In this guided meditation with poet and teacher Henry Shukman, learn how allowing discomfort, rather than resisting it, can open the door to greater calm and self-compassion.

How To Do This Practice:

1. Find a Comfortable Position: Sit comfortably, either upright with your head balanced or reclining, and relax your jaw, shoulders, and hands.
2. Invite Warmth and Softness into the Body: Gently bring awareness to different parts of your body—chest, belly, seat, legs, and feet. Imagine a gentle sweep of rest and quiet spreading through you, like a soft, warm wave.
3. Notice Any Unease Without Trying to Change It: See if you can detect any subtle unease or restlessness. Instead of pushing it away, simply acknowledge it.
4. Soften and Warm the Whole Torso: Move your awareness to the shoulders, sides, back, chest, and belly. Imagine each area softening like warm wax. Let this warmth frame your torso, surrounding even areas of tension or discomfort.
5. Hold What You Find in Loving Awareness: Rather than trying to “fix” or remove unease, allow it to be held by your warmth and softness.
6. Return Gently: When you feel ready, slowly bring small movements back into your body. Open your eyes and notice your surroundings, carrying a sense of warmth and acceptance with you.

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Today’s Happiness Break Guide:

Henry Shukman, is a poet, mindfulness teacher, and author of Original Love: The Four Inns on the Path of Awakening.

Learn more about Shukman’s work: https://henryshukman.com/about

Order his book, Original Love: The Four Inns on the Path of Awakening: https://tinyurl.com/mwv5cuxr

Related Happiness Break episodes:

Loving Kindness Meditation: https://tinyurl.com/2kr4fjz5

Embodying Resilience: https://tinyurl.com/46383mhx

A Meditation on Original Love: https://tinyurl.com/5u298cv4

Related Science of Happiness episodes:

Make Uncertainty Part of the Process: https://tinyurl.com/234u5ds7

How To Show Up For Yourself: https://tinyurl.com/56ktb9xc

How Holding Yourself Can Reduce Stress: https://tinyurl.com/2hvhkwe6

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/4x27ut3p

There’s a tapping practice shown to ease stress, balance emotions, and support healing. We explore the science behind Emotional Freedom Technique, or EFT.

Summary: Emerging research shows that a body-tapping technique called Emotional Freedom Technique, or EFT, can help calm the nervous system, improve emotional awareness, and support healing from trauma. In this episode of The Science of Happiness, we follow illustrator Minnie Phan's journey of using this evidence-based practice to connect with herself, care for her mental health, and create from a place of resilience.

How To Do This Practice:

1. Identify the issue: Choose one specific feeling, thought, or physical sensation that’s bothering you, such as stress, sadness, or tension in your body.
2. Rate the intensity: On a scale of 0 to 10 (with 10 being the most intense), rate how strongly you feel it right now. This will help you notice changes as you tap.
3. Create your setup statement: Say a phrase that names your feeling and affirms self-acceptance, such as: "Even though I feel anxious, I fully and completely accept myself."
4. Gently tap 5–7 times on each point: Side of hand, inner eyebrow above your nose, side of eye, under eye, under nose, chin, collarbone, under arm, and top of head.
5. Repeat while tapping: As you tap each point, repeat a shortened reminder phrase (e.g., “I feel anxious” or “I accept myself”) while taking slow, steady breaths.
6. Reassess and repeat if needed: Pause, take a breath, and rate your intensity again. Continue another round or two until you notice a shift toward more calm or ease.

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Today’s Guests:

MINNIE PHAN is an illustrator and publisher of the picture book, The Yellow Áo Dài. Phan has also collaborated with Pulitzer Prize winning author Viet Thanh Nguyen on the book, Simone.

Learn more about Minnie Phan here: https://www.minniephan.com/

Follow Minnie Phan on Instagram: @minnie_phan

DR. PETA STAPLETON is a world-leading researcher in the Emotional Freedom Technique.

Learn more about Dr. Peta Stapleton here: https://www.petastapleton.com/

Follow Dr. Peta Stapleton on LinkedIn: @petastapleton

Related The Science of Happiness episodes:

How Holding Yourself Can Reduce Stress: https://tinyurl.com/2hvhkwe6

The Science of Humming: https://tinyurl.com/4esyy6nd

Related Happiness Breaks:

Tap into the Joy That Surrounds You: https://tinyurl.com/2pb8ye9x

The Healing Power of Your Own Touch: https://tinyurl.com/y4ze59h8

Tell us about your experience with this practice. Email us at happinesspod@berkeley.edu or follow on Instagram @HappinessPod.

Help us share The Science of Happiness! Leave us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts and share this link with someone who might like the show: https://tinyurl.com/2p9h5aap

Transcription: https://tinyurl.com/psmskjyp

Witnessing the suffering of others can be deeply painful. In this guided meditation, Anushka Fernandopulle helps you cultivate both compassion and the ability to soothe yourself in the face of that pain.

How to Do This Practice:

1. Find somewhere peaceful, sit down and get comfortable. Once you’re ready, gently close or soften your eyes.
2. Start taking deep breaths and relax your body. Part by part, release tension in different areas of your body.
3. Think of someone or a group of people you know or have heard of who may be having a hard time. Bring to mind an image of them.
4. Connect with whatever it is they are struggling with. Mentally, make some wishes of compassion for them. For example, “May you be free from pain.” Or, “I am here with you.”
5. You can also use this practice to focus on your own pain. To do this, call to mind your struggles and give yourself the same compassion you gave others.

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Today’s Happiness Break guide:

ANUSHKA FERNANDOPULLE is a meditation teacher who trained in Buddhist meditation for over 30 years. After studying Buddhism at Harvard, she spent four years in full-time meditation training in the U.S., India, and Sri Lanka.

Check out Anushka’s upcoming meditation retreats: https://www.anushkaf.org

Follow Anushka on Instagram: https://tinyurl.com/ytn3vvhz

Check out Anushka’s Dharma Talks: https://tinyurl.com/ydacvamn

Related Happiness Break episodes:

Fierce Self-Compassion Break: https://tinyurl.com/yk9yzh9u

Who Takes Care of You: https://tinyurl.com/5xmfkf73

A Self-Compassion Meditation For Burnout: https://tinyurl.com/485y3b4y

Related Science of Happiness episodes:

How Holding Yourself Can Reduce Stress: https://tinyurl.com/2hvhkwe6

How To Show Up For Yourself: https://tinyurl.com/56ktb9xc

Are You Remembering the Good Times: https://tinyurl.com/483bkk2h

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/2tcp2an9