How to Awaken Joy, with Spring Washam | Happiness Break

The Science of Happiness

PRX and Greater Good Science Center

Science, Social Sciences

4.4 • 1.9K Ratings

🗓️ 23 January 2025

⏱️ 10 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

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Cultivate more joy in your life with this practice led by meditation teacher and author Spring Washam.

How to Do This Practice:

Reflect on an area of your life that brings you joy—whether it’s a small moment, an activity, or a connection.
Imagine experiencing that joyful moment. Feel the smiles, peace, and lightness it brings. Let yourself fully connect with the positive emotions.
As you reflect, silently say to yourself, “May my joy and my happiness increase.” Allow this intention to sink into your heart.
Bring to mind someone in your life who is experiencing happiness or success. Picture them in their joyful state.
In your mind, say to them, “May your joy and happiness increase.” Or, “I’m happy for your happiness. May your happiness continue.”
Remind yourself that joy is limitless, like the stars in the universe. Celebrating the joy of others enhances your own happiness.

Today’s Happiness Break Guide:

Spring Washam, is a meditation teacher based in Oakland, California. She is also the author of the book, The Spirit of Harriet Tubman: Awakening from the Underground.Learn more about Spring and her new book: https://www.springwasham.com/
Follow Spring on Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/springwasham/
Check out Spring’s YouTube channel: https://tinyurl.com/22njyd29

Related Happiness Break episodes:

Tap into the Joy That Surrounds You: https://tinyurl.com/2pb8ye9x
Wishing Others’ Well, With Anushka Fernandopulle: https://tinyurl.com/jrkewjs8

Related Science of Happiness episodes:

Where to Look for Joy: https://tinyurl.com/5n7thrh4
Are You Remembering the Good Times: https://tinyurl.com/483bkk2h
Why We Should Seek Beauty: https://tinyurl.com/yn7ry59j

Follow us on Instagram: @ScienceOfHappinessPod

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/a6shdsae

Transcript

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0:00.0	Pause for a moment if you can and think about a time where you really felt joy.
0:09.0	Maybe it was reuniting with a friend, a dinner party, the lazy Saturday afternoon, or achieving a milestone.
0:25.6	Hold that thought because today we're going to practice feeling joy, strengthening that feeling and the memory of that feeling.
0:33.6	There are different explanations of what joy is.
0:36.6	The American Psychological Association defines it as a feeling of extreme There are different explanations of what joy is.
0:37.6	The American Psychological Association defines it as a feeling of extreme gladness, delight,
0:43.7	or exaltation of the spirit.
0:46.1	For me, joy is the feeling of delight we experience when we're free from our mundane life,
0:51.6	the transactional concerns of our daily living. It's a feeling of lightness and abundance and freedom.
0:57.0	Just as we have learned that focusing on the negative
1:01.0	can overtax our bodies and minds by increasing hormones like cortisol,
1:05.0	we know that joy has the opposite effect.
1:07.0	It can activate the parasympathetic autonomic nervous system, making us feel more
1:12.9	peaceful and calm and connected and creative. So let's practice joy for the next eight minutes.
1:21.2	Guiding our happiness break today is Spring Washam, a meditation teacher and author of the
1:26.6	forthcoming book, The Spirit of Harriet Tubman,
1:29.6	Awakening from the Underground.
1:31.8	Now, here is Spring Washam.
1:43.3	Today, I would like to share a meditation on joy and awakening joy in your everyday life.
1:56.0	So much of our day is been thinking on everything that doesn't work. This is what I've noticed about my own mind.
2:02.6	We tend to go toward the negative.
2:06.6	Ten things are great, one is not.
	...

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