This class has a limited enrollment of 24 students.  For more information see: Limited Enrollment Classes

Course Description:  Aging comes with inevitable limitations and loss, but with a positive attitude, supportive friends, meaningful activities, and an enhanced capacity for gratitude, we can make our later years a time for flourishing. We may even be able to transform this period into the best years of our lives. The five sessions include assigned readings and selected TED talks. We will cover a variety of approaches to aging wisely. We will present research from positive psychology about the negativity bias, as well as the benefits of gratitude, optimism, generosity, and meaning-making and awe. We will also engage in exercises to access our implicit wisdom. The format will include brief lectures, large and small group discussions. and prompts for personal journaling on the above topics.

Location:  Wilbanks Blue Wave

Dates/Times:  Thursdays Jan 16 to Feb 13, from 11:00 am - 12:15 pm.

Instructors:  Joan Klagsbrun, Julian Miller

Joan Klagsbrun, PhD, is a psychologist, and psychotherapist who has been practicing for the past 40 years. Joan has also been a longstanding Adjunct Professor at Lesley University, where she integrated her interest in the intersection of spirituality and psychology in the courses she taught. Joan has been teaching positive psychology to the public and to mental health professionals for over a decade. Her publications include articles in professional journals and chapters in several books. Her most recent chapter, co-written with Julian Miller, is Acknowledging the Dark and Embracing the Light.

Julian Miller is a writer, poet, artist, swimmer, and tai chi practitioner. He has been teaching Tai Chi and other movement arts for 30 years. For many years he has taught classes abroad and at home on writing stories from your life, where participants use prompts to share important moments from their lives. He is the author of three books, Breaking Through, Freeing Yourself from Fear, Helplessness and Depression; Lifespan Plus, The Definitive Guide to Health and Wellbeing, and I Should Praise, a book of poetry.