Happiness Break: Visualizing Your Purpose, with Dacher Keltner

Apr 6, 2023

Explore the power of purpose and visualization to enhance well-being. Dacher Keltner guides listeners through a meditation that encourages imagining a better world. Reflect on what you would change in society and create a vivid picture of your ideal vision. Consider actionable steps to bring this vision closer to reality. The session culminates with deep breathing and reflection, leaving you inspired to contribute positively to your community.

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ADVICE

Visualize A Single Change And Act

Do visualize a better world by imagining one change you deeply long for in society and picture it manifesting before your eyes.
Then identify at least one small, manageable action you can take to move the world closer to that vision and write it down.

INSIGHT

Purpose Yields Wide Health Benefits

Purpose links to real-world benefits like stronger social connections, better romantic satisfaction, more physical activity, and improved sleep.
Cultivating purpose therefore supports mental and physical well-being beyond abstract meaning.

ADVICE

Begin With Deepened Breathing

Do settle into deepened breathing and relax your shoulders before the visualization to center attention and reduce stress.
Use slow, counted inhales and exhales to deepen relaxation and prepare for the imagery exercise.

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Finding a greater sense of purpose can help us achieve our goals and strengthen our relationships. Dacher leads a meditation to find purpose by imagining a better world.

Link to episode transcript: https://tinyurl.com/3u7njv3a

How to Do This Practice:

Find a comfortable place to do this practice. Once you feel ready, relax your shoulders and close your eyes. Focus on your breathing, and take a few slow, deep breaths.
Think about the world around you. If you could change one thing in society, what would it be?
Imagine this ideal world. Visualize it manifesting before you. Notice what you see and how you feel in as much detail as possible.
Is there anything that you can do to make this a reality? It can be anything, no matter how small. Think of some manageable steps you can take to get a little closer to what you’ve imagined.
Return your focus to your breathing to close out this practice.
If you have the time, jot down your thoughts and goals.

Today’s Happiness Break host:

Dacher Keltner is the host of the Greater Good Science Center’s award-winning podcast, The Science of Happiness and is a co-instructor of the GGSC’s popular online course of the same name. He’s also the founding director of the Greater Good Science Center and a professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley.

Check out Dacher’s most recent book, *Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life: *<https://tinyurl.com/4j4hcvyt\](https://tinyurl.com/4j4hcvyt)

Find the full practice at our Greater Good in Action website:

https://ggia.berkeley.edu/practice/magic_wand

More resources from The Greater Good Science Center:

How to Find Purpose in Your Life: https://tinyurl.com/yc4dd5ff

Living with Purpose Changes Everything: https://tinyurl.com/m28uvsjn

The Purpose Challenge: https://tinyurl.com/53zykj8a

How Strong is Your Sense of Purpose in Life? https://tinyurl.com/2r3yr3hr

Purpose in Life Quiz: https://tinyurl.com/mrxys77h

We love hearing from you! Tell us about your experience of finding purpose. Email us at happinesspod@berkeley.edu or use the hashtag #happinesspod.

Find us on Apple Podcasts: https://tinyurl.com/2p9h5aap

Help us share Happiness Break! Leave us a 5-star review and copy and share this link: https://tinyurl.com/2p9h5aap

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.