital to having joy in life.
Mindfulness can also be found in other ways, such as paying careful attention to the sights, sounds and smells of a daily walk or focusing on the details of meals.
Finding Signature Strengths to Bring Happier Days
Positive psychologists believe that everyone has signature strengths and that focusing on these abilities and activities is key to adding joy to daily life.
To find these strengths, positive psychologist Dr. Seligman has created a website with a test to help individuals determine where they should focus their efforts.
After determining their signature strengths, students in happiness courses are often instructed to incorporate some activity that draws on these strengths into their life every day. This technique works by boosting confidence, which has been shown to also boost happiness.
Practicing Random Acts of Kindness
Another way professors teaching happiness say students can improve both their grade in the class and their happiness levels in life is by practicing random acts of kindness. Helping strangers, both as a visible act and through anonymous means, raises levels of happiness in the person helping.
Even something as simple as assisting a struggling person with a heavy bag of groceries or holding doors open for strangers can boost joy.
Get Happy by Thanking People and Showing Gratitude
Happiness class participants are sometimes assigned a show of gratitude as a way to increase happiness. This can be as simple as writing a letter of thanks to a teacher who influenced the student or as complex as scheduling a visit to a former mentor and treating them to dinner in a show of gratitude for their help in life.
These exercises used in happiness classes may sound simple, but participants in these kinds of courses have learned that sometimes little changes truly can bring about huge benefits in happiness levels. But perhaps the biggest lesson is that every one of these interventions can work for anyone. Focusing on good things, being mindful in everyday life, finding one's signature strengths, practicing random acts of kindness and showing gratitude are all good ways to incorporate a little extra happiness into anyone's life.
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