Santos Offers Happiness Tips

Yale professor Laurie Santos offered ten tips for happiness at her lecture in Chappaqua, Mar. 8 (YWAA photos)

Laurie Santos, Yale's professor of psychology whose Yale "Happiness" course has spawned national (and even global) attention, came to Westchester Mar. 7 to offer area alumni and other guests 10 tips for achieving a state of happiness.

Addressing a crowd of about 150 at the Chappaqua Performing Arts Center, Santos summarized her semester-long course into an hour-long presentation. The lecture was part of the YWAA lecture series, coordinated by YWAA board member Rich Fabbro '76. The Chappaqua Library was also a co-sponsor of the event.

The "Happiness" course is more formally called "Psychology and the Good Life." In Chappaqua, Santos explained its origin and her expectations that it would draw only 40-50 students.  Last year, by the time Yale's course-shopping period was over, the course had attracted over 1,200 Yale students, so large that the venue had to be moved to Woolsey Hall. Media outlines from around the world (including The New York Times) found out about the course, all curious about why large numbers of students on elite campuses struggle with happiness and feeling good about themselves.

Santos in Chappaqua explained the state of mental health on campuses like Yale, especially as students struggle with lofty goals and limited amounts of time to accomplish what they put on their already-crammed agenda.  She described how she has observed students as Head of Silliman College. She designed the course, gained approval to present it and prescribed simple tasks on the syllabus for students during the semester ("Send out thank-you notes to special people").

After the widespread attention, Santos and Yale now offer the course online via Coursera ("The Science of Well-Being"). She said over 200,000 "learners" have participated from dozens of countries around the world.

At the Westchester lecture to a throng of rapt listeners older than her students, Santos offered ten tips to happiness.  They included the obvious and the less than obvious. The obvious, she suggested, include getting more sleep (about 7.4 hours/night), exercising more regularly, and meditating. As a professor would do, she provided research to substantiate her tips. She lectured how people can control their efforts to achieve happiness.

The less-than-obvious included spending more money for the benefit of others (and not ourselves) and expressing gratitude to others in writing and in person. Write thank-you notes, she recommended, deliver them and read them in person--a requirement she asked of her students. She recommended people avoid "mind wandering." Stay in the moment, and focus on your current self, she advised.

Tip number 2 on her list? "Our life circumstances don't matter as much as we think."  "You can become happier, but it takes work and daily effort" was her Tip number 3.

In the wake of such popularity and because of demand, Santos is planning a happiness podcast and heads to California soon to continue to spread her tips at another Yale-related event.

YWAA and the Chappaqua Library hosted a reception in her honor after the lecture.

YWAA board member Rich Fabbro, coordinator of the lecture series, introduced Santos to the Chappaqua audience (YWAA photos)

 

As Head of Yale's Silliman College, Santos observed student practices and habits in their daily lives. (YWAA photos)

Santos said she initially expected only 40-50 students to join a course that eventually enrolled over 1,000 Yale students (YWAA photos)