ESP Biography

"Happiness depends on ourselves." ― Aristotle Is there more to life than just happiness? Or is happiness the end goal of human existence, as Aristotle proposed in 350 BC? These are just two questions from a whole array of inquires that will guide this course. Spanning the fields of philosophy, psychology, education, neuroscience, and biology, we will go on a journey of understanding the science behind what it means to flourish. Within this context, we will explore the worlds of happiness, resilience, compassion, meaningfulness, mindfulness, stress, strengths, and human connection. Additionally, by the end of the course, you will leave with several practical, evidence-based strategies for improving your well-being. This course will be a seminar in that I will not be lecturing the entire time. This course is designed so that all of us will be actively participating in our learning. There will be various activities for you all to engage in. These activities are meant to help with the application of knowledge gained as well as to share with others your experiences and ideas, within pairs and within groups. My goal is to help foster, within you, healthy habits, challenge you to explore new territory, question any assumptions you might have, and to help aid in facilitating open and friendly exchanges between you and the other students in this seminar.

Have you ever asked yourself, “What does it mean to be happy? What is compassion? How do I lead a meaningful life? How can I stress less?" If you answered yes to one or all of those questions, this class is just for you! I know, I know, it sounds like one of those TV advertisements about a new product, but fear not, in this course, we will explore the good, the bad and the ugly sides of stress from a scientific standpoint, we will learn about what compassion and self-compassion are and how we can practice it in our daily lives, and finally, we will look at other aspects of well-being, from gratitude to mindfulness. By the time class is over, you will have a quiver full of strategies to increase your happiness and decrease cortisol levels.

Ever wonder what it means to be happy? Ever wonder if happiness is something you can truly achieve? Well, fear not, in The Art of Happiness, we will go on a journey together through some of the research that has been done on Happiness and positive psychology. From this, you will learn different practices to express happiness, coping mechanisms to deal with stress and overall, how to create your own authentic source of pure happiness! *Note: Presentation will be very interactive and engaging, student responses will be asked.