Happiness Boosts Learning

 

Welcome back to school, TPS families! I hope you had an enjoyable and restful break.

 

My brother shared this speech with me, and I think it has great relevance for our families and students as well. It is only 12 minutes long, and the researcher is lighthearted and amusing. In short, he says that when we are happy, our brains learn better, have more energy, and are 30% more productive than when we feel neutral or unhappy. 30%!

 

My favorite part is how the speaker gives 5 simple, concrete actions to help our brains be happier. It only takes 21 consecutive days of these practices to significantly boost your happiness levels and start training your brain to see positives instead of negatives. I think he even says it could just take a couple of minutes each day, not a big time commitment.

 

I know I have spoken with some of you before about bedtime routines and dinner table conversations and other types of daily "traditions" or "rituals" that you encourage for your family and children. These first 3 seem like they'd be very easy to incorporate into conversation during the car ride home from school, dinner, or bedtime.

 

5 Practices to Train Your Brain to Be Happy and Boost Learning

• write down 3 things you are grateful for everyday
• journal about one positive thing that happened every 24 hours
• do an act of kindness for another person
• exercise
• meditate

Of course, this psychologist is not talking about our kids being happy because we let them do everything they want to and play video games all day. :) He is talking about training our brains to emphasize positives instead of negatives, and create a happy state of mind separate from our external circumstances and life situation.

 

I hope you like this as much as I did! I, for one, am definitely planning to start a gratitude journal. :)

 

Thanks for reading! We are glad you are here!