Happiness Break: A Meditation to Inspire a Sense of Purpose

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 We want to hear from you! Take our quick 5-minute survey to tell us what you love, what you want more of, and how we can make the show even more inspiring and useful. Everyone who completes the survey can enter a drawing to win a copy of The Science of Happiness Workbook: 10 Practices for a Meaningful Life. Click the survey link in the show notes wherever you’re listening, or go directly to: https://tinyurl.com/happyhappysurvey. Thank you for helping us make the podcast even better! Follow us on Instagram: @ScienceOfHappinessPod We’d love to hear about your experience with this practice! Share your thoughts at happinesspod@berkeley.edu or use the hashtag #happinesspod. Find us on Apple Podcasts: https://tinyurl.com/2p9h5aap Help us share Happiness Break! Leave a 5-star review and share this link: https://tinyurl.com/2p9h5aap Transcription: https://tinyurl.com/4945b59w