Happiness Break: A Mindful Breath Meditation, with Dacher Keltner

Mindful breathing exercises are a simple, effective, and fast way to shift our mindset and improve physical and mental well-being when practiced regularly.

Link to episode transcript: https://tinyurl.com/mpt4rr5x

How to Do This Practice:

Find a comfortable position to start the practice, maintain a good posture and close your eyes.

Take a deep breath in for a count of four. Hold that breath, feeling it in your lungs and body for another count of four. Push the air outwards, exhaling for a count of six.

Repeat this exercise as many times as you would like.

Today’s Happiness Break host:

Dacher Keltner is the host of the 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 UC, 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

More resources from The Greater Good Science Center:

What Focusing on the Breath Does to Your Brain: https://tinyurl.com/3u8h53pw

Is the Way You Breathe Making You Anxious?: https://tinyurl.com/mryr2jup

A Five-Minute Breathing Exercise for Anxiety and Mood: https://tinyurl.com/3ve66u2k

How Four Deep Breaths Can Help Kids Calm Down: https://tinyurl.com/5xr2sb99

What does mindful breathing do for you? Email us at happinesspod@berkeley.edu or use the hashtag #happinesspod.

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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.