Happiness Break: Contemplating our Interdependence with Nature, with Dekila Chungyalpa
The Science of Happiness
PRX and Greater Good Science Center
4.4 • 1.9K Ratings
🗓️ 4 May 2023
⏱️ 10 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Take ten minutes to renew your connection to the earth through this guided meditation on our interdependence with the ecosystem.
How to Do This Practice:
Find a comfortable place to do this practice, relax into your body.
Wherever you are, start to acknowledge your surroundings, noticing the living and inanimate things around you.
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.
Contemplate the Earth’s compassion, and how it provides you with unconditional support.
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 [email protected] 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.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | I'm Dacker Keltner, welcome to Happiness Break, a series by the Science of Happiness where |
| 0:09.9 | we take a little break on our day to try practices to improve ourselves and our relationships. |
| 0:17.1 | Today's Happiness Break is part of our special series called Climate, Hope, and Science. |
| 0:22.9 | We're going to do a meditation in which we reflect upon our inner connectedness with nature. |
| 0:28.9 | We are guided in this meditation by Dekele Chungielpa. |
| 0:32.5 | She's the founder and head of the Loka Initiative at the University of Wisconsin, which brings |
| 0:37.4 | together faith leaders and culture keepers of indigenous traditions on environmental |
| 0:42.3 | and climate issues. |
| 0:44.5 | Over 100 empirical studies have found that being in nature, immersing ourselves in the |
| 0:49.2 | outdoors, or even viewing nature in paintings and videos, can have powerful impacts upon |
| 0:55.4 | our brains, our bodies, our emotions, and our relationships with others. |
| 1:00.1 | When we feel connected with nature, research shows very importantly we're also more likely |
| 1:05.6 | to act to protect our environment, nature, immersion, and the feelings that accompany |
| 1:11.8 | it, fuel climate action. |
| 1:14.8 | For those of you who identify as environmentalists, I hope this brief meditation adds to reserves |
| 1:20.9 | and commitment to protecting life. |
| 1:23.3 | For those of you who simply want a moment of peace to connect with nature, I hope this |
| 1:28.0 | practice provides that as well. |
| 1:31.0 | Here's Dekele. |
| 1:32.0 | Hello, everyone, Kuzuzanko and Tashite Le. |
| 1:42.1 | I come from a tiny place in the Eastern Himalayas called Sikim, and I belong to a devout |
| 1:48.4 | Venbuddha's family, and I'm part of the Karmakagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. |
... |
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