This four-week course will give you practical tools and insights from psychology, neuroscience, and behaviour change to jumpstart your quest for an even more meaningful, satisfying, and enjoyable life. We will explore recent research into what a fulfilling life looks like, including understanding the role of spirituality (broadly defined) as an important dimension of human flourishing. Although we will occasionally draw on Jewish ideas as expressed by the late Rabbi Jonathan Sacks and the  philosopher Emmanuel Levinas, the course is designed for everyone regardless of their religious beliefs (or lack thereof). Skeptics of all stripes are particularly welcome!

Session dates: Tuesday 25th January, Tuesday 1st February, Tuesday 8th February, Tuesday 15th February at 8 pm (GMT) 

Fresh Start February: New Year's resolutions rarely work, and a lot of the popular books on habit change include information that is out of date or just plain wrong. This course also includes a month of coaching, using the ground-breaking Tiny Habits® method created by Dr BJ Fogg of Stanford University. 

The course leader, Dr Tamra Wright, is a Tiny Habits® Certified Coach. She will coach you, via email, in creating positive new habits. You will work on three tiny habits at a time, and it's up to you whether to use this framework to implement the positive psychology ideas covered in the Zoom sessions or to create new habits for health, fitness, productivity or any other area that's important to you. Think you're too busy? The Tiny Habits will only take a few minutes each day, and you'll learn habit-forming skills that you'll be able to use for the rest of your life. 

The weekly Zoom sessions (Tuesdays at 8 pm GMT) will cover topics including:

• An introduction to the field of Positive Psychology
• The PERMA model of human flourishing 
• Discovering your Signature Strengths
• How to cultivate Spiritual Intelligence in yourself and others 
• The 30-second rule for cultivating positive emotions
• The 90-second rule for processing negative emotions
• Strategies to reduce rumination
• The importance of celebration, play, levity and humour
• The aesthetics of joy
• The relationship between increasing happiness and decreasing unhappiness
• How to experience more 'flow'
• Productivity and the 'deep life'
• Why ‘happiness’ is  actually not something we need to ‘pursue’

Recordings will be available for those who miss a session. Tamra will also offer additional office hours over Zoom, to answer your questions about the Tiny Habits method. 

A note on course fees: In order to make the course widely accessible, there is a generous discount for early booking. Reduced fees are also available for those on low incomes. Please contact Tamra in strictest confidence for further information: tamra.2020torah@outlook.com

Course leader bio: Tamra wears many hats, both literally and figuratively. As an academic researcher and lecturer, she specialises in 20th century Jewish philosophy, particularly the ethics of Emmanuel Levinas and Jewish responses to the Holocaust. Inspired by the legacy of Rabbi Sacks zt'l, she has developed an abiding interest in the points of intersection between positive psychology and Jewish teaching. She is particularly keen to explore how the Tiny Habits approach can help individuals and communities more effectively live their lives in accordance with their deepest values and aspirations. 

Tamra blogs about Positive Psychology and Tiny Habits on her website. In addition to qualifying as a Tiny Habits® Certified Coach, she has studied Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP) and coaching and is an experienced mentor and educational leadership coach with over two decades of experience. 

Tamra is also the Founder of 2020 Torah, an online learning platform she created during the Covid 19 pandemic. 

She is a visiting research fellow at St Benet's Hall Oxford, Curriculum Development Adviser at Faith in Leadership, and Senior Research Fellow at the London School of Jewish Studies. 

Photo by Matt Barton on Unsplash