Teaching The Art Of Feeling Good

WAKE up and smell the happiness in the air. The armies of wellbeing are on the march.

These are not the usual gurus of feelgood, the strife coaches or emotivational speakers. These are high-flying academics who believe the time has come not just to pursue happiness but to teach it.

They include psychologists at Harvard and Cambridge, and economists in both the US and Britain. Even the great British public school, an institution that has traditionally sought the meaning of life in ancient Greek, rugby and cold baths, is joining the quest.

"This (teaching happiness) isn't just psycho-babble or mumbo-jumbo," said Anthony Seldon, the Head of Wellington College who remains committed to academic excellence as well as his wider mission. "When I heard that Harvard and Cambridge were taking it seriously, that this was something you could teach, I thought it was very interesting."