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Teacher Resources
- Google Slidedeck for students on the science of happiness (very simple, feel free to edit)
- Happiness Activities Handout (two activities you can do with your students)
- Opportunity for students to share their creations on Instagram and Facebook @gorgehappiness
Gorge Art Box
Facebook & Instagram
February Art-A-Day
For Businesses & Orgs
Mindfulness Classes & Workshops
For Educators
Start or Join a Group
Take the Happiness Index Survey
The Daily 3
- Gratitudes: Find time each day to list three things for which you are thankful. This can be written on paper or just in your thoughts. These may be as simple as a yummy lunch, an extra soft pillow or the sunshine today. Or it can be grander. You decide. It’s the act of gratitude that counts.
- Acts of kindness: This can be as easy as smiling at a cashier, saying thank you to a co-worker, or complimenting a stranger. Once during the month, look for a way to volunteering or help the community.
- Moments of Silence: Sit silently for just five minutes per day. This means turning off the TV, computer, radio, and cell phone. As you sit, observe the thoughts in your head, the sounds you hear around you or other sensations that come and go. Keep your eyes closed if you want or just look at one thing about three feet in front of you. Don’t beat yourself up if you mind wanders - just notice it and come back to observing and listening.
Our Sponsors
A huge thank you to our sponsors over the past 7 years for helping to bring health and connection to the Gorge. We have purposely chosen not to actively seek major Sponsorships this year due to the more pressing needs in our community. But we would not have things in place today without their past support.
About the Happiness Month
Happiness is good for your health. A review of hundreds of studies has found compelling evidence that happier people have better overall health and live longer than their less happy peers. Interestingly, 50% of our happiness is genetic, 10% is environmental, but the rest is in our control. Why? Because 40% of our happiness can be helped through habits. So to Gorge Happiness Month was created in 2016 to inspire everyone in the Gorge to do three simple things each day in October that are shown to make us happier: gratitudes, acts of kindness and moments of silence. The idea is to make our community healthier and more connected. Businesses and organizations throughout the Gorge have jumped in to make it great. How can you participate?
Quotes
Action may not always bring happiness; but there is no happiness without action.
Benjamin Disraeli
Happiness is not something ready-made. It comes from your own actions.
Dalai Lama
Our greatest happiness does not depend on the condition of life in which chance has placed us, but is always the result of a good conscience, good health, occupation, and freedom in all just pursuits.
Thomas Jefferson
Happiness depends upon ourselves
Aristotle
Latest news
‘Every, every minute’: lessons from wearing the Happiness Lens
From the Hood River News By Kathy Watson It’s 1963, and I’m in Mrs. Fridley’s first grade class in Salsipuedes Elementary School in Watsonville, Calif. I’ve been handed a thin […]
Luz Elena Valdez Torres: Finding happiness helping others
By Eileen Garvin In recent years, research has shown some curious links between positive emotions and good health. For example, some studies show that happier people have better heart health, […]
Caitlin Alcott
Happiness, though not always easy to come by, enables people to enjoy better overall health and live longer than their less happy peers. To celebrate its 30th anniversary last year, […]