Happiness Break: Experience Nature Wherever You Are, with Dacher (Encore)

The Science of Happiness

PRX and Greater Good Science Center

Science, Social Sciences

4.4 • 1.9K Ratings

🗓️ 11 July 2024

⏱️ 3 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

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:

Find somewhere where you can focus on the natural environment, like your backyard.
Take a few slow, deep breaths. Close your eyes or soften your gaze.
Notice your belly and chest rise and fall as you breathe. Note the physical sensations of your breath.
If you closed your eyes, open them. Let your breath fall into its natural rhythm.
Look around you and let your eyes wander slowly through your surroundings: the plants, animals, and bugs.
Let yourself be curious about anything that catches your eye and moves you. Rest your awareness there. Pause to appreciate it, and let it hold your attention for a few moments.
Turn your awareness to your emotions. How are you feeling? When something you see evokes an emotion, take a mental photo of it. What about it captivated you? What did it make you feel?
Write that down in just a few words or sentences, or make a mental note of it. Let your gaze wander again whenever you’re ready, repeating these steps.

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

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	There's no place I love more than the high sierras. I love the clear skies and the bright clouds and the little mountain lakes and the big trees and just the feeling up there.
0:12.0	Being out there is like taking a break from the stress of everyday life.
0:16.0	But the truth is, you don't have to drive hours out of town to take a break in nature.
0:21.0	I'm Dacker Keltner. Welcome to happiness break.
0:26.4	Today I'll guide you through one of our most popular practices,
0:30.7	noticing nature.
0:39.0	Essentially it asks you to take a few minutes to appreciate the natural world in whatever form it is around you and notice how it makes you feel.
0:42.0	And there's a lot of scientific research showing that just a
0:44.9	little burst of nature just noticing nature. It makes you feel positive emotions like awe and
0:50.3	inspiration and makes you more altruistic and kind.
0:54.2	It gives you a sense of interconnectedness and reduces our feelings of loneliness.
0:58.7	Sort of shifts activation in the prefrontal cortex and in the default mode network in ways that are good for psychological health.
1:06.0	And our lab has found even nature videos can lead us to see more common ground with people who are really different from us.
1:15.0	So nature is one of the great antidotes to the struggles of our times.
1:20.0	And you can certainly save this practice to try somewhere special, but you can probably do it right now and find beauty in nature wherever you are.
1:30.0	To get started, find somewhere where you can focus on the natural environment.
1:35.0	Maybe it's your backyard or your garden,
1:38.0	or maybe there's a nice walk you like to take,
1:40.0	or maybe it's just a tree on the street outside your window where you can focus your gaze.
1:47.0	Feel free to pause this practice for a moment if you need to find the right natural space for you.
2:00.0	When you're ready, we'll start by just taking a few slow deep breaths.
2:10.0	You may want to close your eyes for a moment or soften your gaze.
	...

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