Happiness Break: A Meditation on the Uniqueness of Your Voice

The Science of Happiness

PRX and Greater Good Science Center

Science, Social Sciences

4.4 • 1.9K Ratings

🗓️ 3 April 2025

⏱️ 8 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Embrace the beauty of your accent in this self-compassion meditation that guides you in a reflection of your history, heritage, and connection to your ancestors.

How To Do This Practice:

Find a Comfortable Position: Sit in a relaxed yet alert posture, either on a cushion or chair. Gently lower your gaze or close your eyes if that feels comfortable.
Focus on Your Breath: Take a deep breath in and slowly exhale. Allow yourself to transition from your daily activities into this moment of reflection.
Acknowledge Your Accent: Bring awareness to the way you speak, recognizing that your voice carries your history, culture, and personal journey.
Repeat Self-Compassion Phrases: Silently or aloud, repeat affirmations such as, “my accent makes me unique,” “my accent carries my story,” “my accent connects me to my ancestors.”
Place a Hand on Your Heart: If it feels right, gently place a hand on your heart, offering yourself warmth and kindness as you continue to breathe deeply.
Close with Gratitude: Take a final deep breath, sending appreciation to yourself, your ancestors, and the uniqueness of your voice before gently opening your eyes.

Scroll down for a transcription of this episode.

Today’s Happiness Break host:

CRISS CUERVO is a mindfulness and meditation teacher, Bridging Differences Coordinator at the Greater Good Science Center, and author of PERTENÆCER: Eight-Week Mindfulness and Meditation Training and Practices for Latinx Immigrants in the United.

Learn more about Criss Cuervo here: https://tinyurl.com/4npjwn6m

Read her book here: https://tinyurl.com/3byby84b

Related Happiness Break episodes:

A Meditation on Original Love: https://tinyurl.com/5u298cv4

Loving Kindness Meditation: https://tinyurl.com/2kr4fjz5

Where Did You Come From: https://tinyurl.com/2y9uyjj6

Related Science of Happiness episodes:

How to Show Up For Yourself: https://tinyurl.com/56ktb9xc

How to Tune Out The Noise: https://tinyurl.com/4hhekjuh

How to Feel Better About Yourself: https://tinyurl.com/42fn62a2

We’d love to hear about your experience with this practice! Share your thoughts at [email protected] 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/kv5ycj3v

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, I'm Dacker Keltner, and welcome to Happiness Break, where we take a moment to pause, breathe, and reconnect with ourselves.
0:10.0	The way we speak, our voice, our accents, carries our history, culture, and journey.
0:17.0	Yet for many, it can also bring feelings of self-consciousness or shame.
0:22.7	So today we're practicing self-compassion, accepting and celebrating the way we sound,
0:29.9	reflecting on our heritage and connecting to those who came before us.
0:35.7	Research on self-compassion shows that treating ourselves with kindness in these moments
0:39.8	can reduce stress, build resilience, and strengthen our sense of belonging. Guiding us is Chris
0:46.9	Cuervo, a mindfulness and meditation teacher, bridging differences coordinator at the Greater
0:51.8	Good Science Center, and author of Pretaniser,
0:55.4	a mindfulness and meditation guide for Latinx immigrants in the United States.
1:00.8	Here's Chris.
1:16.4	This accent that you hear is a mix of being born and raised in Venezuela from Colombian parents
1:21.7	and calling the US home for 26 years.
1:26.3	In this self-compassion meditation, we will work with embracing, accepting, and loving
1:30.6	the way we sound and speak in the world. My invitation is to help us connect with our ancestry,
1:38.0	heritage, and love for ourselves.
1:50.0	Find a comfortable position, perhaps sitting on your meditation cushion, any position that allows you to be alert yet relax.
1:59.0	As we begin the meditation, I invite you to just relax the gaze down, or perhaps close the eyes,
2:09.6	whatever is comfortable for you at this time.
2:15.6	And if it helps, we can take a deep breath together.
2:21.3	Breathing in and breathing out.
2:28.3	And just for a moment, I invite you to sit here with your breath
	...

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