The Science of Happiness (PRX and Greater Good Science Center)

Holding on to a grudge? Hear how our happiness guinea pig tried to let go of deep-seated anger and resentment.

Link to Episode Transcript: https://tinyurl.com/pphybmay

Author Michael Pollan, shares his experiences on being a guinea pig for his new book, How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence.

Link to Episode Transcript: https://tinyurl.com/bddxewwm

Do memories of your past affect your happiness today? Susannah Cahalan was young and healthy when she was stricken with a mysterious illness. Learn how writing about her “month of madness” in the bestselling book Brain on Fire helped her reclaim her life.

Link to Episode Transcript: https://tinyurl.com/xeyehswt

Does imagining your future make you more happy--or more anxious?  Our happiness guinea pig looks ahead for inspiration to improve her life now.

Link to Episode Transcript: https://tinyurl.com/265b34pj

Do you take your partner for granted? Our Happiness Guinea Pig, cartoonist Gene Luen Yang, imagines a life in which he never met his wife.

Link to Episode Transcript: https://tinyurl.com/3rp4nycn

International megastar Daniel Wu tries a practice that brings him calm amidst the chaos.

Link to Episode Transcript: https://tinyurl.com/bdfcws4a

Do you take the good things in life for granted? You’re not alone, and studies show it's very human. But here’s a way to find more joy in the everyday.

Link to Episode Transcript: https://tinyurl.com/2khs3b7r

What does it take to live a happier life? Learn research-tested strategies that you can put into practice today. Hosted by award-winning psychologist Dacher Keltner. Co-produced by PRX and UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center.

Link to Episode Transcript: https://tinyurl.com/3u5jfpfy

What should you do when you thought you had it all -- but learn you've had it all wrong? Discover what our happiness guinea pig did to bring more joy and humor into his life.

Link to Episode Transcript: https://tinyurl.com/4z3snujy

Are you so stressed that it wears you down physically as well as mentally? Discover how award-winning radio host Krista Tippett brought relief to her mind and body.

Link to Episode Transcript: https://tinyurl.com/29wdtvkj

Our Happiness Guinea Pig, children's author Joanne Rocklin, shares her happiness practice: bringing people together to share a meal. It took on a deeper meaning for her after a recent tragedy.

Link to Episode Transcript: https://tinyurl.com/3m5b4sw8

Do you dwell on the negative and let moments of joy just pass you by? Discover how the Academy Award-winning director of Inside Out got out of his head and savored the good in his life.

Link to Episode Transcript: https://tinyurl.com/bury2hu9

Did you know what you wanted when you were in high school? Our guest takes on the challenge of figuring out her purpose in life.

Transcription: https://tinyurl.com/3be748x8

He started Afghanistan's first post-Taliban rock band when he was 18 years old. A decade later, our Happiness Guinea Pig takes on another challenge: writing about his emotions.

Link to Episode Transcript: https://tinyurl.com/2uzh3r67

Comedian W. Kamau Bell discusses the challenges of finding common ground, even with people in your own family.

Link to Episode Transcript: https://tinyurl.com/ys466txk

Is there someone important you've never properly thanked? Award-winning children's book author, Yuyi Morales, discovers the power of writing a "gratitude letter" to the librarian who changed her life.

Link to Episode Transcript: https://tinyurl.com/yzbnp9v6

"I'm sorry you feel that way."

Some apologies can actually make things worse. Our Happiness Guinea Pigs, Jolenta Greenburg and Kristin Meinzer of the By the Book podcast, try a more effective way of saying sorry.

Link to Episode Transcript: https://tinyurl.com/br9c86s7

When you’re helping others cope with stress and anxiety, how do you deal with your own? Psychiatrist Elizabeth Guinto tries a practice to be kinder to herself.

Link to Episode Transcript: https://tinyurl.com/yer2c25p

Are you stuck ruminating about the past? Legendary skater Tommy Guerrero tries looking at negative events from a different perspective.

Link to Episode Transcript: https://tinyurl.com/bddb9eaj

How do you build feelings of trust and security? Our Happiness Guinea Pig learns some truths about what it takes to feel supported.

Link to Episode Transcript: https://tinyurl.com/mr4defr6

Do you find yourself looking at your phone when you're supposed to be paying attention to a friend? Our Happiness Guinea Pig, The Takeaway's Tanzina Vega trades in her technology for some old school listening.

Link to Episode Transcript: https://tinyurl.com/4a98pmzc

Are you too hard on yourself? Our Happiness Guinea Pig spent most of his life behind bars. Discover the research-tested practice that helped him quiet his inner critic.

Link to Episode Transcript: https://tinyurl.com/2jdjruzd

Many of us avoid chatting with strangers – isn't small talk tedious and dull? Listen as our happiness guinea pig discovers its surprising benefits.

Link to Episode Transcript: https://tinyurl.com/mr29zv9u

For years, Dan Harris of ABC News was plagued by anxiety, depression, and streaks of anger. Here's how he learned to tame the voices in his head and get 10 percent happier.

Link to Episode Transcript: https://tinyurl.com/5d625bjp

In hard times, do you seek comfort from others or turn inwards? Find out how our Happiness Guinea Pig emerged from trauma by accepting others' support.

Thank you for your emails, calls, and letters! We think your stories will inspire others and we’ll be sharing some of them on the show. So call us at (510) 519-4903 and let us know how doing the Feeling Supported practice went for you!

Support for this podcast comes from Sun Basket. We all know that every part of our life is enhanced when we eat nourishing, healthy meals but always eating right can be hard to do. Sun Basket makes it easy. Go to SunBasket.com/SOH today to learn more and get $35 off your first order!

Link to Episode Transcript: https://tinyurl.com/5xtzbzj2

Can you train your brain to be more grateful? Todd Zwillich of The Takeaway takes on the challenge.

Link to Episode Transcript: https://tinyurl.com/2s336x2a

Would you rather swim with sharks or give a speech before thousands of people? Discover how our happiness guinea pig tackled one of his many fears--and lived to talk about it.

Link to Episode Transcript: https://tinyurl.com/3zstem4a

What would make you happier at work? Featuring some of our happiness guinea pigs, we share the latest insights and research on well-being and happiness in the workplace.

Link to Episode Transcript: https://tinyurl.com/3uhb58b8

How do you respond when you feel threatened or defensive? Our Happiness Guinea Pig, writer Wajahat Ali, discovers a way to keep himself centered amidst the challenges and chaos of life.

Link to Episode Transcript: https://tinyurl.com/yc5msv7x

Did you know that you have the power to spark happiness in someone else's brain with just a few simple words? College student Eva Dickerson shares how she spread happiness across her campus, equipped with just her iPhone and some compliments.

Link to Episode Transcript: https://tinyurl.com/yc5vp9es

Why does a bath or swim feel so relaxing? Our guest shares her own happiness practice--spending time in water--which science is finding can make us happier and healthier.

Link to Episode Transcript: https://tinyurl.com/5n8uyznd

Can 36 questions help you fall in love--and stay in love? Best-selling author Kelly Corrigan tries a research-proven technique to feel closer to her husband. Plus, we learn how the same technique can actually reduce racism and prejudice.

Link to Episode Transcript: https://tinyurl.com/5aep55b9

Host Dacher Keltner leads us through an exercise in feeling the serenity and wonder that nature brings us, no matter where we are.

Link to episode transcript: https://tinyurl.com/yc6dwdnp

How to Do This Practice:

1. Find a spot where you can sit and rest comfortably. Once you’re ready, close your eyes.

2. Begin breathing slowly and deeply. Focus on your breath and unclench your muscles from head to toe.

3. Think of a place in nature that is sacred or significant to you. What do you hear? What do you see? Try to create as clear of an image as you can in your mind.

4. Notice what feelings arise as you think of this place; what feelings do you associate with it?

5. Contemplate how this place has become a part of who you are; how it lives in your mind and how you can conjure up the feeling of it within yourself.

Today’s Happiness Break host:

Dacher Keltner is the host of the Greater Good Science Center’s award-winning podcast, The Science of Happiness and is a co-instructor of the GGSC’s popular online course of the same name. He’s also the founding director of the Greater Good Science Center and a professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley.

His new book is Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life.

More resources from The Greater Good Science Center:

Secrets of the Vagus Nerve: https://tinyurl.com/yzuxtuzp

Why We Should Look Up at the Sky (Podcast): https://tinyurl.com/fn3bttw6

What’s the Most Common Sense of Awe? https://tinyurl.com/2p842t8r

Happiness Break: How to Ground Yourself: https://tinyurl.com/289ph9cz

Happiness Break: Experience Nature Wherever You Are: https://tinyurl.com/yv46xrr4

Why You Should Snap Pictures of Nature: https://tinyurl.com/5fp7bhk6

Could Your Life Be More Awesome? Take our Awe Quiz https://tinyurl.com/2p8mz57f

We love hearing from you! Tell us about your experience of awe in nature. Email us at happinesspod@berkeley.edu or use the hashtag #happinesspod.

Find us on Apple Podcasts: https://tinyurl.com/2p9h5aap

Help us share Happiness Break! Leave us a 5-star review and copy and share this link: https://tinyurl.com/2p9h5aap

We're living through a mental health crisis. Between the stress, anxiety, depression, loneliness, burnout — we all could use a break to feel better. That's where Happiness Break comes in. In each biweekly podcast episode, instructors guide you through research-backed practices and meditations that you can do in real-time. These relaxing and uplifting practices have been shown in a lab to help you cultivate calm, compassion, connection, mindfulness, and more — what the latest science says will directly support your well-being. All in less than ten minutes. A little break in your day.

When we remember the times someone had our back, it changes the way we view ourselves and the world. Our guest explores what happens when trying a practice to feel more supported.

Link to episode transcript: https://tinyurl.com/yt3ejj6w

Episode summary:

Ever since he was a young child, José Valladares has spent his life caring for others and has taken pride in supporting his family and community, For our show, he tried a practice where he recalled people in his life who he can turn to during a difficult moment — the people who support him. As he wrote about their admirable qualities and specific instances where they helped him, José felt a renewed sense of gratitude and energy to persist forward in helping others. Later, we hear from psychologist Angela Rowe about how feeling supported can impact our relationships and sense of personal empowerment.

Practice:

1. Make a list of the people who offer you comfort or security.
2. Write down six positive qualities that are common to some or all of these people.
3. Next, recall and visualize a specific situation when you felt distressed or worried, and one of these people comforted and helped you.
4. Write a brief description of that situation and how you felt during it.

Learn more about this practice at Greater Good In Action:

https://ggia.berkeley.edu/practice/feeling_supported

Today’s guests:

José Valladares is a software engineer in Utah originally from Honduras.

Angela Rowe is a psychology professor at the University of Bristol.

Learn more about Angela’s work: https://tinyurl.com/4nh752ad

Resources from The Greater Good Science Center:

Happiness Break: Who Takes Care of You? With Dacher Keltner: https://tinyurl.com/bdezwwyd

How to Let Someone Love You (The Science of Happiness Podcast): https://tinyurl.com/5xtzbzj2

Four Ways Social Support Makes You More Resilient: https://tinyurl.com/2p9zkjpj

Just One Thing: Feel the Support: https://tinyurl.com/yrfnmwfv

Friend or Family? https://tinyurl.com/msbs2kuh

More Resources on Feeling Supported

NYT Times - Are You Anxious, Avoidant or Secure? https://tinyurl.com/yes746sv

The Atlantic - The Trait That ‘Super Friends’ Have in Common: https://tinyurl.com/bdheumdh

BBC - Why friendship makes us healthier: https://tinyurl.com/3596n4u7

Stanford - Asking for help is hard, but people want to help more than we realize, Stanford scholar says’: https://tinyurl.com/4n4hraj5'

Who do you turn to for support in your life? Email us at happinesspod@berkeley.edu or use the hashtag #happinesspod.

Help us share The Science of Happiness!

Rate us on Spotify and share this link with someone who might like the show: https://tinyurl.com/b6779syt

Experience the physical sensations of love through this guided meditation that nurtures connection, relaxation, and emotional awareness.

How To Do This Practice: 

1. Sit or lie down in a relaxed posture. Close your eyes or soften your gaze. Take a deep breath in, then slowly exhale. Notice the weight of your body and release any tension in your shoulders, jaw, or hands.
2. Recall a time when you felt deeply loved and cared for—whether from a person, pet, or a meaningful experience.
3. Instead of focusing on the memory itself, notice where love manifests in your body—warmth in your chest, a tingling in your hands, a soft smile, or gentle relaxation.
4. With each inhale, visualize love spreading through your body like a warm light or soft energy, filling your heart, arms, and entire being.
5. Allow yourself to fully experience this embodied sense of love, knowing it is always within you.
6. When ready, bring awareness back to your surroundings, wiggle your fingers and toes, and take a final deep breath before opening your eyes. Set an intention to bring this felt sense of love into your interactions throughout the day.

This episode is part of our series The Science of Love, supported by a grant from The John Templeton Foundation on spreading love through the media.

Sign up for The Science of Happiness podcast's 7-Day Love Challenge to receive these science-backed practices delivered directly to your inbox: tinyurl.com/7daylovechallenge

Today’s Happiness Break Host:

Dacher Keltner is the host of The Science of Happiness podcast and is a co-instructor of the Greater Good Science Center’s popular online course of the same name. He’s also a professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley.

Related Happiness Break episodes:

A Meditation on Original Love: https://tinyurl.com/5u298cv4
Loving Kindness Meditation: https://tinyurl.com/2kr4fjz5
A Meditation for Burnout: https://tinyurl.com/485y3b4y

Related Science of Happiness episodes:

36 Questions to Spark Love and Connection: https://tinyurl.com/ktcpz78u
How 7 Days Can Transform Your Relationship: https://tinyurl.com/bdh2ezhr
How to Use Your Body to Relax Your Mind: https://tinyurl.com/yckyft6t
How To Tune Out The Noise: https://tinyurl.com/4hhekjuh
How To Breathe Away Anxiety: https://tinyurl.com/msmxtyes

Follow us on Instagram: @ScienceOfHappinessPod

We’d love to hear about your experience with this practice! Share your thoughts at happinesspod@berkeley.edu or use the hashtag #happinesspod.

Find us on Apple Podcasts: https://tinyurl.com/2p9h5aap

Help us share Happiness Break! Leave a 5-star review and share this link: https://tinyurl.com/2p9h5aap

Transcription: https://tinyurl.com/3dmpfam6

A guided drawing meditation to help you break out of stale thought patterns and maybe even enter a state of flow. No talent required.

How to Do This Practice:

1. Grab a piece of paper and something to draw with.
2. Find a comfortable place and start by taking some deep, mindful breaths
3. Take a few moments to take in your environment. What colors, shapes, and objects do you see?
4. Set a timer and for the next two minutes, draw something that caught your attention. Don’t worry about how it looks and try to stay in the moment.
5. Once time is up, spend a moment appreciating what you drew. Think about the impact of slowing down and doing something fun has had on your day.

Today’s Happiness Break host:
Chris Murchison is a meditation teacher, artist and speaker. He currently works as an independent advisor for organizations interested in improving their work cultures.

Check out Chris’s GGSC profile: https://tinyurl.com/32htut6n
Learn more about Chris’s art and other work: https://chrismurchison.com/about
Follow Chris on Instagram: https://tinyurl.com/4auxk3ur

Transcript: tinyurl.com/4cmucasc

We explore the science behind how self-compassionate touch can help us feel better about ourselves.

Link to transcript: https://tinyurl.com/4nm5827f

Summary:  Brittany Luce, host of NPR's "It's Been A Minute," shares her experience with self-compassionate touch. She did it for 20 seconds, almost daily. to quiet her inner critic and foster self-compassion, especially during moments of stress or self-judgment. 

Researcher Eli Susman also shares the fascinating science behind this practice, and how despite being short and sweet —it may still be an effective way to cultivate self compassion -- especially if you find ways to make it a habit.

How To Do This Self-Compassionate Touch Practice:
Take a moment to try these different touches and see which feels most supportive to you. Whenever you feel stressed or upset, or just need some extra support, use this compassionate touch to remind yourself that you’re here for you. Research shows the practice works best when practiced regularly.

Duration: 20 seconds, practiced daily or as often as you can.

Find a comfortable space. Sit or stand somewhere you feel relaxed and at ease. Try out these micro practices while thinking kind words to yourself, as though you were comforting a dear friend in distress.

1. Touch Your Heart: Place both hands gently over the center of your chest, one on top of the other. Apply just enough pressure to feel connected, but not uncomfortable. Focus on the warmth of your touch.  

2. Feel Your Strength: If it feels right, make a gentle fist with your left hand, symbolizing strength, and place it over your heart. Rest your right hand on top of the fist to combine the feeling of strength and love.  

3. Cradle Your Face: Gently cup each of your cheeks with your hands, holding your face as you would a loved one in distress. Let the touch be soft and caring.  

4. Support Your Core: Place both hands over your solar plexus, just below your ribcage, and imagine you're holding and supporting your core. This can be particularly comforting if you're feeling fear or deep emotions.  

5. Give Yourself a Hug: Cross your arms, resting each hand on the opposite shoulder. Gently squeeze yourself, adjusting the pressure to feel comforting but not overwhelming.

Guest: Brittany Luse is an award-winning journalist, cultural critic. and host of the NPR podcast “It's Been a Minute.”

Learn more about Luse: https://tinyurl.com/3bjt6v7m
Follow Luse on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bmluse
Listen to the NPR podcast "It's Been A Minute": https://tinyurl.com/3uek8ey8

Guest: Eli Susman is a researcher and Ph.D. Candidate in Psychology at UC Berkeley
Read Eli Susman's study on self-compassionate touch: https://tinyurl.com/2uh783z8

Related Science of Happiness episodes:

• How to Feel Better About Yourself
• Give Yourself A Break
• If You Want to Be More Productive, Cut Yourself Some Slack

Related Happiness Break mediations:

• What to do When you're Struggling, With Spring Washam

When the world around you changes, so can your goals. This week's guest tries a practice to tap into a new sense of purpose.

Link to Episode Transcript: https://tinyurl.com/2yxntxs9

We all have a playful side, and research shows acting on it can help us when we need to move through challenging emotions, manage conflict, and be more creative.

Link to episode transcript: http://tinyurl.com/4bxtn9ek

How to Do This Practice:

1. Find a comfortable position to begin the practice. Focus on breathing deeply.

2. Think back to a moment of play during your childhood. Recall specific details like your age, what you were doing and who you were with. As you remember, notice how the memory is affecting you in the present moment.

3. Next, focus on a recent memory of play – maybe with your partner, friends, or family. Fully recall the moment, again bringing to mind specific details. Notice how this memory makes you feel.

4. Take note of how reflecting on play has affected your breathing. Did it affect the tight areas in your body? How about the relaxed and open ones?

5. As you refocus your attention on your breath, make a commitment to add play into your busy schedule going forward.

Today’s Happiness Break host:

Dacher Keltner is the host of the Greater Good Science Center’s award-winning podcast, The Science of Happiness and is a co-instructor of the GGSC’s popular online course of the same name. He’s also the founding director of the Greater Good Science Center and a professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley.

Check out Dacher’s most recent book, *Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life: *<https://tinyurl.com/4j4hcvyt\](https://tinyurl.com/4j4hcvyt)

More resources from The Greater Good Science Center:

What Happens When We Play (The Science of Happiness Podcast): http://tinyurl.com/mrfm5pj5

Can We Play? http://tinyurl.com/prhv22rf

What Playfulness Can Do for Your Relationship: http://tinyurl.com/n9b3h7e4

For Black Children, Play Can Be Transformative: http://tinyurl.com/mwnfcu26

What memories of play came to your mind? Email us at happinesspod@berkeley.edu or use the hashtag #happinesspod.

Find us on Spotify: http://tinyurl.com/ycydhyxz

Help us share Happiness Break! Rate us and copy and share this link: http://tinyurl.com/ycydhyxz

We're living through a mental health crisis. Between the stress, anxiety, depression, loneliness, burnout — we all could use a break to feel better. That's where Happiness Break comes in. In each biweekly podcast episode, instructors guide you through research-backed practices and meditations that you can do in real-time. These relaxing and uplifting practices have been shown in a lab to help you cultivate calm, compassion, connection, mindfulness, and more — what the latest science says will directly support your well-being. All in less than ten minutes. A little break in your day.

We guide you through a reflection of three things you're grateful for today. This practice is shown to boost happiness, connection, and motivation while reducing stress. Happiness Break is a new series by The Science of Happiness.

Link to episode transcript: https://tinyurl.com/3vatpfru

How to Do this Three Good Things practice:

1. Take a few deep breaths, and notice how you feel.

2. Think back on your day. Start from when you woke up, and mentally trace your steps forward in time.

3. What was the most beautiful, amazing, or interesting thing you saw all day? How did it make you feel? Take a moment to feel grateful for it. Think what had to happen so you could see that thing today, and let yourself appreciate those things.

4. Keep reflecting on your day. What’s the best sound you heard all day? How did it make you feel? Take a moment to feel grateful for that, and think about how you came to hear that thing today.

5. Look back over your day again: What’s the best thing that happened all day? It could be anything. Sit with your gratitude for that thing. What caused that thing to happen? Take a moment to appreciate all the factors that led to this good thing happening today.

6. Notice how you feel now.

Find the full Three Goods Things practice at our Greater Good in Action website: https://ggia.berkeley.edu/practice/three-good-things

More resources from The Greater Good Science Center:

Take our Gratitude Quiz: https://tinyurl.com/yc3dc53c

Why Gratitude is Good: https://tinyurl.com/fr4r2xyw

Tips for Keeping a Gratitude Journal: https://tinyurl.com/6khs9k28

Can Gratitude Help You Live More Sustainably? https://tinyurl.com/bdfws2e5

Four Great Gratitude Strategies: https://tinyurl.com/2s4h6z3f

How Gratitude Helps Your Friendships Grow: https://tinyurl.com/yc55bvw8

Cultivate more gratitude for the people you love with the Mental Subtraction of Relationships practice https://tinyurl.com/mthra2jd

How Gratitude Can Help You Through Hard Times: https://tinyurl.com/m9jz5atd

Today’s host:

Dacher Keltner is the host of The Science of Happiness podcast and a co-instructor of UC Berkeley’s course by the same name. He’s also the founding director of The Greater Good Science Center and a professor of psychology at UC Berkeley.

Tell us about your experiences trying this version of the Three Good Things practice by emailing us at happinesspod@berkeley.edu or using the hashtag #happinesspod.

Help us share Happiness Break!

Leave us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts and copy and share this link: pod.link/1340505607

Find us on Amazon Music!

When we treat ourselves with kindness and gratitude, research shows we feel more motivated and less self-critical. Meditation teacher Jack Kornfield leads in a practice where we gently turn inward.

Link to episode transcript: http://tinyurl.com/yfbz28h2

How to Do This Practice:

1. Find a comfortable position to begin the practice. Focus on taking deep breaths, relaxing your body.

2. As you recognize the different sensations in your body, consciously envelope yourself in kindness. Thank your body for providing and caring for you.

3. Redirect your loving kindness towards your heart and the varied emotions it carries.Thank your heart for all it does for you. Then, focus your kindness towards your mind and all the thoughts and worries it holds. Thank it for all that it does.

4. Next, turn towards your consciousness as a whole – your emotions, body, thoughts. Rest in a state of comfortable, loving-kindness.

5. When you’re ready, gently open your eyes and reconnect with the world around you.

Today’s Happiness Break host:

Jack Kornfield is a meditation teacher and author who is one of the leading voices to share Buddhist teachings with a Western audiences.

Learn more about Jack’s work: http://tinyurl.com/2wfth7v2

Follow Jack on Instagram: http://tinyurl.com/3zs2bjvx

Follow Jack on Twitter: http://tinyurl.com/bd5r9k4a

Follow Jack on Facebook: http://tinyurl.com/mryr839y

More resources from The Greater Good Science Center:

Take Our Self-Compassion Quiz: https://tinyurl.com/yysrf663

How to Bring Self-Compassion to Work with You: https://tinyurl.com/45zkrkam

The Five Myths of Self-Compassion: https://tinyurl.com/2p88vass

How Gratitude Changes You and Your Brain: http://tinyurl.com/2f78cywf

Is Gratitude Good for Your Health? http://tinyurl.com/yc86ve9d

We love hearing from you! Tell us about your experience of gratitude and self-compassion. Email us at happinesspod@berkeley.edu or use the hashtag #happinesspod.

Find us on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/6s39rzus

Help us share Happiness Break! Rate us and copy and share this link: https://tinyurl.com/6s39rzus

We’re living through a mental health crisis. Between the stress, anxiety, depression, loneliness, burnout — we all could use a break to feel better. That’s where Happiness Break comes in. In each biweekly podcast episode, instructors guide you through research-backed practices and meditations that you can do in real-time. These relaxing and uplifting practices have been shown in a lab to help you cultivate calm, compassion, connection, mindfulness, and more — what the latest science says will directly support your well-being. All in less than ten minutes. A little break in your day.

What if you could tap into your inherent resilience at any time? Prentis Hemphill guides a meditation to turn good memories into a state of resilience.

Link to episode transcript: https://tinyurl.com/yp25m3dp

How to Do This Resilience Practice:

Find a position that is comfortable for you, whether that is sitting, laying down or even standing. Don’t feel pressured to remain still for this practice. If you feel like you need to move or make sounds to stay present, feel free to.

1. Think of something that brings you a sense of resilience.

2. While in this memory, what are you doing with your body? What does your body feel like?

3. Try to intensify those feelings. Notice how that feels in your body and in the experience of that memory.

4. Take yourself back to how the memory was at the beginning of this practice, at a lower intensity. Notice how you’re able to make that change.

5. Thinking about the day ahead or the day that you’ve had, ask yourself how much space do you want the day to take up in this moment?

6. Once you’re ready, move from that comfortable position. See if you can take this experience with you throughout your day.

Today’s Happiness Break host:

Prentis Hemphill is the founder of the Embodiment Institute, and a writer and therapist who prioritizes the body in their approach to healing.

Learn More About the Embodiment Institute: https://www.theembodimentinstitute.org/about

Check out Prentis’ website: https://prentishemphill.com

Follow Prentis on Twitter: https://twitter.com/prentishemphill

Follow Prentis on Instagram: https://tinyurl.com/4d99f4xs

More resources from The Greater Good Science Center:

How to Hardwire Resilience into Your Brain: https://tinyurl.com/26mff6hf

Four Ways Social Support Makes You More Resilient: https://tinyurl.com/34ntce8u

Evidence Mounts that Mindfulness Breeds Resilience: https://tinyurl.com/2u6k6mkh

Mindfulness and Resilience to Stress at Work: https://tinyurl.com/yrujmwxs

Three Ways to Boost Your Resiliency as a Parent: https://tinyurl.com/w6f3w3ak

How Tuning into Your Body can Make You More Resilient: https://tinyurl.com/yv5yzper

We love hearing from you! Tell us about your experience of this resilience meditation. Email us at happinesspod@berkeley.edu or use the hashtag #happinesspod.

Find us on Apple Podcasts: https://tinyurl.com/2p9h5aap

Help us share Happiness Break! Leave us a 5-star review and copy and share this link: https://tinyurl.com/2p9h5aap

We're living through a mental health crisis. Between the stress, anxiety, depression, loneliness, burnout — we all could use a break to feel better. That's where Happiness Break comes in. In each biweekly podcast episode, instructors guide you through research-backed practices and meditations that you can do in real-time. These relaxing and uplifting practices have been shown in a lab to help you cultivate calm, compassion, connection, mindfulness, and more — what the latest science says will directly support your well-being. All in less than ten minutes. A little break in your day.

What happens when we feel compassion for the things that scare us? Shabazz Larkin shares what it's like to face some of his deepest fears.

Link to Episode Transcript: https://tinyurl.com/yp7r8fwu

It’s important to take a moment to pause and take a long, slow exhale as we navigate life. In our podcast series, "Breathe Away Anxiety," we explore ancient breathing techniques alongside cutting-edge research that reveals the powerful effects of slow, controlled breathing on our mental and physical well-being. We also share Happiness Break meditations to guide you through these science-backed methods, helping you reduce anxiety and cultivate calm in your everyday life.

We explore cyclic sighing, a simple breathing technique that can help lift your mood and lower anxiety.

Summary: Cyclic sighing is a breathing exercise that involves inhaling through your nose, filling your lungs, and then slowly exhaling through your mouth. The idea is to inhale briefly but deeply, and then exhale for longer. Research suggests that the slow exhale is what's most relaxing. We hear from pro-surfer Sarah Gerhardt about and Stanford scientist David Spiegel. 

Transcript: https://tinyurl.com/3u7vsrr5

Time: 5 minutes

1. Prepare: Find a comfortable seated or standing position in a quiet environment. Relax your shoulders and jaw. 
2. First Inhale: Inhale slowly and deeply through your nose. Start with your abdomen, allowing it to expand (diaphragmatic breathing) as you fill your lungs about halfway. Hold this breath briefly. 
3. Second Inhale: Continue inhaling through your nose, now expanding your chest to completely fill your lungs. Hold this combined breath (abdomen and chest filled) for a moment. 
4. Exhale: Exhale slowly and completely through your mouth. Make sure the exhale is gentle and lasts about twice as long as the combined inhales. 
   Repeat the Cycle: Repeat the inhale sequence for a total of 3 cycles (or as desired): Start with a diaphragmatic inhale through your nose, expanding your abdomen. Follow with a chest expansion inhale through your nose to fill your lungs completely. Hold briefly after each combined inhale. Exhale slowly and completely through your mouth, ensuring it's twice as long as the inhales. 
5. Reflect and Relax: After completing the cycles, take a moment to observe how your body feels. Notice any sensations of relaxation, reduced tension, or a calmer state of mind.

Guest: Sarah Gerhardt is a pro-surfer chemistry professor based out of Santa Cruz, California

Guest: Dr. David Spiegel is Willson Professor and Associate Chair of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University School of Medicine. He is also the co-founder of the clinically backed self-hypnosis app Reveri.  

Read Dr. Spiegel’s cyclic sighing study here: https://tinyurl.com/mrxbkyr2

Related Science of Happiness episodes:
How To Tune Out The Noise: https://tinyurl.com/4hhekjuh 

Related Happiness Break episodes:
A Mindful Breath Meditation, With Dacher Keltner: https://tinyurl.com/mr9d22kr

High expectations can lead to disappointment, but expecting the worst doesn't feel great, either. This week we explore how to find the balance.

Link to episode transcript: https://tinyurl.com/27s3x7n7

Trees don't just compete with one another for resources, they also cooperate. Scientist and author Suzanne Simard explains the surprising science of trees.

Link to Episode Transcript: https://tinyurl.com/35rj8wzf

Psychologist Dacher Keltner guides you through a practice to help you see the good things in your life that you might otherwise overlook.

How to Do This Practice:

1. Sit or lay down somewhere comfortable. You may close your eyes if you wish, and take a slow, deep breath in to ground into the present moment. Then, scan your body from head to toe, noticing how you’re feeling in this moment. Let worries and plans clear from your mind.

2. Start by thinking about all the things that make your life comfortable: Clean water on tap, light at the flip of a switch, a roof over your head to protect you from the weather, warmth, and comfort when it gets windy, rainy, or cold.

3. Let your mind wander to all the millions of people who have worked hard to make your life more comfortable: Those who plant and harvest the food you eat, who bring it to markets, people who ensure the water we drink is clean, delivery drivers, teachers, all the people who create art and music and books and films and all the things that can bring us so much meaning, and so on.

4. Think about the acquaintances who bring richness to your life, like a colleague, neighbor, or someone you often see at the gym or a coffee shop.

5. Take a moment to think about what you’re really grateful for today, right now.

6. Notice how you’re feeling now, compared to when you started, and then start to bring movement back to your body, wiggling fingers and toes, maybe slowly standing up.

7. If you have the time, spend a few minutes journaling about what you thought about.

Today’s Happiness Break host:

Dacher Keltner is the host ofThe Science of Happiness podcast and is a co-instructor of the Greater Good Science Center’s popular online course of the same name. He’s also a professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley.

This practice was created by Dr. Kathy Kemper, who’s the director of the Center for Integrative Health and Wellness at the Ohio State University. Learn more about some of her work here: https://mind-bodyhealth.osu.edu/

More resources from The Greater Good Science Center:

Try GGSC’s online Gratitude Journal, Thnx4: https://tinyurl.com/2s4e4bx6

Take our Gratitude Quiz: https://tinyurl.com/yhbz6cwv

Four Great Gratitude Strategies: https://tinyurl.com/2muyff64

Is Gratitude Good for You?: https://tinyurl.com/ycknm2ru

Three Surprising Ways Gratitude Works at Work: https://tinyurl.com/yc2c8y4n

We love hearing from you! Tell us about your experience with practicing gratitude. Email us at happinesspod@berkeley.edu or use the hashtag #happinesspod.

Find us on Apple Podcasts: https://tinyurl.com/2p9h5aap

Help us share Happiness Break! Leave us a 5-star review and copy and share this link: https://tinyurl.com/2p9h5aap

Transcript: https://tinyurl.com/r6pkw2xx 

Why do we vote? We explore the science behind what drives us to the polls, and the benefits we reap for ourselves and communities when we cast our ballots.

Link to Episode Transcript: https://tinyurl.com/56rmwec7

This New Year, affirm the wonderful qualities you already possess with this meditative writing practice called "I Am."

Link to episode transcript: https://tinyurl.com/mswzp9jz

How to Do This Practice:

1. Take a moment to sit still and take a few deep breaths, and notice how you’re feeling right now.

2. Open your eyes, and on a sheet of paper, write “I am ____,” and then fill in that blank.

3. Set a timer for 1 minute, and repeat step 2 until the time is up.

4. Take a moment to observe what you’ve written. Where did you begin? Where did you end? What can you glean about how you’re showing up today, from what you’ve written? Look for patterns.

5. Take a few more mindful breaths. Consider how what you’ve just written might influence what you’ve just written and the rest of your day.

Today’s Happiness Break host:

Chris Murchison is an artist and meditation teacher.

Check out Chris’s website: https://chrismurchison.com/

Follow Chris on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chrismarcellmurchison/

Follow Chris on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chris.m.murchison

More resources from The Greater Good Science Center:

How to Be a Remarkable Boss During Lockdown (by Chris Murchison): https://tinyurl.com/yypps3aw

Can Self-Awareness Help You Be More Empathic? https://tinyurl.com/eefds36s

Do You Have a True Self? https://tinyurl.com/3xasurwp

Ten Habits of Highly Creative People https://tinyurl.com/yt83udz6

Make Self-Compassion One of Your New Year’s Resolutions https://tinyurl.com/ymn6m5pp

The Dark Side of Self-Help: https://tinyurl.com/4jajdfum

We love hearing from you! Tell us about your experiences with self-insight or self-affirmations. Email us at happinesspod@berkeley.edu or use the hashtag #happinesspod.

Find us on Apple Podcasts: https://tinyurl.com/2p9h5aap

Help us share Happiness Break! Leave us a 5-star review and copy and share this link: https://tinyurl.com/2p9h5aap

We're living through a mental health crisis. Between the stress, anxiety, depression, loneliness, burnout — we all could use a break to feel better. That's where Happiness Break comes in. In each biweekly podcast episode, instructors guide you through research-backed practices and meditations that you can do in real-time. These relaxing and uplifting practices have been shown in a lab to help you cultivate calm, compassion, connection, mindfulness, and more — what the latest science says will directly support your well-being. All in less than ten minutes. A little break in your day.

Connect to yourself and the land you stand on in under 10 minutes with this grounding practice led by Indigenous scholar Dr. Yuria Celidwen.

Link to episode transcript: https://tinyurl.com/mwkzku66

How to Do This Practice:

1. If possible, go outside and find some natural ground, like grass or dirt. If you're wearing shoes or socks, take them off and place the soles of your feet directly on the ground.

2. Bring your attention to the earth beneath you. Allow it to hold you, paying attention to how it feels — soft, firm, reliable. Imagine you're starting to grow roots from the tip of your toes, digging deep into the earth.

3. Visualize energy and wellness flowing through your roots to your toes, into the soles of your feet, your thighs and knees, then base of the spine and upwards into your chest, expanding the whole center of your chest. Take a full, deep breath and contemplate the  openness you feel in your chest.

4. Look up towards the sky and open your eyes, allowing all of your senses to awaken to the sounds, smells, colors, and life around you. Feel their presence.

Today’s Happiness Break host:

Dr. Yuria Celidwen is an Indigenous studies, cultural psychology, and contemplative science scholar of Indigenous Nahua and Maya descent. She also works at the United Nations to advance the rights of Indigenous peoples and the Earth.

Learn more about Dr. Celidwen’s work: https://www.yuriacelidwen.com/

More resources from UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center:

• Listen to Dr. Yuria Celidwen on The Science of Happiness episode about listening to your elders: https://tinyurl.com/yr2ydk43

• Does Nature Make You More Mindful? https://tinyurl.com/4wcreu9z

• Why You Need More Nature in Your Life: ​​https://tinyurl.com/ye282e5d

• Being Around Nature Helps You Love Your Body: https://tinyurl.com/57d5ntxm

• How Modern Life Became Disconnected From Nature: https://tinyurl.com/yc6u73f9

• Listen to The Science of Happiness episode featuring podcast host Krista Tippett, on Being Grounded in Your Body: https://tinyurl.com/8t7rr4yy

Tell us how connecting to the earth beneath you made you feel by emailing us at happinesspod@berkeley.edu or using the hashtag #happinesspod.

Find us on Amazon Music: https://tinyurl.com/28hcdfsd

Help us share Happiness Break!

Leave us a 5-star review and copy and share this link: pod.link/1340505607

We're living through a mental health crisis. Between the stress, anxiety, depression, loneliness, burnout — we all could use a break to feel better. That's where Happiness Break comes in. In each biweekly podcast episode, instructors guide you through research-backed practices and meditations that you can do in real-time. These relaxing and uplifting practices have been shown in a lab to help you cultivate calm, compassion, connection, mindfulness, and more — what the latest science says will directly support your well-being. All in less than ten minutes. A little break in your day.

Indigenous artist Lyla June leads a 5-minute freewriting exercise about our personal journeys. Autobiographical writing has been shown to help do better in relationships and feel more satisfied in life.

Link to episode transcript: https://tinyurl.com/3622n5s6

How to Do This Practice:

You will need writing utensils for this practice.

1. Find a comfortable place to start this writing practice, taking a few moments to ground yourself.

2. Write the prompt, “I come from a place where…” 

3. For the next 5 minutes (or more), write whatever comes to mind, allowing your thoughts and ideas to flow freely, without judgment or filters. Trying keeping your pen to the paper the whole time. 

4. Take some time afterward to read and reflect on what you wrote. 

5. Consider repeating this exercise every few weeks or months to reflect on your past and prospective future. 

Today’s Happiness Break host:

Lyla June is an Indigenous artist and scholar from the Diné Nation.

Learn about Lyla June’s work: [https://www.lylajune.com/>\
Watch Lyla June’s videos: [https://tinyurl.com/bdhbwyru>\
Follow Lyla June on Twitter: [https://tinyurl.com/4pj565d6>\
Follow Lyla June on Instagram: https://tinyurl.com/4pj565d6

More resources from The Greater Good Science Center:

The Power of Expressing Your Deepest Emotions (The Science of Happiness Podcast): [https://tinyurl.com/2uzh3r67>\
How to Journal Through Your Struggles: [https://tinyurl.com/yua6wkwd>\
How Journaling Can Help You in Hard Times: [https://tinyurl.com/3zv3hunw>\
How Creative Writing Can Increase Students’ Resilience: https://tinyurl.com/4xw8xuff

How was your experience with this freewriting exercise? Email us at happinesspod@berkeley.edu or use the hashtag #happinesspod.

Find us on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/ycukc4za

Help us share Happiness Break! Leave us a 5-star review and copy and share this link: https://tinyurl.com/2p9h5aap

We're living through a mental health crisis. Between the stress, anxiety, depression, loneliness, burnout — we all could use a break to feel better. That's where Happiness Break comes in. In each biweekly podcast episode, instructors guide you through research-backed practices and meditations that you can do in real-time. These relaxing and uplifting practices have been shown in a lab to help you cultivate calm, compassion, connection, mindfulness, and more — what the latest science says will directly support your well-being. All in less than ten minutes. A little break in your day.

Scroll down for a transcription of this episode.

Can a simple set of 36 questions build love and intimacy? We explore the science behind how the questions we ask and the way we listen shape our closest relationships.

Episode summary:  In this episode of The Science of Happiness, we break down the science behind a practice designed to deepen connection—whether in romantic relationships or friendships. We’re joined by Amber and Ben Wallin, the hilarious and heartfelt couple who’ve shared their marriage and parenting journey with millions on TikTok. They put these 36 questions to the test. Later, we’ll dive into the power of listening and how it shapes our relationships with Yale psychologist Jieni Zhou.

This is part of our series The Science of Love, supported by The John Templeton Foundation.

Sign up for The Science of Happiness podcast's 7-Day Love Challenge to receive these science-backed practices delivered directly to your inbox: tinyurl.com/7daylovechallenge

Today’s Guests:

AMBER WALLIN is an LA-based comedian, host, and storyteller with over a million followers on TikTok and Instagram. She creates family, relationship and comedy content with her husband Ben Wallin.
Follow Amber on Instagram: @burr_iam

Follow Amber on TikTok: @burr_iam

BEN WALLIN is a writer, content creator and social media personality who creates family, relationship and comedy content with his wife Amber Wallin. 

Follow Ben on Instagram: @beynfluencer

Follow Ben on TikTok: @benjaminwallin5

JIENI ZHOU is a Post-doctoral associate at Yale University and an expert in how positive experiences in romantic relationships impact our well-being.
Learn more about Jieni here: https://tinyurl.com/mr3nkf2s

Related The Science of Happiness episodes:  

How 7 Days Can Transform Your Relationship: https://tinyurl.com/bdh2ezhr
Why We Need Friends With Shared Interests: https://tinyurl.com/bp8msacj
Who’s Always There For You: https://tinyurl.com/yt3ejj6w

Related Happiness Breaks:
Meditation on Original Love: https://tinyurl.com/ye6baxv3
Loving Kindness Meditation: https://tinyurl.com/2kr4fjz5
Visualizing Your Best Self in Relationships: https://tinyurl.com/4797z2vf

Tell us about your experience with this practice. Email us at happinesspod@berkeley.edu or follow on Instagram @HappinessPod.

Help us share The Science of Happiness! Leave us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts and share this link with someone who might like the show: https://tinyurl.com/2p9h5aap

Transcription: https://tinyurl.com/ktcpz78u

Self-compassion reduces our feelings of shame and self-doubt. We explore a practice to help quiet our inner critic with kindness.

Link to episode transcript: https://tinyurl.com/ytek6jxk

Episode summary:

What does your inner critic sound like? For René Brooks, it’s the adults who misunderstood her ADHD symptoms as a child, before she was diagnosed later in life. For our show, René tried a self-compassionate writing exercise that helped her re-examine how she treats herself in difficult situations. She highlights why self-compassion is so important for marginalized communities in particular, and how as a Black woman, she puts double the pressure on herself to achieve and has come to use shame and self-judgment to motivate herself. The practice helps her to disrupt that tendency by noticing the way she speaks to herself and learning to take a more compassionate tone, instead. Later, we hear from psychologist Serena Chen, who expands on how cultivating self-compassion can help us embrace our true selves, which can lead to greater life satisfaction, increased well-being and closer social relationships.

Practice:

1. Think of something that makes you feel guilty, ashamed or insecure.

2. Notice how you feel and write down your emotions.

3. Imagine someone who loves you unconditionally and write a letter to yourself from their perspective, using the tone they would use with you, and expressing acceptance and understanding. Acknowledge that no one is perfect and there are likely many people struggling with the very same thing you are.

4. In a compassionate way, ask yourself whether there are things that you could do to improve or better cope with this negative aspect. Focus on how constructive changes could make you feel happier, healthier, or more fulfilled, and avoid judging yourself.

5. Try to complete the practice on a weekly or monthly basis.

Learn more about this practice at Greater Good In Action:

https://ggia.berkeley.edu/practice/self_compassionate_letter

Today’s guests:

René Brooks is the creator of the blog Black Girl, Lost Keys. She draws on her personal experiences to coach and assist adults with ADHD.

Visit René’s Blog: https://blackgirllostkeys.com/

Follow René on Twitter: https://tinyurl.com/2p9caj5v

Follow René on Instagram: https://tinyurl.com/3a96882u

Follow René on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/blackgirllostkeys/

Serena Chen is the Chair of the Psychology department at UC Berkeley. Her research is focused on self-compassion, wellbeing and social interaction.

Learn more about Serena and her work: https://tinyurl.com/mry3vx3v

Follow Serena on Google Scholar: https://tinyurl.com/3btm3jn8

Resources from The Greater Good Science Center:

The Five Myths of Self-Compassion: https://tinyurl.com/4tfp7d73

Why Self-Compassion Trumps Self-Esteem: https://tinyurl.com/5a6phdx3

Why Is Self-Compassion So Hard for Some People? https://tinyurl.com/2x4v3r72

The Three Components of Self-Compassion: https://tinyurl.com/mwa2zddp

Want to Change your Life? Try Self-Compassion: https://tinyurl.com/2y2ryc6m

More Resources on Self-Compassion

Happiness Break: How to Be Your Own Best Friend, with Kristin Neff:  https://tinyurl.com/3fj4yfrn

TED - Dare to rewire your brain for self-compassion: https://tinyurl.com/yc2ru73p

Harvard Health - The power of self-compassion: https://tinyurl.com/yc7usmx5

BBC - Why self-compassion – not self-esteem – leads to success: https://tinyurl.com/yj2zax8x

How have you tried practicing self-compassion? Email us at happinesspod@berkeley.edu or use the hashtag #happinesspod to tell us about it.

Help us share The Science of Happiness! Rate and follow us on Spotify, and share this episode with a friend: https://tinyurl.com/4uyr2w35

Setting goals can sometimes feel like setting ourselves up for failure. But journalist Monica Campbell finds there's something magical that happens with certain kinds of goals.

Link to Episode Transcript: https://tinyurl.com/d842bub2

We can be at our worst with the people we love best. Our guests try ways to be more calm and present with those closest to them.

Link to Episode Transcript: https://tinyurl.com/ycx4cxam

A meditation in meeting our most difficult emotions — like anger, disappointment, or fear — with mindfulness and gentle care.

Link to episode transcript: http://tinyurl.com/48jas955

How to Do This Practice:

When you come up against something challenging – you’re angry or frustrated or feeling any way about yourself, another person, or a situation, move through these steps. It might be helpful to sit somewhere you feel comfortable closing your eyes for a few moments, and begin by taking a few deep, intentional breaths, to help settle the mind.

1. Recognize what’s happening. For example, “I am getting caught up in anger right now.”

2. Allow the emotion you recognize to be there: Accept that you are feeling the way you’re feeling. You may go a step further and forgive yourself for it, for example by saying to yourself, “Anger forgiven.”

3. Investigate what’s underneath whatever you’re feeling by directing a gentle curiosity towards it. For example, where there is anger, there is something we care deeply about.

4. Nurture: Send yourself a message of kindness. You might put your hand on your heart, for example, and remind yourself that everyone experiences reactivity, and send yourself a message of kindness and understanding.

Today’s Happiness Break host:

Tara Brach is a psychologist and leading voice in contemporary meditative practices and the author of numerous popular books on contemplative practice.

Read Tara’s seminal book, Radical Acceptance: Embracing Your Life With the Heart of the Buddha: http://tinyurl.com/4csarvmf

Learn more about Tara’s work: https://www.tarabrach.com/

Find classes taught by Dr. Neff: https://www.tarabrach.com/online-courses/

Follow Tara on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tarabrach/

Follow Tara on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tarabrach

More resources from The Greater Good Science Center:

How to Go Through Life with Love in Your Heart, A Q&A with Tara Brach: http://tinyurl.com/2ne65wed

The Mindfulness Skill That Is Crucial for Stress: http://tinyurl.com/3xmnekw2

How Self-Compassion Beats Rumination: http://tinyurl.com/yc7phxsc

Want to Change Your Life? Try Self-Compassion: http://tinyurl.com/2y2ryc6m

Overcoming Objections to Self-Compassion: http://tinyurl.com/yc2wvusr

Self-Compassion Could Help You Be More Tolerant of Others: http://tinyurl.com/3kwrm88h

We love hearing from you! Tell us about your experience with the Light RAIN practice. Email us at happinesspod@berkeley.edu or use the hashtag #happinesspod.

Find us on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/6s39rzus

Help us share Happiness Break! Rate us and copy and share this link: https://tinyurl.com/6s39rzus

We're living through a mental health crisis. Between the stress, anxiety, depression, loneliness, burnout — we all could use a break to feel better. That's where Happiness Break comes in. In each biweekly podcast episode, instructors guide you through research-backed practices and meditations that you can do in real-time. These relaxing and uplifting practices have been shown in a lab to help you cultivate calm, compassion, connection, mindfulness, and more — what the latest science says will directly support your well-being. All in less than ten minutes. A little break in your day.

Can you extend compassion toward a difficult person in your life? Congressman Tim Ryan tries a practice to help him reach across the aisle.

Link to Episode Transcript: https://tinyurl.com/yp2tec4c

For our 100th episode, host Dacher Keltner sits in the guest chair and tries one of the most popular happiness practices.

Link to Episode Transcript: https://tinyurl.com/mv46juba

Comedian Paula Poundstone tries to take on a messy and daunting task, one small step at a time.

Link to Episode Transcript: https://tinyurl.com/mv2hstcp

Want to calm your inner critic? Our guest tries a practice to find more self-compassion during uncertain times.

Link to Episode Transcript: https://tinyurl.com/yc63cckh

A NYT restaurant critic puts down her pen and grabs her camera to capture the beauty of the outdoors.

Link to Episode Transcript: https://tinyurl.com/yc66tdhb

Feeling hard on yourself? Pinterest co-founder Evan Sharp learns to quiet his inner critic and tap into his highest potential.

Link to Episode Transcript: https://tinyurl.com/4pbt5efs

Sight, smell, touch, sound, and taste: all of our five senses provide unique pathways to presence and happiness. We spend a few minutes being mindful of each one.

Link to episode transcript: https://tinyurl.com/be39r98y

How to Do This Practice:

Find a comfortable place where you feel safe. Close your eyes or soften your gaze. Take a few deep breths, noticing the sensation of the air as it moves through your nose, into your lungs, and back out again.

1. Sound: For a few breaths, pay attention to the sounds around you. Notice where they are in space.

2. Touch: Put one hand on top of the other. Notice the sensations you feel in your hand as your fingers’ knuckles touch the other, like temperature and texture.. Shift your attention to your cheeks, noticing temperature and the feel of the air.

3. Taste: Now, pay attention to the taste you are experiencing on your tongue. There may be no taste or the taste of saliva.

4. Smell: Move your focus to the smell around you as you take a breath. See how many odors you can identify.

5. **Sight: Finally, focus your gaze on a point eight inches in front of you for a few seconds and see what colors, forms, light, and shadow you notice there.

6. Take a few more deep breaths here and notice if any of your senses feel heightened.

More resources from The Greater Good Science Center:

• Listen to our Happiness Break on body scan meditation: https://tinyurl.com/bd6x8ba5

• How to Focus Under Pressure (podcast) https://tinyurl.com/mxpd6mtd

• Coming to Our Senses: https://tinyurl.com/3d4jkprr

• Hands-On Research: The Science of Touch: https://tinyurl.com/y79vpbre

• 10 Steps to Savoring the Good Things in Life: https://tinyurl.com/2zwb5y8v

We love hearing from you! Tell us about your experience with the five senses meditation. Email us at happinesspod@berkeley.edu or use the hashtag #happinesspod.

Find us on Apple Podcast: https://tinyurl.com/2p9h5aap

Help us share Happiness Break!

Leave us a 5-star review and copy and share this link: https://tinyurl.com/2p9h5aap

We're living through a mental health crisis. Between the stress, anxiety, depression, loneliness, burnout — we all could use a break to feel better. That's where Happiness Break comes in. In each biweekly podcast episode, instructors guide you through research-backed practices and meditations that you can do in real-time. These relaxing and uplifting practices have been shown in a lab to help you cultivate calm, compassion, connection, mindfulness, and more — what the latest science says will directly support your well-being. All in less than ten minutes. A little break in your day.

Experiencing awe can help us slow down and connect to the world around us. So how can we harness the power of this feeling? Host Dacher Keltner leads us in a colorful meditation to bring about awe. 

Link to episode transcript: https://tinyurl.com/3e9cyky5

Practice:

1. Please find a space, either inside or outside, where you can take a moment and pause and look slowly at a scene in front of you. 
2. Settle into a pattern of deep breathing and ease. Really focusing on how that pattern of inhalation and exhalation relaxes your body and slows your heart rate down.
3. Now cast your gaze over the space around you. Take in what you see in the scene in front of you.
4. You may shift your attention to colors present in the things around you or step back and get a sense of the scene in a more holistic way.
5. Notice the variations and differences in the various colors in your visual field. 
6. What feelings do the colors evoke in you? 
7. Now, gently close and then open your eyes and notice how you feel. 

Today’s guests:
Dacher Keltner is the host of the Greater Good Science Center’s award-winning podcast, The Science of Happiness and is a co-instructor of the GGSC’s popular online course of the same name. He’s also the founding director of the Greater Good Science Center and a professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley.

More episodes like this one:

How Awe Brings Us Together

https://tinyurl.com/bdhy4sj5

How Music Evokes Awe

https://tinyurl.com/mpkww4j9

Happiness Break: Awe for Others, With Dacher

https://tinyurl.com/3ptwh66j

Feeling the Awe of Nature from Anywhere, with Dacher Keltner

https://tinyurl.com/4r7rjaxf

We love hearing from you! Tell us what brings you feelings of awe. Email us at happinesspod@berkeley.edu or use the hashtag #happinesspod.

Find us on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/6s39rzus

Help us share Happiness Break!
Leave us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts and share this link with someone who might like the show: https://tinyurl.com/2p9h5aap

Rate us on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/6s39rzus

We explore how embracing awe can uplift caregivers, providing tools to nurture themselves while nurturing others.

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Summary: This week on The Science of Happiness, we explore how moments of awe can transform caregiving. By incorporating awe through music, nature, and shared experiences, Noam Osband and Devora Keller found ways to refresh themselves and foster connection within their two young children. Their stories illuminate the impact of awe on parenting and caretaking, and the importance of intentionally cultivating wonder to enhance caregiving and strengthen bonds.

This episode was supported by the Van Leer Foundation, an independent Dutch organisation working globally to foster inclusive societies where all children and communities can flourish. 

To discover more insights from Van Leer Foundation and others on this topic, visit Early Childhood Matters, the leading platform for advancing topics on early childhood development and connecting diverse voices and ideas across disciplines that support the wellbeing of babies, toddlers and caregivers around the globe.

Related The Science of Happiness episodes: 
The Science of Awe (3 episode series): https://tinyurl.com/3jz8rnev
Are You Following Your Inner Compass: https://tinyurl.com/y2bh8vvj
The Healing Effects of Experiencing Wildlife: https://tinyurl.com/bde5av4z
The Value of Variety and Novelty: https://tinyurl.com/3rm58m3e

Related Happiness Breaks:
A Walking Meditation: https://tinyurl.com/mwbsen7a
A Meditation on Becoming a Gift to Life: https://tinyurl.com/3et7rz4p

Today’s Guests: 

NOAM OSBAND is a radio producer and anthropologist whose work explores themes of culture, identity, and human connection.
DEVORA KELLER is a physician with a decade of experience building and leading transitional care programs in the safety net. She is board certified in internal medicine and addiction medicine.

Tell us about your experiences and struggles with compassionate listening. Email us at happinesspod@berkeley.edu or follow on Instagram @ScienceOfHappinessPod.

Help us share The Science of Happiness! Leave us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts and share this link with someone who might like the show: https://tinyurl.com/2p9h5aap

Transcript: https://tinyurl.com/2466rnm4

There are millions of YouTube videos with people crinkling bubble wrap or whispering about folding laundry. Our guest talks about why autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR) makes her, and many others, feel more calm and happy.

Link to episode transcript: https://tinyurl.com/ye4p3tkw

Episode summary:

Melinda still remembers the tingling feeling she felt when she first listened to the close-up sound of someone drawing on a TV show at the age of ten. She learned later that the subtle sounds that create soothing sensations for her are called autonomous sensory meridian response, or ASMR. Now, she creates ASMR experiences on her YouTube channel and through her live production company, Whisperlodge — from delicately handling a plastic package to gently stroking a microphone with a makeup brush. In today's show, Melinda demystifies the world of ASMR and how it brings both calm and delight to her and her participants. Later, we hear about the emerging science behind ASMR from Dr. Giulia Poerio, who studies it in her lab at the University of Essex. As it turns out, those tingles might actually benefit our mental health.

Today’s Science of Happiness Guests:

Melinda Lauw, is the co-creator of Whisperlodge, an immersive ASMR theater experience.

Check out some ASMR videos from Whisperlodge's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/Whisperlodge

Learn more about Whisperlodge: https://whisperlodge.nyc/

Follow Melinda on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/melinda.lauw/

Follow Melinda on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/melindalauw

Giulia Poerio is a psychology professor at the University of Essex who studies the effects of ASMR on the mind and body.

Learn more about her work: https://www.essex.ac.uk/people/poeri14804/giulia-poerio

Resources from The Greater Good Science Center:

• Listen to our Happiness Break on silence: https://tinyurl.com/2hny7pcd

• Just One Thing: Pay Attention!: https://tinyurl.com/cm2xb86j

• What Music Looks Like in the Brain: https://tinyurl.com/2k9t3sjz

• Does Your Voice Reveal More Emotion Than Your Face?: https://tinyurl.com/ympr4brk

More Resources for ASMR:

• TED - The brain science (and benefits) of ASMR: https://tinyurl.com/y8a89xv3

• Vox - ASMR, explained: why millions of people are watching YouTube videos of someone whispering: https://tinyurl.com/4j4kn7dh

• New York Times - How A.S.M.R. Became a Sensation: https://tinyurl.com/2jke45k5

• NPR - Some People Get 'Brain Tingles' From These Slime Videos. What's Behind The Feeling?: https://tinyurl.com/2p8p4u7d

• National Geographic - ASMR or not? Unpicking the science behind a sensory phenomenon: https://tinyurl.com/yvnvuzk5

Tell us your thoughts about ASMR. Do you get tingly sensations?  Email us at happinesspod@berkeley.edu or use the hashtag #happinesspod.

Help us share The Science of Happiness!

Leave us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts or share this link with someone who might like the show: https://tinyurl.com/2p9h5aap

Do you have trouble slowing down enough to actually enjoy your life? Our Happiness Guinea Pig, comedian and radio host Luke Burbank, finds a way to break free from his over-scheduled lifestyle.

Try this week’s happiness practice: Raisin Meditation

Link to Episode Transcript: https://tinyurl.com/m2nceh36

When we feel cared for, our cortisol levels drop, we feel safe, and we handle stress better. Dacher leads a meditation to help us focus on the people who make us feel supported.

Link to episode transcript: https://tinyurl.com/bdezwwyd

How to Do This Practice:

1. Find a comfortable position to start the practice. Focus on taking deep breaths.

2. Shift your attention to your body, relaxing your jaw, shoulders and face.

3. Begin to think about a friend who has supported you, or a friend who you feel grateful for.

4. Reflect on how they have supported you and how that makes you feel. Notice how those feelings manifest within your body.

5. Try shifting your attention to family members and/or mentors who have supported you in various ways.

6. Complete the practice by acknowledging the ways these individuals have contributed to your life.

Today’s Happiness Break host:

Dacher Keltner is the host of the award-winning podcast, The Science of Happiness and is a co-instructor of the GGSC’s popular online course of the same name. He’s also the founding director of the Greater Good Science Center and a professor of psychology at the UC, Berkeley.

Check out Dacher’s most recent book, Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life: https://tinyurl.com/4j4hcvyt

More resources from The Greater Good Science Center:

Just One Thing: Feel the Support: https://tinyurl.com/yrfnmwfv

Four Ways Social Support Makes You More Resilient: https://tinyurl.com/2p9zkjpj

Why Your Friends Are More Important Than You Think: https://tinyurl.com/mw2mr5p7

How Friends Help You Regulate Your Emotions: https://tinyurl.com/bdetmjt3

We love hearing from you! How do you feel supported by the people in your life? Email us at happinesspod@berkeley.edu or use the hashtag #happinesspod.

Find us on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/2p8kj22u

Help us share Happiness Break! Leave us a 5-star review and copy and share this link: https://tinyurl.com/2p8kj22u

We're living through a mental health crisis. Between the stress, anxiety, depression, loneliness, burnout — we all could use a break to feel better. That's where Happiness Break comes in. In each biweekly podcast episode, instructors guide you through research-backed practices and meditations that you can do in real-time. These relaxing and uplifting practices have been shown in a lab to help you cultivate calm, compassion, connection, mindfulness, and more — what the latest science says will directly support your well-being. All in less than ten minutes. A little break in your day.

Not sure how to start practicing gratitude? Psychologist Dacher Keltner guides you through a practice that can help you see the good things in your life that you might otherwise overlook.

Link to episode transcript: https://tinyurl.com/yc7bvkpr

How to Do This Practice:

1. Sit or lay down somewhere comfortable. You may close your eyes if you wish, and take a slow, deep breath in to ground into the present moment. Then, scan your body from head to toe, noticing how you’re feeling in this moment. Let worries and plans clear from your mind.

2. Start by thinking about all the things that make your life comfortable: Clean water on tap, light at the flip of a switch, a roof over your head to protect you from the weather, warmth, and comfort when it gets windy, rainy, or cold.

3. Let your mind wander to all the millions of people who have worked hard to make your life more comfortable: Those who plant and harvest the food you eat, who bring it to markets, people who ensure the water we drink is clean, delivery drivers, teachers, all the people who create art and music and books and films and all the things that can bring us so much meaning, and so on.

4. Think about the acquaintances who bring richness to your life, like a colleague, neighbor, or someone you often see at the gym or a coffee shop.

5. Take a moment to think about what you’re really grateful for today, right now.

6. Notice how you’re feeling now, compared to when you started, and then start to bring movement back to your body, wiggling fingers and toes, maybe slowly standing up.

7. If you have the time, spend a few minutes journaling about what you thought about.

Today’s Happiness Break host:

Dacher Keltner is the host of The Science of Happiness podcast and is a co-instructor of the Greater Good Science Center’s popular online course of the same name. He's also a professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley.

This practice was created by Dr. Kathy Kemper, who's the director of the Center for Integrative Health and Wellness at the Ohio State University. Learn more about some of her work here: https://mind-bodyhealth.osu.edu/

More resources from The Greater Good Science Center:

Try GGSC’s online Gratitude Journal, Thnx4: https://tinyurl.com/2s4e4bx6

Take our Gratitude Quiz: https://tinyurl.com/yhbz6cwv

Four Great Gratitude Strategies: https://tinyurl.com/2muyff64

Is Gratitude Good for You?: https://tinyurl.com/ycknm2ru

Three Surprising Ways Gratitude Works at Work: https://tinyurl.com/yc2c8y4n

How Gratitude Motivates Us to Become Better People: https://tinyurl.com/5n6ejpdy

We love hearing from you! Tell us about your experience with practicing gratitude. Email us at happinesspod@berkeley.edu or use the hashtag #happinesspod.

Find us on Apple Podcasts: https://tinyurl.com/2p9h5aap

Help us share Happiness Break! Leave us a 5-star review and copy and share this link: https://tinyurl.com/2p9h5aap

We're living through a mental health crisis. Between the stress, anxiety, depression, loneliness, burnout — we all could use a break to feel better. That's where Happiness Break comes in. In each biweekly podcast episode, instructors guide you through research-backed practices and meditations that you can do in real-time. These relaxing and uplifting practices have been shown in a lab to help you cultivate calm, compassion, connection, mindfulness, and more — what the latest science says will directly support your well-being. All in less than ten minutes. A little break in your day.

When we feel more connected, we're kinder and care more for others. After 21 years of being incarcerated, our guest Simon Liu, of Bay Area Freedom House Collective, tries a practice that helps him remember the profound connections he's made both inside and out of prison // throughout his life.

Link to episode transcript: https://tinyurl.com/585nkppu

Episode summary:

When’s the last time you felt a deep connection with someone, and then really reflected on your connections? This week on The Science of Happiness, our guest tries a writing practice to feel more connected to those close to him. Simon Liu is the co-founder of the Bay Area Freedom Collective, a home where other formerly incarcerated people can find community and connections. Simon talks about the importance of the social connections he made while in prison, and outside. Psychologist David Cwir explains how finding and building connections not only supports our emotional well-being, but can also change our bodies.

Practice:
Feeling Connected

1. Think of a time when you felt a strong bond with someone in your life. Choose a specific experience where you felt especially close and connected to them. Spend a few minutes writing about what happened during the experience. In particular, consider how the experience made you feel close and connected to the other person.

Today’s guests:
Simon Liu co-founded the Bay Area Freedom Collective, a home by and for formerly incarcerated people, which provides resources and support for their re-entry. Simon is also a software engineer.

To learn more about Bay Area Freedom House: https://www.collectivefreedom.org/

or: https://www.facebook.com/bayareafreedom/

To financially support the Bay Area Freedom Collective: https://tinyurl.com/2p93j8x8

David Cwir is an associate professor of psychology at Briercrest College and Seminary. His research has looked at how moments of social connection with strangers can positively affect our bodies and minds.

Learn more about this practice at Greater Good In Action:
https://ggia.berkeley.edu/practice/feeling_connected

We’d love for you to try out this practice and share how it went for you. Email us at happinesspod@berkeley.edu or use the hashtag #happinesspod.

Help us share The Science of Happiness!

Leave us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts or copy and share this link with someone who might like the show: pod.link/1340505607

Resources for Feeling Connected:

Harvard Health — Easy daily ways to feel more connected: https://tinyurl.com/5jxykfhb

NPR — 4 tips to stay connected when your friends live far away: https://tinyurl.com/2p82en68

The New York Times — Need to Dust Off Your Social Skills? (featuring Dacher): https://tinyurl.com/yckwkmku

How to Start Over (The Atlantic) — The Misgivings of Friend-Making: https://tinyurl.com/2ysn7zd2

Invisibilia — Therapy, With Friends:https://tinyurl.com/yvmkkbrs

More resources from The Greater Good Science Center:

Feeling Connected Makes Us Kind: https://tinyurl.com/f5xd27ue

Is Social Connection the Best Path to Happiness? https://tinyurl.com/2v9e9c9n

Why You Click With Certain People: https://tinyurl.com/2p8w38rw

Why Are We So Wired to Connect? https://tinyurl.com/bddukrxx

Listen to our episode, “Who Makes You Feel Connected?” https://tinyurl.com/4pmj775a

Listen to our episode, “What Are Your Strongest Reminders of Connection?” https://tinyurl.com/sbs6waha

Try this body-scan meditation to ground your mind in the present moment and in your body, guided by Spring Washam.

Link to episode transcript: https://tinyurl.com/3ahsvry6

How to do this practice:

1. Find a comfortable seat where you can relax your body.

2. Beginning with the top of your head, relax any sense of tension, one body part at a time.

3. Slowly scan down to your face, neck, upper arms, hands, feeling their presence.

4. You might want to place your hands on your belly to feel your breath and let go.

5. End by placing your hand on your heart and offer your body some kindness.

Today’s Happiness Break Host:

Spring Washam has been a devoted Buddhist practitioner in both the Theravada and Tibetan schools of Buddhism for more than 25 years. She is a founding teacher of The East Bay Meditation Center and has spent more than a decade studying Shamanic indigenous healing practices. She is also the author of the forthcoming book, The Spirit of Harriet Tubman: Awakening from the Underground.

Learn more about Spring and her book: https://www.springwasham.com/

Follow Spring on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/springwasham/

Check out Spring’s YouTube channel: https://tinyurl.com/22njyd29

More Resources from the Greater Good Science Center:

Six Minutes to Connect with Your Body:  https://tinyurl.com/2337f85e

How a Body Scan Can Help with Strong Emotions: https://tinyurl.com/58wfsvnd

Krista Tippett on Being Grounded in Your Body: https://tinyurl.com/59pkp324

Turning Into Your Body Can Make You More Resilient: https://tinyurl.com/5av68v62

Your Anxiety Might Be Coming From Your Body: https://tinyurl.com/dwb9vvue

What Self-Compassion Feels Like in Your Body: https://tinyurl.com/2p9rdepk

Seven Ways to Have a Healthier Relationship with Stress: https://tinyurl.com/m6mbv2np

We love hearing from you! Tell us about your experience of embodiment meditation. Email us at happinesspod@berkeley.edu or use the hashtag #happinesspod.

Find us on Apple Podcasts: https://tinyurl.com/2p9h5aap

Help us share Happiness Break! Leave us a 5-star review and copy and share this link: https://tinyurl.com/2p9h5aap

We’re living through a mental health crisis. Between the stress, anxiety, depression, loneliness, burnout — we all could use a break to feel better. That’s where Happiness Break comes in. In each biweekly podcast episode, instructors guide you through research-backed practices and meditations that you can do in real-time. These relaxing and uplifting practices have been shown in a lab to help you cultivate calm, compassion, connection, mindfulness, and more — what the latest science says will directly support your well-being. All in less than ten minutes. A little break in your day.

Take a few minutes to develop your sense of awe for the circle of life in this meditation with Dacher Keltner.

LINK TO EPISODE TRANSCRIPT: https://tinyurl.com/2tv3whj2

All sentient beings are impermanent, and out of our reflections on this we find appreciation. We find poignancy. A little sadness, but also out of that sadness and poignancy, a sense of deep appreciation for the people we love.

How to Do This Practice:

1. Find a comfortable place. Focus on taking a few deep breaths, relaxing your body from head to toe.

2. Think of an older relative who you are close to. Picture them in your mind.

3. Imagine how they entered the world years ago as a newborn.

4. Continue to imagine this individual growing up — through adolescence into adulthood, developing the qualities that you admire.

5. Now imagine them later in life, into seniority.

6. Reflect on the progression of the individual’s life, from the beginning to the final stages in this natural progression of the life cycle for humans.

7. Recognize that they'll pass or maybe they have passed, and that's part of this cycle

8. Take note of how you feel.

Today’s Happiness Break host:

Dacher Keltner is the host of the Greater Good Science Center’s award-winning podcast, The Science of Happiness and is a co-instructor of the GGSC’s popular online course of the same name. He’s also the founding director of the Greater Good Science Center and a professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley.

Check out Dacher’s most recent book, *Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life: *<https://tinyurl.com/4j4hcvyt\](https://tinyurl.com/4j4hcvyt)

More resources from The Greater Good Science Center:

What I Learned About Resilience in the Midst of Grief: https://tinyurl.com/2uw7uvxd

How to Face Grief in Yourself and Others: https://tinyurl.com/yckknp9r

Death and Gratitude: https://tinyurl.com/mwcn752j

How to Bring More Meaning to Dying: [https://tinyurl.com/vnbkwf52>\
Learning to Live in a World Without a Loved One: https://tinyurl.com/2v4avfvv

How do you find awe in impermanence? Email us at happinesspod@berkeley.edu or use the hashtag #happinesspod.

Find us on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/6s39rzus

Help us share Happiness Break! Rate us and copy and share this link: https://tinyurl.com/6s39rzus

We're living through a mental health crisis. Between the stress, anxiety, depression, loneliness, burnout — we all could use a break to feel better. That's where Happiness Break comes in. In each biweekly podcast episode, instructors guide you through research-backed practices and meditations that you can do in real-time. These relaxing and uplifting practices have been shown in a lab to help you cultivate calm, compassion, connection, mindfulness, and more — what the latest science says will directly support your well-being. All in less than ten minutes. A little break in your day.

Dr. David Spiegel guides you through cyclic sighing, a breathwork practice that helps reduce stress and anxiety. 

Summary: Dr. David Spiegel guides you through a simple yet powerful breathwork practice that can help reduce stress, anxiety, and boost overall well-being. Backed by Stanford research, this simple technique uses slow, controlled exhales to calm the nervous system and improve overall well-being.

Transcript: https://tinyurl.com/3dtwyk44

Time: 5 minutes

1. Prepare: Find a comfortable seated or standing position in a quiet environment. Relax your shoulders and jaw. 
2. First Inhale: Inhale slowly and deeply through your nose. Start with your abdomen, allowing it to expand (diaphragmatic breathing) as you fill your lungs about halfway. Hold this breath briefly. 
3. Second Inhale: Continue inhaling through your nose, now expanding your chest to completely fill your lungs. Hold this combined breath (abdomen and chest filled) for a moment. 
4. Exhale: Exhale slowly and completely through your mouth. Make sure the exhale is gentle and lasts about twice as long as the combined inhales. 
5. Repeat the Cycle: Repeat the inhale sequence for a total of 3 cycles (or as desired): Start with a diaphragmatic inhale through your nose, expanding your abdomen. Follow with a chest expansion inhale through your nose to fill your lungs completely. Hold briefly after each combined inhale. Exhale slowly and completely through your mouth, ensuring it's twice as long as the inhales. 
6. Reflect and Relax: After completing the cycles, take a moment to observe how your body feels. Notice any sensations of relaxation, reduced tension, or a calmer state of mind.

Guest: Dr. David Spiegel is Willson Professor and Associate Chair of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University School of Medicine. He is also the co-founder of the clinically backed self-hypnosis app Reveri.  

Read Dr. Spiegel’s cyclic sighing study here: https://tinyurl.com/mrxbkyr2

Related Science of Happiness episodes:
Breathe Away Anxiety (Cyclic Sighing): https://tinyurl.com/3u7vsrr5
How To Tune Out The Noise: https://tinyurl.com/4hhekjuh 

Related Happiness Break episodes:
A Mindful Breath Meditation, With Dacher Keltner: https://tinyurl.com/mr9d22kr

Follow us on Instagram: @scienceofhappinesspod

When was the last time you went down a slide? Our guest tries a practice to bring more play into his life and explores what that means as a Black man in the U.S.

Link to Episode Transcript: https://tinyurl.com/ysc3h82b

Comedian Maz Jobrani tries to pay more attention to the good things in his life by writing them down -- and encourages his kids to do the same.

Try this episodes happiness practice: Three Good Things

Link to Episode Transcript: https://tinyurl.com/9kzjcvf3

Join our limited newsletter The Science of Habits to get curated, science-backed tips to help make your New Year’s resolution stick in 2024.

https://ggsc.berkeley.edu/podcasts/habits

Link to episode transcript: https://tinyurl.com/255mcn3b

Episode summary:

This week, we’re focusing on doing good for others, and we’ve turned to someone who cheers people up for a living. Dana Merwin is a professional clown and performer based in San Francisco. For our show, she tried a practice where she performed three acts of kindness a day for the people in her life. She reflects on how simple, kind gestures can pave the way for deep and valuable connections, and that being kind to others ultimately makes us feel good as well. We also hear from psychologist David Cregg about how doing good things for others improves our sense of social connection, purpose in life, and can even help us live longer and healthier lives.

Practice:

1. Write down or think about three acts of kindness you could perform the next day.

2. Do three kind acts for people in your life.

3. At the end of the day, reflect on how these experiences make you feel.

Today’s guests:

Dana Merwin is a progressional clown and performer based in San Francisco.

Learn about Dana’s Work: https://tinyurl.com/bd6ew95a

Follow Dana on Instagram: https://tinyurl.com/dspstzrk

David Cregg is a clinical psychologist at South Texas Veterans Health Care System whose research specializes in positive psychology.

Follow David on Google Scholar: https://tinyurl.com/ajay6n6a

Resources from The Greater Good Science Center:

Do You Underestimate the Impact of Being Kind? https://tinyurl.com/583hwar9

Just One Thing: Be Kind to Yourself by Being Kind to Others: https://tinyurl.com/4dsf7bn2

Do We Have an Instinctive Urge to Be Kind? https://tinyurl.com/y5fabnj3

Can Helping Others Help You Find Meaning in Life? https://tinyurl.com/yc4zhw9w

Three Strategies for Bringing More Kindness into Your Life: https://tinyurl.com/22cx7w9f

More Resources on Doing Good Things For Others:

BBC - What we do and don't know about kindness: https://tinyurl.com/na6jvr9e

Harvard: Lending a helping hand: https://tinyurl.com/yckf4759

UCL: 10 benefits of helping others: https://tinyurl.com/4wn5syhh

Mayo Health Clinic: The art of kindness: https://tinyurl.com/5ah5dahc

What kind action have you done for others recently? Email us at happinesspod@berkeley.edu or use the hashtag #happinesspod.

Help us share The Science of Happiness!

Rate us on Spotify and share this link with someone who might like the show: https://tinyurl.com/873v67ah

Pilina is an indigenous Hawaiian word, or concept, that describes our deep interconnectedness. Harvard Clinical Psychology Fellow Jo Qina'au guides us through a contemplation of our profound interrelationships.

Link to Episode Transcript: https://shorturl.at/npAM9

How to Do This Practice:

Pilina comes from the indigenous Hawaiian language and culture. Pilina means connection, or interconnectedness.

1. Settle into a comfortable position and observe your breath.

2. Visualize someone to whom you feel meaningfully connected and acknowledge the feeling of Pilina, or deep interconnectedness, between you two.

3. Reflect on what it is that connects you, what impact that connection has had on your life, and what it may have had on theirs.

4. Notice how it feels to acknowledge these things.

5. Repeat steps 2-4 with as many people as you wish.

Today’s Happiness Break host:

Jo Qina’au is an indigenous Hawaiian meditation teacher and a Clinical Psychology Fellow at Harvard Medical School.

• Learn more about Jo’s work: https://tinyurl.com/2wfcma5f

• Follow Jo on Instagram: https://tinyurl.com/3v8ubn6a

If you enjoyed this Happiness Break, you may also like these Happiness Breaks:

• 5 Minutes of Progressive Muscle Relaxation, With Jo Qina’au - https://tinyurl.com/4f3fd97f

• Visualizing Your Best Self in Relationships, With Dacher Keltner - https://tinyurl.com/4dzpatx7

Check out these episodes of The Science of Happiness about connection:

• How to Feel Less Lonely and More Connected - https://tinyurl.com/36t6urte

• When It's Hard To Connect, Try Being Curious - https://tinyurl.com/3778r4h9

We love hearing from you! Tell us who you feel Pilina with, and what it means to you to reflect on it. Email us at happinesspod@berkeley.edu or use the hashtag #happinesspod.

Find us on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/6s39rzus

Help us share Happiness Break! Rate us and copy and share this link: https://tinyurl.com/6s39rzus

We all could use a break to feel better. That's where Happiness Break comes in. In each biweekly podcast episode, instructors guide you through research-backed practices and meditations that you can do in real time. These relaxing and uplifting practices have been shown to help you cultivate calm, compassion, connection, mindfulness, and more — what the latest science says will directly support your well-being. All in less than ten minutes. A little break in your day.

Happiness Break: Sketching Serenity with Chris Murchison

A guided drawing meditation to help you break out of stale thought patterns and maybe even enter a state of flow. No talent required.

Link to episode transcript: https://tinyurl.com/3fzm6ja5

How to Do This Practice:

1. Grab a piece of paper and something to draw with.

2. Find a comfortable place and start by taking some deep, mindful breaths

3. Take a few moments to take in your environment. What colors, shapes, and objects do you see?

4. Set a timer and for the next two minutes, draw something that caught your attention. Don’t worry about how it looks and try to stay in the moment.

5. Once time is up, spend a moment appreciating what you drew. Think about the impact of slowing down and doing something fun has had on your day.

Today’s Happiness Break host:

Chris Murchison is a meditation teacher, artist and speaker. He currently works as an independent advisor for organizations interested in improving their work cultures.

Check out Chris’s GGSC profile: https://tinyurl.com/32htut6n

Learn more about Chris’s art and other work: https://chrismurchison.com/about

Follow Chris on Instagram: https://tinyurl.com/4auxk3ur

Follow Chris on Twitter: https://twitter.com/murchisonchris?lang=en

Add Chris on LinkedIn: https://tinyurl.com/253x83ty

More resources from The Greater Good Science Center:

Doing Something Creative Can Boost Your Well-Being: https://tinyurl.com/4pcwxhsf

What is Creative Mortification and How Can You Overcome It: https://tinyurl.com/583kswfw

Does Art Heal? https://tinyurl.com/3ttybzpm

Everyday Art: https://tinyurl.com/mstemcsf

7 Ways to Foster Creativity: https://tinyurl.com/ycn5majv

How to Combat America’s Creativity Crisis: https://tinyurl.com/yckzm8se

We love hearing from you! Tell us about your experience of drawing this week. Email us at happinesspod@berkeley.edu or use the hashtag #happinesspod.

Find us on Apple Podcasts: https://tinyurl.com/2p9h5aap

Help us share Happiness Break! Leave us a 5-star review and copy and share this link: https://tinyurl.com/2p9h5aap

We're living through a mental health crisis. Between the stress, anxiety, depression, loneliness, burnout — we all could use a break to feel better. That's where Happiness Break comes in. In each biweekly podcast episode, instructors guide you through research-backed practices and meditations that you can do in real-time. These relaxing and uplifting practices have been shown in a lab to help you cultivate calm, compassion, connection, mindfulness, and more — what the latest science says will directly support your well-being. All in less than ten minutes. A little break in your day.

Think of an important person in your life. Now imagine you never met. Our guest practices counting his blessings by picturing his life without a special person from his past.

Link to Episode Transcript: https://tinyurl.com/5y9x2rz

How can we feel more connected to our loved ones, even when they're not around? Our guest tries a practice shown to make us feel less lonely and more socially connected.

Link to episode transcript: https://tinyurl.com/2h2h7ccn

Episode summary:

Mónica Guzmán describes herself as a raging extrovert, but she still feels less connected to others than she’d like to. Working from home, she often finds herself alone, or worse — feeling alone because she’s still in work mode when her family is around. She tried a Reminders of Connectedness practice by making subtle changes to the interior of her home – like decorating with more family photos and rearranging the living room  – and found that these seemingly small changes made a big difference in how she felt throughout her day.  We also hear from clinical psychologist Tegan Cruwys about the powerful influence our sense of connectedness can have on our mental health.

Practice: Reminders of Connectedness

1. Look around your home, office, or classroom and notice what things around you remind you of being connected to others – words, photographs, memorabilia.

2. As you move through your day, keep an eye out for things that evoke a feeling of connection. See where you can use them to add more reminders of connection to your space by adding them in or replacing existing objects.

3. Finally, consider how the furniture is arranged. Are chairs facing toward or away from each other? Find any changes you can make to common spaces so that they’re more conducive to spontaneous interactions.

Learn more about this practice at Greater Good In Action:

https://ggia.berkeley.edu/practice/reminders_of_connectedness

Today’s guests:

Mónica Guzmán is Senior Fellow for Public Practice at Braver Angels, a nonprofit working to depolarize America, founder and CEO of Reclaim Curiosity, an organization working to build a more curious world. She’s also the author of I Never Thought Of It That Way: How to Have Fearlessly Curious Conversations in Dangerously Divided Times.

You can check out the book here: https://boook.link/I-Never-Thought-of-It-That-Way

Visit Mónica’s website:https://www.moniguzman.com/

Follow Mónica on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/moniguzman/?hl=en

Follow Mónica on Twitter: https://tinyurl.com/3k4pn4c4

Follow Mónica on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/moniguzman

Tegan Cruwys is a professor and clinical psychologist at Australian National University.

Learn more about Tegan and her work: https://tinyurl.com/ykepk5r4

Resources from The Greater Good Science Center:

11 Things to Do When You Feel Lonely: https://tinyurl.com/b8m86fhy

What the Longest Happiness Study Reveals About Finding Fulfillment: https://tinyurl.com/2s3b59fn

What Psychedelics Can Teach Us About Human Connection: https://tinyurl.com/5buyydw7

Skills You Need for Happier Relationships with Family: https://tinyurl.com/weeusepn

More Resources

The Atlantic - What Makes Us Happy: https://tinyurl.com/2nxpbhsd

NYT - I Love You But I Don’t Want To Sleep With You: https://tinyurl.com/tjnxbdtt

Scientific American - Why We Are Wired To Connect: ​​https://tinyurl.com/59u4ffua

Tell us about your experiences of connectedness. Email us at happinesspod@berkeley.edu or use the hashtag #happinesspod.

Help us share The Science of Happiness!

Leave us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts or share this link with someone who might like the show: https://tinyurl.com/2p9h5aap

Just 20 minutes of improv theater can foster creativity and confidence, and help with anxiety, depression, and your ability to tolerate uncertainty.

Link to episode transcript: https://tinyurl.com/4t9rjj58

Episode summary:

Deema Altaher was never one for the spotlight. So when her husband signed them up for improv classes, she had no idea what to expect. And yet after one class, Deema was hooked. From active listening games to “yes, and” prompts, she found that improv exercises shifted the way she connected with other people, and eased her nerves as she navigated all the uncomfortable parts of starting a new job. She was also inspired to “say yes” to new life opportunities. In fact, an emerging science shows that improv can benefit many people in terms of fostering greater comfort with new situations, inspiring creativity, lifting your mood, and even easing anxiety and depression. Professor Peter Felsman is a social scientist and improviser himself who has tested this spontaneous style of theater in the lab. Felsman explains how improv might cause these improvements, and others, like lessening social anxiety in children.

Try Improv On Your Own:

11 Easy Improv Games for Beginners - https://tinyurl.com/24xrre2y

Today’s guests:

Deema Altaher is an engineer who recently moved back to the United States from the United Arab Emirates.

Peter Felsman is a professor of social work at Northern Michigan University who specializes in the intersection between mindfulness, psychology and the arts.

Learn more about Peter Felsman’s work: https://tinyurl.com/5h47wsxs

Resources from The Greater Good Science Center:

Seven Ways to Cope with Uncertainty: https://tinyurl.com/4zh3m36e

Embracing Discomfort Can Help You Grow: https://tinyurl.com/5ftvvce3

The Power of Performance: https://tinyurl.com/3mc78yzb

What Mel Brooks Can Teach Us about “Group Flow”: https://tinyurl.com/2rxmrzhn

More Resources on Improv

NPR - The rules of improv can make you funnier. They can also make you more confident: https://tinyurl.com/2wvpk53j

Harvard Gazette - For more than just laughs: https://tinyurl.com/2zzxacpu

TED - How Improv Comedy Improves Mental Health: https://tinyurl.com/5a8vpt67

What helps you destress and cope with big changes? Email us at happinesspod@berkeley.edu or use the hashtag #happinesspod.

Help us share The Science of Happiness!

Rate us on Spotify and share this link with someone who might like the show: https://tinyurl.com/wnfb99cy

Scroll down for a transcription of this episode

From daily check-ins to meaningful compliments and planned dates nights, we explore a 7-day love challenge to help couples strengthen their relationships. 

Developed by renowned psychologists Julie and John Gottman. Based on decades of research, this week-long practice offers simple, actionable steps to deepen connection and nurture relationships. From meaningful check-ins and heartfelt compliments to the importance of touch, we uncover how small, intentional actions can create lasting bonds. Whether you're looking to reignite romance or strengthen your partnership, the 7-day love challenge provides practical tools to bring more love and connection into your life.

Sign up for The Science of Happiness podcast's 7-Day Love Challenge to receive these science-backed practices delivered directly to your inbox at greatergood.berkeley.edu/7daylovechallenge

This is part of our series The Science of Love.

Day 1: Do a 10-minute check-in. This is great to do at the beginning or end of the day, but can be done any time that works for you.

Day 2: Ask a Big Question. Ask your partner one big question and see where it goes.

Day 3: Say Thank You! Take some time today to be a spy, looking out for all the positive stuff your partner does throughout the day.

Day 4: Give a Real Compliment. If you were to paint a verbal portrait of your partner's strengths, which 3 to 5 words would you use? This is a chance to express to your partner the core, essential things you love and appreciate about them.

Day 5: Ask For What You Need … By Describing Yourself. Ask what you need by talking about how you feel and what you need, not what they're lacking.

Day 6: The Magic of Mini-Touch Create as many moments of consensual physical connection as possible -- and it doesn't have to be about sex.

Day 7: Declare A Date Night! Invite your partner on a mini date. It doesn't have to be a fancy dinner, it can happen in the backyard, or on your porch.

More about the 7-day love challenge:

• Drs. John and Julie Gottman are psychologist and the co-founders of The Gottman Institute. They created this practiced based on decades of research studying over 3,000 couples.

Check out their book, The Love Prescription, Seven Days to More Intimacy, Connection, and Joy:  https://tinyurl.com/34nt5vv9

This episode is supported by The John Templeton Foundation.

Follow us on Instagram: @ScienceOfHappinessPod

We’d love to hear about your experience with this practice! Share your thoughts at happinesspod@berkeley.edu or use the hashtag #happinesspod.

Find us on Apple Podcasts: https://tinyurl.com/2p9h5aap

Help us share The Science of Happiness! Leave us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts and share this link with someone who might like the show: https://tinyurl.com/2p9h5aap

Transcription: https://tinyurl.com/bdh2ezhr

Should we try to find common ground with the villains in our lives? Comedian Zahra Noorbahksh tries to understand a "zombie" from her past.

Link to Episode Transcript: https://tinyurl.com/3be2aszs

Chris Sharma is one of the greatest rock climbers of all time, and he's taking on some of the biggest challenges in life: becoming a parent and starting his own business. Chris tries a practice shown to help us craft our own path and purpose in life.

Link to episode transcript: https://tinyurl.com/pdtkffuv

Episode summary:

Chris Sharma spent his youth traveling the globe and becoming one of the greatest rock climbers of all time. His passion for climbing has filled his life with purpose, but now in middle age, he wants to also focus on other sources of meaning in life that are just as important to him. Chris joins us after trying a practice in life crafting — where you get clear on your values, imagine what your ideal life would look like, and make a plan to get closer to that vision. Later in the show, we hear from Michael Steger, a psychologist and director of the Center for Meaning and Purpose at Colorado State University, about the surprising places in our lives we can find meaning, and the different roads we can take towards living a more meaningful life.

Try the Life Crafting Practice:

1. Identify your deepest values and passions — what’s most important to you.

2. Reflect on your ideal future: Write a paragraph envisioning how you’d like your social life or your career path to turn out if you had no constraints.

3. Write down how you’ll attain those goals. Prioritize them, and write “if, then” plans for how you’ll overcome obstacles you’re likely to encounter.

4. Make a public commitment. Tell your community about your goals.

Learn more about this practice at Greater Good In Action:

https://ggia.berkeley.edu/practice/life_crafting

Today’s guests:

Chris Sharma is an elite rock climber known for traveling the world to find the most beautiful and challenging places to rock climb.

His new show The Climb premieres on HBO on January 12. Check out the trailer here: https://tinyurl.com/suz35w8y

Follow Chris on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chris_sharma/

Check out his website: http://www.chrissharma.com/

Michael Steger is a professor of psychology at Colorado State University, where he is the director of the Center for Meaning and Purpose.

Learn more about Steger’s work: http://www.michaelfsteger.com/

Follow Steger on Twitter: https://tinyurl.com/yc79d6mb

Resources from The Greater Good Science Center:

Michael Steger: Why We Search for Meaning: https://tinyurl.com/2s469242

Here’s How to Find Meaning in Your Midlife Crisis: https://tinyurl.com/4kpcnr9c

What Our Photos Say About Us (Podcast): https://tinyurl.com/y56wvj42

Purpose in Life Quiz: https://tinyurl.com/yz4ztenp

Living with a Purpose Changes Everything: https://tinyurl.com/d3ea7afa

More On Meaning and Purpose:

The Atlantic - The Meaning of Life Is Surprisingly Simple: https://tinyurl.com/2yfucadj

Pew - Where Americans Find Meaning in Life: https://tinyurl.com/nek5j6tk

Scientific American - To Feel Meaningful Is To Feel Immortal: https://tinyurl.com/yuhe99m9

NPR - What's Your Purpose? https://tinyurl.com/465aknec

Harvard Business Review: What Is the Purpose of Your Purpose? https://tinyurl.com/43pjrc6j

Tell us about how you find meaning in your life. Email us at happinesspod@berkeley.edu or use the hashtag #happinesspod.

Help us share The Science of Happiness!

Leave us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts or share this link with someone who might like the show: https://tinyurl.com/2p9h5aap

Take ten minutes to renew your connection to the earth through this guided meditation on our interdependence with the ecosystem.

Link to episode transcript: https://tinyurl.com/mt473u79

How to Do This Practice:

1. Find a comfortable place to do this practice, relax into your body.

2. Wherever you are, start to acknowledge your surroundings, noticing the living and inanimate things around you.

3. Focus your attention on your breath, and how your breathing is interdependent on other life forms, and other life forms are dependent on your breath.

4. Contemplate the Earth’s compassion, and how it provides you with unconditional support.

5. Finish this practice by acknowledging your connection to the natural world.

Today’s Happiness Break host:

Dekila Chungyalpa is the founder and head of the Loka Initiative, which brings together faith leaders and culture keepers of indigenous traditions on environmental and climate issues.

Learn More About Dekila Chungyalpa’s work: https://centerhealthyminds.org/about/people/dekila-chungyalpa

Learn about the Loka Initiative: https://centerhealthyminds.org/programs/loka-initiative

Follow Dekila on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dchungyalpa/?hl=en

Follow Dekila on Twitter: https://twitter.com/dchungyalpa?lang=en

More resources from The Greater Good Science Center:

What Happens When We Reconnect With Nature: https://tinyurl.com/553xwm47

How Nature Helps Us Heal: https://tinyurl.com/2p93682j

Why Is Nature So Good for Your Mental Health? https://tinyurl.com/ycx9ns4p

How Nature Can Make You Kinder, Happier and More Creative: https://tinyurl.com/d2vzpsaj

How Being in Nature Can Spur Personal Growth: https://tinyurl.com/2p822nyj

How Modern Life Became Disconnected from Nature: https://tinyurl.com/bdzzy6pc

Being Around Nature Helps You Love Your Body: https://tinyurl.com/34m7tfre

We love hearing from you! How do you connect with nature? Email us at happinesspod@berkeley.edu or use the hashtag #happinesspod.

Find us on Apple Podcasts: https://tinyurl.com/2p9h5aap

Help us share Happiness Break! Leave us a 5-star review and copy and share this link: https://tinyurl.com/2p9h5aap

We're living through a mental health crisis. Between the stress, anxiety, depression, loneliness, burnout — we all could use a break to feel better. That's where Happiness Break comes in. In each biweekly podcast episode, instructors guide you through research-backed practices and meditations that you can do in real-time. These relaxing and uplifting practices have been shown in a lab to help you cultivate calm, compassion, connection, mindfulness, and more — what the latest science says will directly support your well-being. All in less than ten minutes. A little break in your day.

This Happiness Break is part of our special series, Climate, Hope & Science. In it, we explore the intersection of environmental well-being and our own well-being, where taking care of ourselves and the planet are one in the same and feeling good is not only possible, it’s helpful. We find the links between crisis, hope, happiness, and action.

Look for the third and final episode May 11. Plus, we’ll share another climate-focused Happiness Break on May 18.

Do you obsess over negative feedback? Shereen Marisol Meraji, of NPR’s Code Switch, tries a better way to cope.

Link to Episode Transcript: https://tinyurl.com/epuw68ft

Take a break from ruminating with Lama Rod Owens as he leads you in a meditation to cultivate a sky-like mind.

Link to episode transcript: https://tinyurl.com/5fn7sw7t

How to Do This Practice:

1. Find a comfortable position to begin this practice.

2. Turn your attention to the rise and fall of your thoughts and feelings within your mind.

3. Imagine that your mind is a vast open sky and that your thoughts are like clouds passing through.

4. Recognize that these thoughts are just experiences that come and go, and that they do not constitute the whole sky or your whole being. Allow yourself to trust the bright openness of your mind, without worrying about it becoming stormy.

5. When you are ready, reground yourself in the present moment by noticing how your body, and how it is held by your seat.

Today’s Happiness Break host:

Lama Rod Owens is a Buddhist teacher, author and activist passionate about creating engaging and inclusive healing spaces.

Learn about Lama Rod Owens’ work: https://tinyurl.com/wd2huac5

Read Lama Rod Owens’ latest book, The New Saints: From Broken Hearts to Spiritual Warriors: https://tinyurl.com/4pj8wb7x

Follow Lama Rod Owens on Instagram: https://tinyurl.com/527378v9

Follow Lama Rod Owens on Facebook: https://tinyurl.com/mwa2vwrh

Follow Lama Rod Owens on Twitter: https://tinyurl.com/h33pyjye

More resources from The Greater Good Science Center:

Four Ways to Calm Your Mind in Stressful Times: https://tinyurl.com/6apdf52p

How to Gain Freedom from Your Thoughts: https://tinyurl.com/hp8s5wv6

How to Focus a Wandering Mind: https://tinyurl.com/y7jhkewv

How to Enjoy Being Alone with Your Thoughts: https://tinyurl.com/3ej6acx6

We love hearing from you! Have you tried quieting your mind? Email us at happinesspod@berkeley.edu or use the hashtag #happinesspod.

Find us on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/6s39rzus

Help us share Happiness Break! Rate us and copy and share this link: https://tinyurl.com/6s39rzus

We're living through a mental health crisis. Between the stress, anxiety, depression, loneliness, burnout — we all could use a break to feel better. That's where Happiness Break comes in. In each biweekly podcast episode, instructors guide you through research-backed practices and meditations that you can do in real-time. These relaxing and uplifting practices have been shown in a lab to help you cultivate calm, compassion, connection, mindfulness, and more — what the latest science says will directly support your well-being. All in less than ten minutes. A little break in your day.

The way we interact with people who come in and out of our lives has changed since COVID-19. Our guest tries a practice to connect with strangers while keeping a social distance.

Link to Episode Transcript: https://tinyurl.com/3ddvnmpn

Mindful walking isn’t just a stroll—it’s a science-backed way to reduce, improve concentration, and soak in the beauty of your surroundings at the same time.

***
The Science of Happiness is committed to sharing stories and research that inspire resilience, compassion, and connection. As we reflect on the past few years, these values feel more essential than ever. Help us continue to provide this free resource and expand its reach.

Through December 31, your donation will be matched dollar-for-dollar. Visit GGSC.Berkeley.edu/donate to support the show and make an even bigger impact.
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Episode Summary: We explore walking meditation, a powerful practice for feeling more centered and grounded. Dan Harris, host of the award-winning 10% Happier podcast, shares how walking meditation helps him manage the residual stress and anxiety from years of war reporting and high-pressure TV anchoring. Then, Dr. Paul Kelly from the University of Edinburgh dives into the science, explaining how walking meditation can reduce stress, sharpen focus, and improve overall well-being.

Practice:

1. Acknowledge the presence of your body. 
2. Acknowledge the thoughts and attitudes your mind is naturally thinking about.
3. Acknowledge the nature around you. 
4. Repeat steps 1-3 in intervals. 

Link to transcript to come.

Walking Meditation: https://tinyurl.com/29dnmndp

Today’s guests:

DAN HARRIS is a NYT best selling author with his book 10% Happier, and hosts a podcast by the same name.

• Listen to The 10% Happier Podcast: https://happierapp.com/podcast
• Follow Dan on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/danharris

DR. PAUL KELLY is a professor from the University of Edinburgh studying mindfulness. 

• Learn more about Dr. Kelly: https://tinyurl.com/zv7x9xxh

More episodes like this one:

The Healing Effects of Experiencing Wildlife: https://tinyurl.com/yh238ekp
How To Unwind Doing Mindful Yard Work: https://tinyurl.com/4p7drusk

More Happiness Break like this one:

Walk Your Way to Calm, with Dacher: https://tinyurl.com/mp5cptan
Experience Nature Wherever You Are, with Dacher: https://tinyurl.com/mrutudeh
Find Calm When You Can’t Clear Your Mind, With Lama Rod Owens: https://tinyurl.com/4ce353nu

Tell us about your experiences and struggles with achieving mindfulness. Email us at happinesspod@berkeley.edu or follow on Instagram @HappinessPod.

Help us share The Science of Happiness! Leave us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts and share this link with someone who might like the show: https://tinyurl.com/2p9h5aap

Transcript: https://tinyurl.com/mrx26dsc

What kinds of objects, images, and words surround your home or office? Our Happiness Guinea Pig surveys her apartment for items that spark connection and kindness.

Link to Episode Transcript: https://tinyurl.com/yewvyzrk

Simple actions like consciously placing a hand on your heart or hugging yourself can lower your cortisol levels, heart rate, and help you feel less stressed. Our guest tries a practice in self-soothing touch.

Link to episode transcript: https://tinyurl.com/2zbykwh6

Episode summary:

While reading this, you might be fiddling with your fingers or have a hand resting on your face -– these are examples of self-touch. This week, we are examining the benefits of offering ourselves soothing touches with comedian Calvin Cato. Calvin leads a busy, stressful life. He tried the self-soothing touch practice as a way to better connect with himself. He found that physically caring for himself allowed him to reground his emotions and regulate his stress. To his surprise, the physical sensations also triggered fond childhood memories with his father. Later, we hear from self-compassion and mindfulness expert Aljoscha Dreisoerner about why we evolved to crave touch and how self-touch can be as effective as getting a hug from someone else.

Practice:

1. Find a comfortable position to begin the practice. What works for one person might not work for another. Here are some options you can choose from:

• Place one or both hands on your heart or stomach.

• Placing your right hand on your heart and the left on your belly while focusing on the rising and falling of the breath.

• Stroke your arms or cheeks.

• Place your right hand under your left arm, by the side of the heart. Place your left hand on the top of your right arm.

1. Try the practice you choose for at least twenty seconds. While doing the practice, focus on taking a few deep breaths, drawing attention to the pressure and warmth of your hands.

2. Repeat as many times as you would like.

Today’s guests:

Calvin Cato is a comedian and writer based in New York City.

Learn more about Calvin: https://tinyurl.com/3hcmcf8y

Read Calvin’s personal essay in Queendom: https://tinyurl.com/42u5h23w

Follow Calvin on Twitter: https://tinyurl.com/2p5pkmkb

Follow Calvin on Instagram: https://tinyurl.com/z5h47asz

Aljoscha Dreisoerner is a Post Doctorate at The University of Vienna interested in self-compassion and mindfulness.

Learn about Aljoscha’s work: https://tinyurl.com/bdfa48n7

Follow Aljoscha on Twitter: https://tinyurl.com/94txhhrj

Follow Aljoscha on Facebook: https://tinyurl.com/yc4wbmfh

Resources from The Greater Good Science Center:

Why Physical Touch Matters for Your Well-Being: https://tinyurl.com/m2ea524m

Hands On Research: The Science of Touch: https://tinyurl.com/bdfbk36d

Four Ways Hugs Are Good for Your Health: https://tinyurl.com/3x39apr8

How Touch Shapes Emotion: https://tinyurl.com/3ukuut3b

More Resources on self soothing touch:

CBC - Self-soothing strategies to help break a chain of anxious thoughts quickly: https://tinyurl.com/3ksh2u6e

TED - Bonus: Self-soothing exercises with Dr. Kristin Neff: https://tinyurl.com/mvrwa596

Business Insider - It's possible to be literally starved for touch — here are the symptoms of the condition: https://tinyurl.com/bdc42rh7

Have you tried giving yourself a hug recently? Email us at happinesspod@berkeley.edu or use the hashtag #happinesspod.

Help us share The Science of Happiness!

Leave us a 5-star review on Spotify and share this link with someone who might like the show: https://tinyurl.com/ytt84cex

Studies show qigong can strengthen your body and mind, and reduce cortisol levels. We explore this Chinese meditative movement practice that dates back over 4,000 years.

Link to episode transcript: https://tinyurl.com/2ywsck4e

Episode summary: Finding calm in your day to day life can be stressful, especially in a world that seems to be moving at such a rapid pace. Your life can change in an instant– and it can be really difficult to get yourself on your feet again. On this episode of The Science of Happiness, Ace Boral, an Oakland-based chef, joins us to try Qigong. Ace talks about his health struggles over the past four years, and how incorporating Qigong into his life over the past few weeks has helped him find mental clarity, emotional balance, and confidence in himself. Then we hear from Harvard psychologist Peter Wayne who has practiced and studied the benefits of Xigong. 

Today’s guests: Ace Boral is an Oakland-based chef.

Peter Wayne is an Associate Professor of Medicine, and serves as the Director for the Osher Center for Integrative Medicine, jointly based at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

• Learn more about Peter’s work: https://tinyurl.com/342xndna

More episodes like this one:

• Moving Through Space, with Dacher Keltner: https://tinyurl.com/3u844n4d
• The Science of Synchronized Movement: https://tinyurl.com/n4bcrb5j

Tell us about your experiences with Qigong. Email us at happinesspod@berkeley.edu or use the hashtag #happinesspod.

Help us share The Science of Happiness!

Leave us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts or share this link with someone who might like the show: https://tinyurl.com/2p9h5aap

Our guest tries a practice to help her feel compassion toward others — even those she disagrees with.

Link to Episode Transcript: https://tinyurl.com/32zrzn5t

Sheltering-at-home with kids? These questions can help them, and us, focus on the good things in life.

Link to Episode Transcript: https://tinyurl.com/yvbp9zf7

What happens when we suppress our anger? And what if we tried to work with it instead? Our guest tries a practice to harness her inner fierceness to care for herself.

Link to Episode Transcript: https://tinyurl.com/3ekjzcwn

Feeling lonely? Former U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy learns why focusing on the quality of our relationships, not the quantity, can be an antidote.

Link to Episode Transcript: https://tinyurl.com/2s4m6emb

A few slow, mindful paces can lower your cortisol and make you more at ease. Psychologist Dacher Keltner guides you through this Walking Meditation.

Link to episode transcript: https://tinyurl.com/5cxymy8e

How to Do This Practice:

1. Find a relatively peaceful space that allows you to walk back and forth for 10-15 paces, where you won’t be disturbed or observed.

2. Begin to walk forward slowly, lifting one foot first, then placing it gently on the floor or ground ahead of you, heel first. Notice your weight shift as you lift your back heel, then the whole foot, and then place it down heel first in front of your first foot. Walk 10-15 paces this way, then reverse directions.

3. As you walk, try to focus your attention on one or more sensations that you would normally take for granted, like your breath, the movement of your feet and legs, or how the pressure on the bottom of each foot shifts throughout each step.

4. If you notice your mind wandering, simply bring it back to noticing those sensations, without judgment.

5. Repeat this practice as often as you’d like, ideally for at least 10 minutes twice a week.

Find the full Walking Meditation practice at our Greater Good in Action website:

https://ggia.berkeley.edu/practice/walking_meditation

More resources from UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center:

• How to Cultivate Awe With a Walking Meditation: https://tinyurl.com/yckz7hu8

• How to Choose a Type of Mindfulness Meditation: https://tinyurl.com/2u6rfzhb

• Can Meditation Help You with Depression? https://tinyurl.com/3ny8jjhj

• A Walk in the Park: https://tinyurl.com/58v6d9k2

• Why You Should Take a Relaxing Lunch Break: https://tinyurl.com/8kckdhmx

• How Resting More Can Boost Your Productivity: https://tinyurl.com/2p97yfff

• Four Tips for Sticking to a Meditation Practice: https://tinyurl.com/5b22pynt

Tell us how this walking meditation made you feel by emailing us at happinesspod@berkeley.edu or using the hashtag #happinesspod.

Find us on Amazon Music: https://tinyurl.com/28hcdfsd

Help us share Happiness Break!

Leave us a 5-star review and copy and share this link: pod.link/1340505607

We're living through a mental health crisis. Between the stress, anxiety, depression, loneliness, burnout — we all could use a break to feel better. That's where Happiness Break comes in. In each bi-weekly podcast episode, instructors guide you through research-backed practices and meditations that you can do in real-time. These relaxing and uplifting practices have been shown in a lab to help you cultivate calm, compassion, connection, mindfulness, and more — what the latest science says will directly support your well-being. All in less than ten minutes. A little break in your day.

After more than a decade together, our Happiness Guinea Pig tries to bring the spark back into her marriage.

Link to Episode Transcript: https://tinyurl.com/27vwc6bb

Chef and author Bryant Terry leads us through a visualization to connect with our ancestors by appreciating our families' traditional foods.

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Link to episode transcript: https://tinyurl.com/yc6d69py

How to Do This Practice:

1. Find a comfortable place to start this practice, focusing on your breath.

2. Think of a meal or dish that is linked to your culture. Reflect on what it looks and tastes like, as well as when you would eat this dish.

3. Recall whoever would normally make this dish for you, and any stories that might have told you about it.

4. Refocusing your attention on the dish, consider all the different ingredients that went into it, tracing them back to where they came from.

5. Reflect on how generations of your family have been nourished from these sources, all leading up to you.

6. Complete the practice by grounding yourself in your body, and thanking your ancestors for what they have provided.

Today’s Happiness Break host:

Bryant Terry is a meditator, chef and food justice activist based in San Francisco.

Learn about Bryant Terry: https://tinyurl.com/juvz7sb2

Read Bryant’s books: https://tinyurl.com/59nxrn8e

Follow Bryant on Instagram: https://tinyurl.com/ycyb8dwc

More resources from The Greater Good Science Center:

Happiness Break: A Meditation to Connect to Your Roots, with Yuria Celidwen (The Science of Happiness Podcast): https://tinyurl.com/3mrd6247

Episode 81: Are You Listening to Your Elders? (The Science of Happiness Podcast): https://tinyurl.com/2wjbjj3e

Do Rituals Help Us to Savor Food? https://tinyurl.com/52xpj7fn

Find Purpose by Connecting Across Generations: https://tinyurl.com/h4yyjesh

We love hearing from you! Tell us about your favorite cultural dish. Email us at happinesspod@berkeley.edu or use the hashtag #happinesspod.

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Link to Episode Transcript: https://tinyurl.com/mr2pyunc