Happiness Break: A Visualization to Connect With Your Heritage, With Bryant Terry

Chef and author Bryant Terry leads us through a visualization to connect with our ancestors by appreciating our families' traditional foods.

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Link to episode transcript: https://tinyurl.com/yc6d69py

How to Do This Practice:

1. Find a comfortable place to start this practice, focusing on your breath.

2. Think of a meal or dish that is linked to your culture. Reflect on what it looks and tastes like, as well as when you would eat this dish.

3. Recall whoever would normally make this dish for you, and any stories that might have told you about it.

4. Refocusing your attention on the dish, consider all the different ingredients that went into it, tracing them back to where they came from.

5. Reflect on how generations of your family have been nourished from these sources, all leading up to you.

6. Complete the practice by grounding yourself in your body, and thanking your ancestors for what they have provided.

Today’s Happiness Break host:

Bryant Terry is a meditator, chef and food justice activist based in San Francisco.

Learn about Bryant Terry: https://tinyurl.com/juvz7sb2

Read Bryant’s books: https://tinyurl.com/59nxrn8e

Follow Bryant on Instagram: https://tinyurl.com/ycyb8dwc

More resources from The Greater Good Science Center:

Happiness Break: A Meditation to Connect to Your Roots, with Yuria Celidwen (The Science of Happiness Podcast): https://tinyurl.com/3mrd6247

Episode 81: Are You Listening to Your Elders? (The Science of Happiness Podcast): https://tinyurl.com/2wjbjj3e

Do Rituals Help Us to Savor Food? https://tinyurl.com/52xpj7fn

Find Purpose by Connecting Across Generations: https://tinyurl.com/h4yyjesh

We love hearing from you! Tell us about your favorite cultural dish. 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.