While COVID-19 has shut down a substantial amount of economic activity in 2020, it has done wonders for our planet. Our reduced movements have caused the biggest carbon crash ever recorded. Emissions this year will fall by four to eight percent to about two to three billion tonnes of carbon. Lockdowns have also reduced the global electricity demand by about twenty percent according to the International Energy Agency which is predicted to have an overall six percent reduction this year compared to last year. This difference is equivalent to losing the entire energy demand of India! People are [...]
Bhutan is a small and mostly Buddhist nation tucked between China and India with a population of about 800,000. It spreads across the Himalayas with 70 percent of its land coated in forests. To deter low cost tourism, Bhutan requires visitors to spend upwards of $250 USD per day per person making it a highly regarded destination among discerning travelers. A huge attraction of Bhutan is its perceived focus on peacefulness which is reflected in its laws.In 1972 the king of Bhutan introduced the concept of “gross national happiness” (GNH) as an attempt to live in a way that’s [...]
One of my first happy moments in my memory was as a child around 6 years old, walking down to the beach through a very steep path towards Porthmore Beach in Cornwall. It was an arduous journey in English weather but extremely fun times with friends at the beach as a young boy. It’s these memories of joy that inspire me to teach well-being. Well that’s part of the truth and perhaps the other part I share another time!I graduated from Cambridge in 1995 and it was difficult to get a job. Barings Bank had just collapsed with it's rogue trader but I was very fortunate to find employment[...]
Some 2,000 years ago the Ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle famously stated that “Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence”. It’s one of favourite quotes of all time!We might all agree that our purpose of life is not just to live, but to live well. So, if there is a desire to be happy and an ability to be happy how can we pursue happiness, our well-being for ourselves and others? Since the dawn of time philosophers have been pondering just that - what it means to be happy and how we can experience this sometimes elusive yet [...]
