Happiness Break: A Meditation for Groundedness, With Diana Parra (English & Spanish)

Take a moment to ground yourself with this meditation that helps bring awareness to the relationship between ourselves and the earth beneath us.

Link to episode transcript: https://tinyurl.com/2p8vub46 (English)

También tenemos esta meditación en Español.

How to Do This Practice:

1. Find a comfortable position to start the practice, ensuring that your feet feel grounded.

2. Focus on your breath, and how the air moves from your chest out through your nose.

3. Notice how the bottoms of your feet are connected to the earth, and how your body is supported and sustained by the earth beneath you.

4. If any distractions arise, refocus your attention on your breathing and the points of contact between your body and the surface beneath you.

5. Complete this practice by expressing a sense of gratitude for the earth and our ability to reground ourselves within it.

Today’s Happiness Break host:

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

More resources from The Greater Good Science Center:

Five Ways Mindfulness Meditation Is Good for Your Health: https://tinyurl.com/3f79nsav

Can Mindfulness Help When You’re Depressed? https://tinyurl.com/yc7heja3

Does Mindfulness Make You More Compassionate? https://tinyurl.com/4beawh8b

How to Practice Mindfulness Throughout Your Work Day: https://tinyurl.com/y8ftbcrz

How Mindfulness Improves Sleep: https://tinyurl.com/2tunpkjb

We love hearing from you! Did this practice help you feel more grounded? 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.