Project Happiness Articles — ThoughtfulThursday

Project Happiness Clubs are thriving at a time when an increasing number of states  are requiring Social and Emotional Learning in their schools. Teen Suicide Prevention was the focus of World Mental Health Day and teaching empathy is being recognized as a major key for Social and Emotional Learning.  There were several highlights in 2019 for Project Happiness Clubs around the United States.  We have a total of 30 high schools that are officially participating through their sponsorship with the LG: Experience Happiness Initiative, impacting over 35,000 students, and many more who have begun programs without the sponsorship, not including family, faculty and communities who benefit from the work of the Project Happiness Club Program.     Some of the Highlights from 2019!  International Day of Happiness: Project...

More than 80% of parents support climate change taught in schools, yet only 42% of teachers discuss it with their students.  Mount Horeb High School Project Happiness Club recently undertook a school-wide challenge to raise awareness - and money - for ocean conservation.

"Happiness is inside of you, and you can achieve it anytime you like, no matter the outside circumstances." How many times have you heard this phrase? Although it sounds completely legitimate, it seems unachievable, at least to you. Most of us are like this. Here are the steps you can take starting today to bring more happiness in your life.

Self esteem is described by Psychology Today as “self judgement” or how one perceives their own sense of personal worth. Self esteem tends to fluctuate at different parts of one’s life, raising during times of victory or growth and waning a bit when things aren’t going well. A low self esteem is associated with higher rates of anxiety and depression. It’s important to nurture one’s self esteem and there are many ways to do so.

I am a woman who has started over many times and a certain joy accompanies the task of unpacking, at rediscovering a teapot, a vase, pieces of my self I temporarily forgot in the span of mere days, of choosing where these belongings should be placed within the walls of the new home where I prepare to start my life yet again. But as I begin to unpack I’m struck with realization: these aren’t my boxes.

Thanksgiving is suffering from Middle Child Syndrome. Halloween rolls in like the younger sibling: full of charisma and charm, in full party-mode!  Christmas, obviously the older sibling, looms responsibly tall, revered and sacred. Thanksgiving?  Well...it's stuffed in the middle. Turduckenned.

The more I read about how social media has become the new playground for bullying, the more inspired I felt to help spread kindness instead. Children were not only being bullied at school, but now had to deal with bullying long after they got home, because of social media. I came up with the idea of a kindness challenge so kids had a reason to turn to social media for a positive experience.

So do you believe in Atlantis? Or would you rather believe in Nartec? Either way, believe in your determination and ability to survive, above all. The world around us may drown us with troubles we think we wouldn’t be able to handle, but we are stronger than we think ourselves to be and sometimes require our friends to remind us of that.

I've developed a simple rule over the past couple of years which initially seemed somewhat self indulgent - and I was sure would need to be knocked on the head after a short time. But two years on, it still seems to work incredibly well. The rule to live by was quite simply to: "Stop doing things I don't love".

Let’s start by addressing the question that comes up most when I share about the Africa Yoga Project: “Is Yoga really what Africa needs?” Although this question was once a source of frustration, I now see it as a great way to open up the conversation of what yoga is truly about and how our understanding has become limited in modern times.