Exploring novel places and having diverse experiences is important to our well-being and can make us feel happier. This week, Ike Sriskandarajah, a producer for This American Life, takes us with him as he explores new parts of New York City.

Link to episode transcript: https://tinyurl.com/seystc6c

Episode summary:

Shaking yourself out of your normal routine can be hard–but studies show it’s worth it. Creating space for variety, novelty, and awe in our lives is essential for our well-being. Exploring new and diverse environments in our daily life can lead to better stress resilience and can make us feel better. In this episode, investigative journalist Ike Sriskandarajah, shares his experience exploring new places with his family in New York City. Then, we hear from Aaron Heller, a neuroscientist and assistant professor at the University of Miami's Department of Psychology, who studies how exposure to novel places can make us happier.

Practice:

Break out of your usual daily routine–take a route to work you have never taken before, or visit a park you’ve never gone to. Explore a place you have never been to.

Today’s guests: Ike Sriskandarajah is an investigative journalist and Producer at This American Life.

Aaron Heller is a neuroscientist and assistant professor at the University of Miami's Department of Psychology.

• Learn more about Ike’s work: https://tinyurl.com/4auuk7pd
• Learn about Ike’s work at Reveal: https://tinyurl.com/serhuyt5
• Follow Ike on X: https://tinyurl.com/ycxz6xbr
• Connect with Ike on LinkedIn: https://tinyurl.com/ydwztavw
• Learn more about Aaron’s research: https://tinyurl.com/yxrpm944
• Follow Aaron on X: https://tinyurl.com/rr3ac6jw
• Connect with Aaron on LinkedIn: https://tinyurl.com/36trsaux

Science of Happiness Episodes like this one

• How Awe Brings Us Together: https://tinyurl.com/bddavvbv
• Can You Find Wonder in the Ordinary? https://tinyurl.com/4j8h4dzk

Happiness Break Related Episodes

• Feeling the Awe of Nature From Anywhere, With Dacher: https://tinyurl.com/y4mm4wu9
• Feeling the Awe of Nature From Anywhere, With Dacher https://tinyurl.com/y4mm4wu9

Tell us about your experience exploring new places!

Leave a comment on Instagram @scienceofhappinesspod, or e-mail us at happinesspod@berkeley.edu or use the hashtag #happinesspod.

Help us share The Science of Happiness!

Leave us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts or share this link with someone who might like the show: https://tinyurl.com/2p9h5aap

Connect to yourself and the land you stand on in under 10 minutes with this grounding practice led by Indigenous scholar Dr. Yuria Celidwen.

Link to episode transcript: https://tinyurl.com/3at8hrsu

How to Do This Practice:

1. If possible, go outside and find some natural ground, like grass or dirt. If you're wearing shoes or socks, take them off and place the soles of your feet directly on the ground.
2. Bring your attention to the earth beneath you. Allow it to hold you, paying attention to how it feels — soft, firm, reliable. Imagine you're starting to grow roots from the tip of your toes, digging deep into the earth.
3. Visualize energy and wellness flowing through your roots to your toes, into the soles of your feet, your thighs and knees, then base of the spine and upwards into your chest, expanding the whole center of your chest. Take a full, deep breath and contemplate the openness you feel in your chest.
4. Look up towards the sky and open your eyes, allowing all of your senses to awaken to the sounds, smells, colors, and life around you. Feel their presence.

Today’s Happiness Break host:
Dr. Yuria Celidwen is an Indigenous studies, cultural psychology, and contemplative science scholar of Indigenous Nahua and Maya descent. She also works at the United Nations to advance the rights of Indigenous peoples and the Earth.
Learn more about Dr. Celidwen’s work: https://www.yuriacelidwen.com/

More resources from UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center:

• Listen to Dr. Yuria Celidwen on The Science of Happiness episode about listening to your elders: https://tinyurl.com/yr2ydk43
• Does Nature Make You More Mindful? https://tinyurl.com/4wcreu9z
• Why You Need More Nature in Your Life: ​​https://tinyurl.com/ye282e5d
• Being Around Nature Helps You Love Your Body: https://tinyurl.com/57d5ntxm
• How Modern Life Became Disconnected From Nature: https://tinyurl.com/yc6u73f9
• Listen to The Science of Happiness episode featuring podcast host Krista Tippett, on Being Grounded in Your Body: https://tinyurl.com/8t7rr4yy

Tell us about your grounding practice experience! Direct message us or leave a comment on Instagram @scienceofhappinesspod. You can also e-mail us at happinesspod@berkeley.edu or use the hashtag #happinesspod.

Help us share The Science of Happiness!

Leave us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts or share this link with someone who might like the show: https://tinyurl.com/2p9h5aap

Everyday activities, such as cleaning and gardening, can be sources of joy and opportunities for mindfulness. This week, our guest shares his experience practicing mindful sweeping on the temple stairs in Kyoto, Japan with Shoukei Matsumoto, a Buddhist monk.

Link to episode transcript: https://tinyurl.com/3r6ju2wh

The Science of Happiness is now Instagram, and we'd love for you to follow us! You can find us at @ScienceofHappinessPod. We're going to go behind the scenes of our episodes, and share how to do the practices we talk about on the show. The first 100 followers will be included in a raffle to win a signed copy of host Dacher Keltner's newest book, Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life.

Episode summary:
Many of us see yard work as a chore. But what if we shift our perspective and instead see it as an opportunity to practice mindfulness? This week on The Science of Happiness, our guest shares his experience of sweeping the steps of a Buddhist temple in Kyoto, Japan, and the mindfulness and mental processes involved in the practice. Then, we hear from Shoukei Matsumoto, a Buddhist monk and author, about the practice of cleaning as a form of mindfulness.

Practice:
The next time you’re tending to your garden, picking up trash on your sidewalk, watering the plants, or doing other chores, spend a few minutes practicing mindfulness by slowing down and really being present with the activity and your own body's movements while you do it.

Today’s guests:

Matt Heron is a Canadian who has been living and working in Japan for five years.

Shoukei Matsumoto is a Buddhist monk and cleaning enthusiast in Kyoto, Japan. He is the author of “A Monk’s Guide to a Clean House and Mind,” which has been translated into 18 languages, including English

• Follow Shoukei on instagram: https://tinyurl.com/4e2jk7xt
• Follow Shoukei on Linkedin: https://tinyurl.com/48xkr9ew
• Learn more about Interbeing: https://www.interbeing.co.jp/en
• Read “A Monk’s Guide to a Clean House and Mind” : https://tinyurl.com/7u3zhvcz

More episodes like this one:

How to Make Work More Satisfying: https://tinyurl.com/3fa925yf
Why We Should Seek Beauty in the Everyday Life: https://tinyurl.com/26dskv38

Related Happiness Breaks (a short, guided practice by The Science of Happiness)

Contemplating Our Interdependence With Nature, With Dekila Chungyalpa: https://tinyurl.com/erz2f5de
Happiness Break: How to Be in Harmony in Nature—Wherever You Are, With Yuria Celidwen: https://tinyurl.com/ynxeeb7a

Tell us about your mindful gardening experiences! Email us at happinesspod@berkeley.edu or use the hashtag #happinesspod.

This episode is sponsored by Tianren Culture, whose vision is “One Health, One Wellness.” Tianren Culture is a next-generation social platform that acts as a catalyst to foster positive global values and lifestyles.

Help us share The Science of Happiness!

Leave us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts or share this link with someone who might like the show: https://tinyurl.com/2p9h5aap