Welcome to Happiness Break, a series by the Science of Happiness, where we guide you through

practices supported by science to help you find more happiness, connection, and meaning.

I'm Dacker-Keltener. We all ruminate from time to time, and the literature shows it's not good

for us. In fact, too much rumination is a pathway to depression and anxiety.

So today, we're trying a practice to help us create a little bit more distance

between ourselves and our thoughts.

So it's easier to let go of the nagging worries and feelings that aren't really serving as well.

This practice is often called the sky-like mind.

It's based in Buddhist teachings and grounded in mindfulness principles like non-attachment,

which study after studies show to be helpful in curbing rumination

and improving our mental health.

We'll be led today by Lama Rod Owens, a Buddhist minister, author, and activist.

Here's Lama Rod.

Hi, I am living and teaching on the ancestral lands of the Creek Cherokee and Muskogee people here in the city we now call Atlanta.

So to begin with, I invite you to return back to your bodies, allowing your bodies to come into a position that feels appropriate for you.

Comfortable, for me, a position that helps me to balance both the experiences of comfort as well

as discomfort, which in itself is a basic meditation practice.

And so when you're ready, I invite you to shift your attention into the expression of your mind,

beginning to notice thoughts and emotions,

rising and falling, coming and going. Slowly begin to imagine that your mind is like the sky.

Vast, clear, wide open, boundless. Can we just be in this moment allowing our minds to be wide open and bright,

letting the clouds of thoughts and emotions just casually flow through it. I wonder if you can just say to yourself, oh, this cloud of thought, an emotion is just an experience

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