The Science of Happiness

Have you ever known you're dreaming while you're asleep? Our guests try practices to help induce lucid dreams, and we hear what they can teach us about consciousness. Link to episode transcript: https://tinyurl.com/y4z8suca Episode summary: How do you know you’re awake? Are you sure? Practicing lucid dreaming means taking a step back to question your very consciousness — throughout your day, and even when you’re asleep. It’s no wonder lucid dreaming is associated with mindfulness. In this episode, journalists Marylee Williams and Michaeleen Doucleff try a practice to induce lucid dreaming, and researcher Benjamin Baird explains what lucid dreaming is teaching scientists about consciousness, plus how it might benefit our well-being. Lucid dreaming appears to help foster creativity and can boost your mood when you wake up. Try Lucid Dreaming There are a few different ways to induce lucid dreams. All of them take time and practice. Find a brief summary below and more information at this link: https://tinyurl.com/2m86pw7p (i) Reality Testing (RT), a technique that involves checking your environment several times a day to see whether or not you’re dreaming; (iii) MILD, a technique that involves waking up after five hours of sleep and then developing the intention to remember that you are dreaming before returning to sleep, by repeating the phrase ‘The next time I’m dreaming, I will remember that I’m dreaming;’ you also imagine yourself in a lucid dream; (iv) SSILD, a technique that involves waking up after five hours of sleep and then repeatedly focusing your attention on visual, auditory, and physical sensations for 20 seconds each before returning to sleep; this technique is similar to mindfulness meditation but involved repeatedly shifting your focus; More Resources: Lucid Dreaming FAQ by The Lucidity Institute: https://tinyurl.com/2m86pw7p Lucid Dreaming at TEDx: https://tinyurl.com/ywkymhs2 Learn about the cognitive neuroscience of lucid dreaming from today’s expert Benjamin Baird: https://tinyurl.com/mr3anzer More sleep resources from The Greater Good Science Center: Why Your Brain Needs to Dream: https://tinyurl.com/yc3makhp The Influence of Dreams: https://tinyurl.com/p6cfh8n4 How Mindfulness Improves Sleep: https://tinyurl.com/39tk85m9 Your Sleep Tonight Changes How You React to Stress Tomorrow: https://tinyurl.com/2p8zvbjz Dear Christine: Why Can’t I Sleep? https://tinyurl.com/yb88a5z6 Today’s guests: Michaeleen Doucleff f is a science reporter for NPR and author of the book Hunt, Gather, Parent. Check out her reporting: https://tinyurl.com/5de2kyt7 Read her book: https://michaeleendoucleff.com/ Follow Michaeleen on Twitter: https://twitter.com/FoodieScience Mary Lee Williams is an editor and producer on a morning news show in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Check out her website: http://www.maryleewill.com/about Follow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/marylee_will Benjamin Baird is a Research Assistant Professor at The University of Texas at Austin, where he focuses on consciousness, including lucid dreaming. Check out Dr. Baird’s website: https://www.benjaminbaird.org/ Tell us about your experiences and struggles with lucid dreams by emailing us at happinesspod@berkeley.edu or using the hashtag #happinesspod. Help us share The Science of Happiness OR HB! Leave us a 5-star review and copy and share this link: pod.link/1340505607

We guide you through a reflection of three things you're grateful for today. This practice is shown to boost happiness, connection, and motivation while reducing stress. Happiness Break is a new series by The Science of Happiness. Link to episode transcript: https://tinyurl.com/3vatpfru How to Do this Three Good Things practice: Take a few deep breaths, and notice how you feel. Think back on your day. Start from when you woke up, and mentally trace your steps forward in time. What was the most beautiful, amazing, or interesting thing you saw all day? How did it make you feel? Take a moment to feel grateful for it. Think what had to happen so you could see that thing today, and let yourself appreciate those things. Keep reflecting on your day. What’s the best sound you heard all day? How did it make you feel? Take a moment to feel grateful for that, and think about how you came to hear that thing today. Look back over your day again: What’s the best thing that happened all day? It could be anything. Sit with your gratitude for that thing. What caused that thing to happen? Take a moment to appreciate all the factors that led to this good thing happening today. Notice how you feel now. Find the full Three Goods Things practice at our Greater Good in Action website: https://ggia.berkeley.edu/practice/three-good-things More resources from The Greater Good Science Center: Take our Gratitude Quiz: https://tinyurl.com/yc3dc53c Why Gratitude is Good: https://tinyurl.com/fr4r2xyw Tips for Keeping a Gratitude Journal: https://tinyurl.com/6khs9k28 Can Gratitude Help You Live More Sustainably? https://tinyurl.com/bdfws2e5 Four Great Gratitude Strategies: https://tinyurl.com/2s4h6z3f How Gratitude Helps Your Friendships Grow: https://tinyurl.com/yc55bvw8 Cultivate more gratitude for the people you love with the Mental Subtraction of Relationships practice https://tinyurl.com/mthra2jd How Gratitude Can Help You Through Hard Times: https://tinyurl.com/m9jz5atd Today’s host: Dacher Keltner is the host of The Science of Happiness podcast and a co-instructor of UC Berkeley’s course by the same name. He’s also the founding director of The Greater Good Science Center and a professor of psychology at UC Berkeley. Tell us about your experiences trying this version of the Three Good Things practice by emailing us at happinesspod@berkeley.edu or using the hashtag #happinesspod. Help us share Happiness Break! Leave us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts and copy and share this link: pod.link/1340505607 Find us on Amazon Music!

Do you struggle with sleep? This week Drew Ackerman of Sleep with Me podcast tries tips for a good night's sleep, and we explore why it's so important to our well-being. Link to episode transcript: https://tinyurl.com/4zhdc58z Episode summary: A good night’s sleep can be hard to come by, and beating yourself up over not sleeping enough will only make it worse. On this episode of The Science of Happiness, the host of Sleep With Me podcast Drew Ackerman joins us to try science-backed tips for finding your natural sleep rhythm. Drew, also known as “Dearest Scooter,” talks about his history with insomnia and sleep anxiety, sleep hygiene, and his philosophy on bringing more self-compassion into his approach to trying to fall asleep. Then we hear from sleep scientist Eti Ben Simon about how sleep affects your social life. Practice: Here are four tips to help you sleep from Dr. Eti Ben Simon. Avoid alcohol and caffeine after 2 p.m. to unmask your true biological sleep needs. Keep lights dim in the evening and limit access to LED lights after 9 p.m. Go to sleep as soon as you feel tired (even if you're in the middle of something). This will help you figure out the earliest window it is physiologically possible for you to fall asleep. Do not use an alarm clock to wake up. Try a version of this practice with the sleep tips in this article by expert Eti Ben Simon: https://tinyurl.com/2nesff8t Today’s guests: Drew Ackerman You might know Drew as his alias, “Dearest Scooter*,”* the host of Sleep with Me podcast. Drew struggles with bedtime worries and has a history of insomnia himself, but he’s great at helping others sleep. Sleep with Me is one of the most listened-to sleep podcasts. On each episode, “Scooter” lulls listeners off to dreamland with meandering bedtime stories intended to lose your interest. Listen to Sleep With Me Podcast: https://pod.link/sleep-with-me Follow Drew on Twitter: https://tinyurl.com/2p8nrhnp Follow Drew on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dearestscooter/ Follow Drew on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Sleepwithmepodcast/ Eti Ben Simon is a sleep scientist and postdoctoral fellow at UC Berkeley, where she works at Matthew Walkers’ Center for Human Sleep Science. Learn more about Eti and her work: https://www.sleepingeti.com/ Follow Eti on Twitter: https://twitter.com/etoosh Follow Eti on Google Scholar: https://tinyurl.com/328aa5yr Resources for A Good Night’s Sleep Psychology Today - What’s Your Sleep Type? Two forces that dictate our sleep, by Eti Ben Simon: https://tinyurl.com/2nesff8t Matthew Walker’s 11 Tips for Improving Sleep Quality: https://tinyurl.com/2kadu7va TED - Sleeping with Science: https://tinyurl.com/23mmbdy3 Harvard Health - 8 Tips to Get a Good Night’s Sleep: https://tinyurl.com/2p8um9z7 BBC - Why Do We Sleep? https://tinyurl.com/2p8z9v2d More resources from The Greater Good Science Center: Four Surprising Ways to Get a Better Night’s Sleep: https://tinyurl.com/2p832bh5 How Mindfulness Improves Sleep: https://tinyurl.com/2p8rhkhj Your Sleep Tonight Changes How You React to Stress Tomorrow: https://tinyurl.com/2p8zvbjz Tell us about your experiences and struggles with falling asleep by emailing us at happinesspod@berkeley.edu or using the hashtag #happinesspod. Help us share The Science of Happiness! Leave us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts or copy and share this link with someone who might like the show: pod.link/1340505607

Link to episode transcript: https://tinyurl.com/2p8wnyx6 Episode summary: Emanuel Hahn has never been great at asking for help. He didn’t live with his parents after age 12, and consequently, he says he learned to only rely on himself. But now that he’s launching his first book and juggling a freelance career, he knows he can’t do it all on his own. He tried our Ask for Help at Work practice, which challenges you to make a direct request when you need a hand from someone.  Emanuel had to pack 800 pre-ordered books into boxes for shipping. It’s a laborious task, and he knew he couldn’t handle it all on his own. It was a Sunday, and people probably already had plans. He took a beat, and then he sent the texts out anyway. Before long, he had eight people packing books. ** ** Vanessa Bohns of Cornell University has studied exactly what Emanuel experienced: When it comes to asking for help, we underestimate how likely others are to say “yes” to our request. But when we put ourselves in the shoes of a person being asked for help, it’s hard to imagine saying “no.” “People do get this warm glow from helping,” Bohns says. “People enjoy being helpful.” This Happiness Practice might benefit you as much as the person you ask. Try this week’s practice, Ask for Help at Work at GGIA.berkeley.edu Today’s guests: Emanuel Hahn is a freelance photographer and director in Los Angeles. He just released his first book, Koreatown Dreaming, which documents 40 small businesses in LA’s Koreatown as they weather the pandemic and encroaching gentrification. He joins us today after trying a practice where he makes a commitment to ask for help whenever he needs it. Follow Emanuel on Twitter and Instagram. Vanessa Bohns is an associate professor of social psychology at Cornell University and the author of the book You Have More Influence Than You Think. She did an experiment to see why it’s so hard for people to ask for help. Follow Vanessa Bohns on Twitter. More resources from The Greater Good Science Center: How Love and Connection Exist in Micro-Moments Is Stress Making You Withdraw from People? Try Our One-Month Pathway to Happiness Program Tell us about your experiences and struggles with asking for help by emailing us at happinesspod@berkeley.edu or using the hashtag #happinesspod. Help us share The Science of Happiness! Copy and share this link: pod.link/1340505607

Fear is a normal part of our lives — but there are ways we can safely challenge and conquer it. Our guest tries a research-backed way to tackle a fear she's had since elementary school. Link to episode transcript: https://tinyurl.com/58npxmer **Vote for The Science of Happiness in The Webby’s!** https://vote.webbyawards.com/PublicVoting#/2022/podcasts/limited-series-specials/health-science-education\ You’ll have to make an account, but we promise it takes less time than it does to say “The Science of Happiness.” Don’t forget to verify your account! CLICK HERE to make an account and vote. Or, go to webbyawards.com. Click "Start Voting." Click "categories," then select "Podcasts," then "Limited Series & Specials" at the bottom. Click "Health, Science and Education" and click The Science of Happiness and Music to make an account and vote!

Comedian Marilyn Pittman takes stock of what she really wants in life – and makes a plan to get it. Link to episode transcript: https://tinyurl.com/5n7dya5t

High expectations can lead to disappointment, but expecting the worst doesn't feel great, either. This week we explore how to find the balance. Link to episode transcript: https://tinyurl.com/27s3x7n7

Part of life is experiencing pain and loss. And sometimes, finding meaning in it. We explore a writing practice shown to help us come out stronger after difficult times. Link to episode transcript: https://tinyurl.com/4ufxpwaa

A NYT restaurant critic puts down her pen and grabs her camera to capture the beauty of the outdoors. Link to Episode Transcript: https://tinyurl.com/yc66tdhb

What happens when we feel compassion for the things that scare us? Shabazz Larkin shares what it's like to face some of his deepest fears. Link to Episode Transcript: https://tinyurl.com/yp7r8fwu