Happiness Break: Tap into the Joy that Surrounds You, With Anushka Fernandopulle
The Science of Happiness
PRX and Greater Good Science Center
4.4 • 1.9K Ratings
🗓️ 21 March 2024
⏱️ 5 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Beyond just feeling good, studies show experiencing other people's joy makes us more compassionate and satisfied with life.
Link to episode transcript: https://tinyurl.com/43e35j37
How to Do This Practice:
Find a comfortable position to begin this practice, focusing on your breath.
Visualize a person or situation that brings you a sense of joy or happiness. It might be a child laughing, the success of a friend, or even a dog wagging its tail.
Connect with their joy and happiness, wishing them well.
Expand your focus to larger groups of people, like a team winning a match, wishing them well.
Consider repeating this practice when you want to connect your sense of happiness with others.
Today’s Happiness Break host:
Anushka Fernandopulle is a Buddhist meditation teacher and leadership coach.
Learn More about Anushka: https://www.anushkaf.org/about/
Follow Anushka on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anushka_dharma/
Follow Anushka on Twitter: https://twitter.com/anushkaf
More resources from The Greater Good Science Center:
Happiness Break: Wishing Others’ Well, With Anushka Fernandopulle: https://tinyurl.com/jrkewjs8
What Is Sympathetic Joy and How Can You Feel More of It? https://tinyurl.com/yuzmykct
How to Overcome Stress by Seeing Other People’s Joy: https://tinyurl.com/4csukyd5
Can Little Steps Lead to Big Joy? https://tinyurl.com/3e5yt3hp
Why Experiencing Joy and Pain in a Group Is So Powerful: https://tinyurl.com/3trjtzfm
We love hearing from you! Tell us about your experience of appreciating others’ joy. Email us at [email protected] or use the hashtag #happinesspod.
Find us on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/3bj4637f
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.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The Science of happiness was proudly brought to you by the John Templeton Foundation, |
| 0:04.0 | funding research and catalyzing conversations that inspire people with awe and wonder. |
| 0:09.0 | Discover the latest findings in neuroscience, cosmology, and the origins of life at templeton.org. |
| 0:19.6 | Welcome to happiness break, I'm Dacker Gellner. |
| 0:22.4 | You know each week we share a practice with the goal ultimately of increasing our happiness. |
| 0:27.0 | Yet it's easy to lose sight of the fact that often there's happiness all around us, |
| 0:33.0 | others happiness, and we can actually tap into that |
| 0:35.8 | and feel good too. |
| 0:37.2 | Just takes a little shift in our attention. |
| 0:40.0 | So today we're turning our attention to joy, other people's joys. |
| 0:45.3 | Studies show that beyond just feeling good, |
| 0:47.2 | the ability to feel this form of sympathetic joy |
| 0:50.1 | has been linked to greater life satisfaction and happiness, |
| 0:52.9 | and it may also make us more compassionate. |
| 0:56.0 | Buddhist meditation teacher Anushka Fernando Poli |
| 0:59.0 | is going to guide us through a practice in moodita, |
| 1:02.0 | which is this vicarious joy. Hi, this is Anushka. |
| 1:15.0 | Find a place that is comfortable to sit down. |
| 1:22.0 | And if you feel safe and comfortable enough. |
| 1:23.0 | And if you feel safe and comfortable enough, |
| 1:25.2 | you could gently close your eyes. |
| 1:27.4 | Take a deep breath in. |
... |
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