I recently found an online class on the science of well-being. I just started last week and I am really enjoying it. As many of us struggle with getting started on a more positive outlook in life (especially in early sobriety), I thought I’d share. Maybe some of you want to join in.
The class has been made available for free by the university of yale. The course has 10 chapters on different aspects of well being. It starts with an assessement of your personal happiness and strengths to work with. It provides background information on the science of well being and gives little homework assignments to work on yourself and put the learned things into action.
I think many of the large programs AA/Recovery Dharma etc incorporate similar ideas. While you are getting better at getting better, this might be a little additional aid to propell you forward and get started.
So I am half way into the course and I really like how it’s going. Posting a little status update here.
Learning about my signature strengths was fun. Making use of them was a bit tricky, as it was hard to come up with appropriate settings and situations for it. But I managed.
While the “gratitude and savouring” tasks were no brainers, seeking new social connections on an every day basis has been a bit of a struggle for me. It feels awkward to strike up a random conversation with strangers, but I can see how it gets less strange every time. There is no question that this is the part where I have most to learn and improve yet. I am planning to continue this practice a bit longer still.
Sleep and exercise were not a problem.
Next up is mediation. Not especially looking forward to it, as I am really impatient and find it hard to sit and to nothing. But I guess that’s the whole point. So here we go…
