Happiness Break: Awe in Impermanence
The Science of Happiness
A Visualization of Life's Impermanence
A visualization exercise leads the listeners to reflect on the life cycle of a loved one, highlighting the appreciation and poignancy that come from recognizing the impermanence of life.
Take a few minutes to develop your sense of awe for the circle of life in this meditation with Dacher Keltner.
LINK TO EPISODE TRANSCRIPT: https://tinyurl.com/2tv3whj2
All sentient beings are impermanent, and out of our reflections on this we find appreciation. We find poignancy. A little sadness, but also out of that sadness and poignancy, a sense of deep appreciation for the people we love.
How to Do This Practice:
Find a comfortable place. Focus on taking a few deep breaths, relaxing your body from head to toe.
Think of an older relative who you are close to. Picture them in your mind.
Imagine how they entered the world years ago as a newborn.
Continue to imagine this individual growing up — through adolescence into adulthood, developing the qualities that you admire.
Now imagine them later in life, into seniority.
Reflect on the progression of the individual’s life, from the beginning to the final stages in this natural progression of the life cycle for humans.
Recognize that they'll pass or maybe they have passed, and that's part of this cycle
Take note of how you feel.
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 Greater Good Science Center and a professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley.
Check out Dacher’s most recent book, *Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life: *<https://tinyurl.com/4j4hcvyt\](https://tinyurl.com/4j4hcvyt)
More resources from The Greater Good Science Center:
What I Learned About Resilience in the Midst of Grief: https://tinyurl.com/2uw7uvxd
How to Face Grief in Yourself and Others: https://tinyurl.com/yckknp9r
Death and Gratitude: https://tinyurl.com/mwcn752j
How to Bring More Meaning to Dying: [https://tinyurl.com/vnbkwf52>\
Learning to Live in a World Without a Loved One: https://tinyurl.com/2v4avfvv
How do you find awe in impermanence? Email us at happinesspod@berkeley.edu or use the hashtag #happinesspod.
Find us on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/6s39rzus
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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.
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