Happiness Break: A Meditation to Inspire a Sense of Purpose
The Science of Happiness
Breath and Body Awareness
Diana instructs attention to the breath, chest and belly movements, and returning focus from distractions.
Take a few minutes to reflect on someone who inspires you, and how you can embody the values you admire in them.
You can also listen to this episode in Spanish here: https://tinyurl.com/4rjmambm
How To Do This Practice:
- Find a quiet moment and settle your body: Sit or stand somewhere you feel safe and comfortable. Take a few slow breaths and let your body soften, releasing the noise of the day.
- Bring to mind someone who embodies “moral beauty”: Think of a person whose kindness, courage, humility, or integrity has genuinely inspired you. Choose one specific moment when their character moved you.
- Visualize an act that inspired you: Recall exactly what the person did. Picture the scene, their actions, their choices. Notice why this moment stood out as meaningful or brave or good.
- Notice how your body responds: As you hold this image, tune into your body: warmth, openness, tenderness, or even tears. Allow yourself to feel the emotional impact of their moral beauty.
- Reflect on why this matters to you: Ask yourself: What does this moment reveal about the values that matter most to me? What purpose does it awaken? What did this person teach me about how I want to live?
- Choose one small aligned action for today: Identify one thing you can do—big or small—that expresses the value or purpose this person embodies. Carry that intention with you into the rest of your day.
Scroll down for a transcription of this episode.
Today’s Happiness Break Guide:
DIANA PARRA is professor at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. She is also a registered mindfulness and yoga teacher who focuses on sharing these practices with the Latino immigrant community in St Louis.
Learn more about Diana Parra’s work: https://tinyurl.com/4acc7nsv
Related Happiness Break episodes:
Loving Kindness Meditation: https://tinyurl.com/2kr4fjz5
How to Do Good for the Environment (And Yourself): https://tinyurl.com/5b26zwkx
Related Science of Happiness episodes:
Why We Should Seek Beauty: https://tinyurl.com/yn7ry59j
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Transcription: https://tinyurl.com/4945b59w
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