By PRX and Greater Good Science Center
Learn research-tested strategies for a happier, more meaningful life, drawing on the science of compassion, gratitude, mindfulness, and awe. Hosted by award-winning psychologist Dacher Keltner. Co-
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The podcast currently has 236 episodes available.
Take a moment to appreciate the beauty and vastness of the sky. Dacher Keltner guides us through a practice of pausing to turn your gaze to the sky as a pathway to awe, creativity and wonder.
Link to episode transcript: https://tinyurl.com/yc5xfwp4
Practice:
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
Resources from The Greater Good Science Center:
Why we Should Look up at the Sky (Podcast): https://tinyurl.com/fn3bttw6
Six Ways to Incorporate Awe into Your Daily Life: https://tinyurl.com/3j5hdtj7
How to Choose a Type of Mindfulness Meditation: https://tinyurl.com/py6b729h
How Nature Can Make You Kinder, Happier, and More Creative: https://tinyurl.com/2fmpdpkj
Why is Nature so Good For Your Mental Health? https://tinyurl.com/23zavth3
Tell us about your experiences with wildlife! Leave a comment on Instagram @scienceofhappinesspod. You can also e-mail us at [email protected] 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
Safe encounters with wildlife can deepen our appreciation for nature, and for other people. Craig Foster of “My Octopus Teacher” shares his transformational experiences with the animals of the ocean.
Link to episode transcript: https://tinyurl.com/murmd98b
Episode Summary
Venturing into nature and experiencing wildlife can be transformative. Safe interactions with wildlife encourage us to be more in relation with nature, and each other. In this episode, we hear from Craig Foster of “My Octopus Teacher” and how his interactions with sea creatures have changed his life. We also hear from environmental researcher Liz Lev about the effect on our well-being that being in wild spaces provides.
How To Do This Practice:
The next time you want to explore the outdoors, find the “wildest” space you can think of. Explore the “wild spaces” in your neighborhood or city, and reflect on your experiences with wildlife.
Today’s guests:
Craig Foster is the director of My Octopus Teacher, and the co-founder of Sea Change Project.
Liz Lev is an environmental researcher and research associate at Harder+Company who that specializes in the intersections of environmental and climate justice issues, mental health, and urban planning.
Science of Happiness Episodes like this one:
Experience Nature Wherever You Are, with Dacher (Encore): https://tinyurl.com/aj34s585
How Exploring New Places Can Make You Feel Happier: https://tinyurl.com/4ufn2tpn
Why We Should Look up at the Sky: https://tinyurl.com/mpn9vj2t
How Birdsong Can Help Your Mental Health: https://tinyurl.com/3tey4rb5
Happiness Break Related Episodes:
Feeling the Awe of Nature From Anywhere, With Dacher: https://tinyurl.com/y4mm4wu9
How to Ground Yourself: https://tinyurl.com/2wv69kws
Tell us about your experiences with wildlife! Direct message us or leave a comment on Instagram @scienceofhappinesspod. You can also e-mail us at [email protected] 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 a few moments of tuning into nature can make you feel more inspired, connected, and less lonely. Let us guide you through a five-minute noticing nature practice — you don't even have to leave your neighborhood.
Link to episode transcript: https://tinyurl.com/aj34s585
How to Do This Practice:
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 GGSC and a professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley.
If you enjoyed this Happiness Break, you may also like these Happiness Breaks:
Feeling the Awe of Nature From Anywhere, With Dacher: https://tinyurl.com/y4mm4wu9
How to Ground Yourself: https://tinyurl.com/2wv69kws
Check out these episodes of The Science of Happiness
Walk Outside with Inside Out’s Pete Docter: https://tinyurl.com/23vpuj8j
Why We Should Look up at the Sky: https://tinyurl.com/mpn9vj2t
How Birdsong Can Help Your Mental Health: https://tinyurl.com/3tey4rb5
Tell us about your nature experience! Direct message us or leave a comment on Instagram @scienceofhappinesspod. You can also e-mail us at [email protected] 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
Exploring novel places and having diverse experiences is important to our well-being and can make us feel happier. This week, Ike Sriskandarajah, a producer for This American Life, takes us with him as he explores new parts of New York City.
Link to episode transcript: https://tinyurl.com/seystc6c
Episode summary:
Shaking yourself out of your normal routine can be hard–but studies show it’s worth it. Creating space for variety, novelty, and awe in our lives is essential for our well-being. Exploring new and diverse environments in our daily life can lead to better stress resilience and can make us feel better. In this episode, investigative journalist Ike Sriskandarajah, shares his experience exploring new places with his family in New York City. Then, we hear from Aaron Heller, a neuroscientist and assistant professor at the University of Miami's Department of Psychology, who studies how exposure to novel places can make us happier.
Practice:
Break out of your usual daily routine–take a route to work you have never taken before, or visit a park you’ve never gone to. Explore a place you have never been to.
Today’s guests: Ike Sriskandarajah is an investigative journalist and Producer at This American Life.
Aaron Heller is a neuroscientist and assistant professor at the University of Miami's Department of Psychology.
Science of Happiness Episodes like this one
Happiness Break Related Episodes
Tell us about your experience exploring new places!
Leave a comment on Instagram @scienceofhappinesspod, or e-mail us at [email protected] 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
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/3at8hrsu
How to Do This Practice:
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:
Tell us about your grounding practice experience! Direct message us or leave a comment on Instagram @scienceofhappinesspod. You can also e-mail us at [email protected] 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
Everyday activities, such as cleaning and gardening, can be sources of joy and opportunities for mindfulness. This week, our guest shares his experience practicing mindful sweeping on the temple stairs in Kyoto, Japan with Shoukei Matsumoto, a Buddhist monk.
Link to episode transcript: https://tinyurl.com/3r6ju2wh
The Science of Happiness is now Instagram, and we'd love for you to follow us! You can find us at @ScienceofHappinessPod. We're going to go behind the scenes of our episodes, and share how to do the practices we talk about on the show. The first 100 followers will be included in a raffle to win a signed copy of host Dacher Keltner's newest book, Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life.
Episode summary:
Many of us see yard work as a chore. But what if we shift our perspective and instead see it as an opportunity to practice mindfulness? This week on The Science of Happiness, our guest shares his experience of sweeping the steps of a Buddhist temple in Kyoto, Japan, and the mindfulness and mental processes involved in the practice. Then, we hear from Shoukei Matsumoto, a Buddhist monk and author, about the practice of cleaning as a form of mindfulness.
Practice:
The next time you’re tending to your garden, picking up trash on your sidewalk, watering the plants, or doing other chores, spend a few minutes practicing mindfulness by slowing down and really being present with the activity and your own body's movements while you do it.
Today’s guests:
Matt Heron is a Canadian who has been living and working in Japan for five years.
Shoukei Matsumoto is a Buddhist monk and cleaning enthusiast in Kyoto, Japan. He is the author of “A Monk’s Guide to a Clean House and Mind,” which has been translated into 18 languages, including English
More episodes like this one:
How to Make Work More Satisfying: https://tinyurl.com/3fa925yf
Why We Should Seek Beauty in the Everyday Life: https://tinyurl.com/26dskv38
Related Happiness Breaks (a short, guided practice by The Science of Happiness)
Contemplating Our Interdependence With Nature, With Dekila Chungyalpa: https://tinyurl.com/erz2f5de
Happiness Break: How to Be in Harmony in Nature—Wherever You Are, With Yuria Celidwen: https://tinyurl.com/ynxeeb7a
Tell us about your mindful gardening experiences! Email us at [email protected] or use the hashtag #happinesspod.
This episode is sponsored by Tianren Culture, whose vision is “One Health, One Wellness.” Tianren Culture is a next-generation social platform that acts as a catalyst to foster positive global values and lifestyles.
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
Last week on The Science of Happiness, we discussed the scientifically proven health benefits of the ancient Chinese practice of qigong with Harvard psychologist Peter Wayne. This week, we practice a standing meditation, with qigong master Sherry Zhang.
Link to episode transcript: https://tinyurl.com/3t5wdexe
How to Do This Practice:
Today’s Happiness Break host:
Sherry Zhang is the founder of Tai Chi Solutions and a Master Teacher of Qigong. She is faculty at Pacific College of Health and Sciences in New York City.
If you enjoyed this Happiness Break, you may also like these ones:
Walk Your Way to Calm (Guided Meditation), with Dacher: https://tinyurl.com/4w37zwpy
A Walking Meditation With Dan Harris of 10% Happier: https://tinyurl.com/4dv4ckzc
Check out these episodes of The Science of Happiness about movement-based practices:
How Qigong Can Calm Your Mind and Body: https://tinyurl.com/2ywsck4e
Episode 5: Walk Outside with Inside Out’s Pete Docter: https://tinyurl.com/2nfc94zb
We love hearing from you! Tell us what movement based practice you’ve tried!
Email us at [email protected] or use the hashtag #happinesspod.
Find us on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/6s39rzus
Share this Happiness Break!
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.
More episodes like this one:
Tell us about your experiences with Qigong. Email us at [email protected] 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
Here's a favorite of ours: visualize your best possible self and tap into your inherent enough-ness with this guided meditation by Justin Michael Williams.
Link to episode transcript: https://tinyurl.com/ytakaaep
How to Do This Practice:
Today’s Happiness Break host:
Justin Michael Williams works at the intersection of social justice, mindfulness, and personal growth — with a touch of music that brings it all to life.
More episodes like this one
How to Find Your Best Possible Self
https://tinyurl.com/6t3uws8d
Happiness Break: Visualizing Your Best Self in Relationships, With Dacher Keltner
https://tinyurl.com/5cx6cd5z
Happiness Break: Visualizing Your Purpose, With Dacher
https://tinyurl.com/39apt7tb
We love hearing from you! Tell us what brings you feelings of awe. Email us at [email protected] or use the hashtag #happinesspod.
Find us on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/6s39rzus
Help us share Happiness Break!
The podcast currently has 236 episodes available.
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