The Science of Happiness

What happens when you linger and look closely at a piece of art? Nathalie Ryan, an educator from the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C., guides us through a slow looking practice shown to help deepen your sense of awe, presence, and connection.
How To Do This Practice:

Choose an image to focus on: Pick a piece of art, photograph, postcard, or even a recent photo from your phone that captures a natural or urban scene. Don’t overthink it—choose something that draws your attention.

Begin with a few slow breaths: Take a moment to settle into the present. Deepen your inhale, lengthen your exhale, and allow your breathing to slow the pace of your day.

Let your eyes wander slowly: Scan the image without rushing. Notice the light, colors, shapes, patterns, textures, and details that begin to emerge as you spend more time looking.

Imagine yourself inside the scene: Engage all of your senses. What might you hear, smell, feel, or taste in this place? Allow yourself to step into the environment with your imagination.

Notice how the scene changes: Picture the image at different times of day and throughout the seasons. Reflect on how the light, colors, atmosphere, and activity might shift over time.

Reflect on what arises: Pause to notice any emotions, memories, thoughts, or sensations that surfaced during the practice. Consider what changed when you gave yourself permission to look more slowly.

Scroll down for a transcription of this episode.
Today’s Happiness Break Guide:
NATHALIE A. RYAN is a Senior Educator at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, where she has led programs for educators, families, teens, and the adult public since 2002.
Related Happiness Break episodes:
How To Ground Yourself in Nature: https://tinyurl.com/25ftdxpm
Pause to Look at the Sky: https://tinyurl.com/4jttkbw3
Experience Nature Wherever You Are, with Dacher: https://tinyurl.com/mrutudeh
Related Science of Happiness episodes:
Cities of Awe Series: https://tinyurl.com/2vyhxvny
How Cities Can Make Space for Awe: https://tinyurl.com/yr7m2zb5
What Humans Can Learn From Trees: https://tinyurl.com/48te84ps
Follow us on Instagram: @ScienceOfHappinessPod

We’d love to hear about your experience with this practice! Share your thoughts at [email protected] 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/mt4mcw3m

Description:
Sharing a new podcast called Stories from a Stranger, which features portraits of strangers connected by themes of love, loss, regret, inspiration, illness, family connections, and more. In each episode of Stories from a Stranger, host Hunter Prosper shares  raw, intimate, long-form conversations with real people. It’s a show that inspires empathy and connection, proving that “Every stranger has a story.”
In this episode, Hunter meets three strangers at three different stages of life and asks them what love means to them. You’ll hear how love looks and feels different at every age—from the dizzying rush of a first crush to the quiet comfort of a lifelong partner, and the ache of wondering if love will ever come at all. Today, yesterday, and tomorrow, love is in the air.
Listen to Stories from a Stranger at https://lnk.to/storiesfromastrangerSH
Transcription: https://tinyurl.com/mu6sn8dp

What happens when we slow down enough to really experience art? We visit a museum to discover how slow looking at art can cultivate awe, empathy, and a greater sense of connection in a distracted world.
Summary: Art has the power to move us emotionally, physically, and socially—but only if we take the time to truly engage with it. As part of our Cities of Awe series, this episode of The Science of Happiness explores what happens when we slow down and really look at a piece of art. We visit the Nevada Museum of Art to look at the science and practice of slow looking—how it can deepen empathy, presence, and everyday meaning.
How To Do This Practice:

Choose One Piece and Commit to Staying With It: Pick a single artwork, photograph, object, or even a scene in nature. Set aside about 15 minutes and put away distractions—especially your phone. The goal is not to “figure it out,” but to stay present long enough for your experience to deepen.

Spend Time Noticing the Form: For the first five minutes, focus only on what you see. Notice the shapes, textures, colors, lines, patterns, shadows, movement, or composition. Let your eyes wander slowly across the piece and observe details you might normally miss.

Pay Attention to Your Emotional Response: For the next five minutes, shift inward. What feelings arise as you look? Curiosity, comfort, sadness, awe, tension, delight, nostalgia? Instead of labeling the experience as simply “I like it” or “I don’t,” explore the full range of emotions and reactions that emerge.

Let Your Mind Make Associations: For the last five minutes, allow the artwork to lead your thoughts elsewhere. What memories, people, places, or ideas come to mind? Does it remind you of something from your own life or spark questions about the world, history, or humanity? Follow the associations without judging them.

Stay Open to Complexity and Discomfort: Some works may bring up conflicting or uncomfortable emotions. Rather than rushing past them, give yourself permission to sit with them. 

Read the full study here.
Scroll down for a transcription of this episode.
Today’s Guests: 
COLIN ROBERTSON is the Senior Vice President of Education and Research at the Nevada Museum of Art. 
Learn more about Colin Robertson here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/colinmrobertson/
DR. ANJAN CHATTERJEE is a professor of Neurology, Psychology, and Architecture and the founding Director of the Penn Center for Neuroaesthetics. 
Learn more about Dr. Anjan Chatterjee here: https://tinyurl.com/yw2fs364
Related Science of Happiness episodes:
Cities of Awe Series: https://tinyurl.com/2vyhxvny
Follow us on Instagram: @ScienceOfHappinessPod

We’d love to hear about your experience with this practice! Share your thoughts at [email protected] 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/5b5prh4t

Take a few minutes to reflect on someone who inspires you, and how you can embody the values you admire in them.
How To Do This Practice: 

Arrive and Settle: Find a quiet place to sit or stand. Gently close your eyes or soften your gaze. Take a few slow, steady breaths, allowing your body to relax and the noise of the day to quiet.

Call to Mind Someone Who Inspires You: Think of a person whose character deeply moves you—someone whose courage, kindness, integrity, or compassion stands out. Let one specific moment come to mind when they embodied those qualities.

Replay the Moment: Picture what they did as clearly as you can. What action did they take? What values were they expressing? Stay with the details of that moment and what made it meaningful.

Notice How It Lands in Your Body: As you hold this image, turn your attention inward. What do you feel physically? Warmth, openness, a softening, maybe even emotion rising—just observe without judgment.

Name What Matters to You: Reflect on why this moment resonates so deeply. What value or sense of purpose does it point to—justice, care, truth, courage, love? Let yourself name what feels most true for you.

Ask yourself: What’s one small way I can live this value today? It might be in how you speak to someone, how you show up in your work, or how you care for yourself or others. Carry this intention with you as you move forward.

Scroll down for a transcription of this episode.
Today’s Happiness Break Guide:
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.
Related Happiness Break episodes:
Embodying Resilience: https://tinyurl.com/46383mhx
A Meditation on Becoming a Gift to Life: https://tinyurl.com/yc76n7ur
Visualizing Your Purpose: https://tinyurl.com/3ndn95zr
Related Science of Happiness episodes:
What’s Your “Why” in Life?: https://tinyurl.com/b38kdt68
How To Ground Yourself in Nature: https://tinyurl.com/25ftdxpm
Pause to Look at the Sky: https://tinyurl.com/4jttkbw3
Follow us on Instagram: @ScienceOfHappinessPod

We’d love to hear about your experience with this practice! Share your thoughts at [email protected] 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/33uyrykc

Noticing the history and beauty around us can shift how we see ourselves—and our communities. An awe walk through Harlem reveals how the stories embedded in public spaces can spark connection, perspective, and a sense of what’s possible.
Summary: Cities are full of quiet moments of wonder—if we know how to notice them. In this episode of The Science of Happiness we explore the science of awe while taking an awe walk with students at City University of New York in Harlem. We learn  how everyday urban spaces can deepen our sense of connection, belonging, and curiosity. 
How To Do This Practice:

Choose a familiar place: Pick a street, park, campus, or neighborhood you move through often—somewhere ordinary.

Slow your pace: Walk more slowly than usual and give yourself permission to notice, rather than rush.

Look for signs of story: Pay attention to buildings, names, textures, and small details that hint at history, culture, or the people who’ve been there before.

Ask yourself: Who stood here before me? What happened here? What journeys passed through this space?

Notice your response: Pause when something catches you—a feeling of wonder, curiosity, or even goosebumps—and stay with it for a moment.

Reflect on connection: As you finish, consider how this place and the stories within it connect to your own life, sense of belonging, or what feels possible for you.

Scroll down for a transcription of this episode. 
Today’s Guest:
BOB MCKINNON is an author, teacher, and Director of the Social Mobility Lab at the Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership at The City College of New York
Learn more about Bob here: https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/profile/bob_mckinnon
This episode is supported by The Gambrell Foundation, who believe a great life grows from strong relationships, a sense of belonging, and moments of awe and wonder. Learn more about their work at gambrellfoundation.org
Related Science of Happiness episodes:
Cities of Awe Series: https://tinyurl.com/2vyhxvny
How Cities Can Make Space for Awe: https://tinyurl.com/yr7m2zb5
What Humans Can Learn From Trees: https://tinyurl.com/48te84ps
Related Happiness Break episodes:
How To Ground Yourself in Nature: https://tinyurl.com/25ftdxpm
Pause to Look at the Sky: https://tinyurl.com/4jttkbw3
Experience Nature Wherever You Are, with Dacher: https://tinyurl.com/mrutudeh
Follow us on Instagram: @ScienceOfHappinessPod

We’d love to hear about your experience with this practice! Share your thoughts at [email protected] 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/4j5sveye