2025-01-09
6 分钟Foreign I'm Dacher Keltner.
Welcome to Happiness Break, where we pause for a moment in our busy days to find calm,
to experience a sense of wonder, and to connect with all that makes life meaningful.
Today, as we enter a new year,
I'll be guiding us in a meditation designed to nurture awe in the newness around us.
Whether it's a new friendship, the budding of a plant,
first light of the morning, or any other opening experience life presents us with.
My lab's research at UC Berkeley shows moments of awe can really shift how we think,
opening our minds to how we are connected to something larger than ourselves and revealing to us the extraordinary in the ordinary.
As we experience awe,
that which is vast and mysterious opens our bodies up like an antenna to the world,
which you will feel in tears,
the chills, a lump in the throat and perhaps warming of the chest,
sensations that arise when your vagus nerve is activated and oxytocin released.
Awe can also lead to more generosity, kindness and curiosity and a better health profile,
making it, as Einstein and Rachel Carson said, the most human emotion vital to flourishing.
These moments of newness invite us to open our hearts and our minds,
offering fresh perspectives and a renewed sense of wonder about our lives.
Let's now transition into a meditation to cultivate a sense of awe.
Begin by finding a comfortable and safe position,