Pirina “A Native Hawaiian word or concept that describes our deep interconnectedness.” Harvard Clinical Psychology Fellow Joe Kinau leads us to reflect on our deep interconnectedness.
Scroll down to view the transcript.
How to do this exercise:
Pirina It comes from the language and culture of the Native Hawaiian people. Pirina means connection or interconnection.
- Settle into a comfortable position and observe your breathing.
- Visualize someone with whom you feel a meaningful connection and acknowledge the feeling of Pirina, a deep interconnectedness, between the two of you.
- Think about what connects you, how that connection has affected your life, and how it has affected their lives.
- Notice how acknowledging these things makes you feel.
- Repeat steps 2-4 with as many people as needed.
Today’s Happiness Break hosts:
Joe Kinnow He is a Native Hawaiian meditation teacher and a clinical psychology fellow at Harvard Medical School.
If you enjoyed this Happiness Break, you might also like:
- 5 Minute Progressive Muscle Relaxation by Jo Qina’au – https://tinyurl.com/4f3fd97f
- Visualize your best self in relationships with Dacher Keltner – https://tinyurl.com/4dzpatx7
Check out the episode about connections in “The Science of Happiness.”
- How to feel less lonely and more connected – https://tinyurl.com/36t6urte
- When you have trouble connecting, try being curious – https://tinyurl.com/3778r4h9
We look forward to hearing from you. Tell us who you feel Pirina is and what it means to you to look back on it. Email us at happypod@berkeley.edu or use the hashtag #happinesspod.
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We can all take a break to feel better. That’s where Happiness Break comes into play. In biweekly podcast episodes, instructors teach research-backed practices and meditations that you can perform in real time. These relaxing and uplifting habits are proven to help foster calmness, compassion, connection, mindfulness, and more, and the latest science says they directly support your health. All done within 10 minutes. For a short break during the day.
Transcription:
Dutcher Keltner: Welcome to Happiness Break. I’m Dutcher Keltner. This week, I’m taking a break to try some connectedness practices.
Decades of research have shown that perhaps the biggest factor in our happiness is the quality of our relationships. And really all kinds of relationships. We know that strong social connections make us stronger, more optimistic, and more hopeful about what we’re doing.
It is also very important to think about our good relationships. We know that when we reflect on and remember the quality of our relationships, the reward centers in our brains are activated, leading to greater pleasure. It engages areas of the prefrontal cortex that help you cope with stress and deal with life’s challenges with more flexibility and resilience.
Perhaps there is no better path to a better life than engaging in and reflecting on good, healthy relationships.
Joining us today is Joe Kinau, a Native Hawaiian meditation teacher and clinical research fellow at Harvard Medical School. They are also the founders of Pirina Center for Wellbeing. This is Joe.
Joe Kinnow: Well then, Aloha to all of you. I’m Joe Kinnow. I’m really excited to share this meditation with you. It is Pirina meditation, and the word Pirina comes from the Native Hawaiian language. As a Native Hawaiian Kanai Olowalu, I am always truly honored and happy to share about my culture.
Pirina means connection. Therefore, we can think of pirina as an interpersonal relationship. Today we’re going to actually investigate that. That will be our main focus. However, the word piri itself refers to a type of grass that grows in Hawaii. So we took this word pili grass and wove it into large pieces for baskets and clothing. And inherent in the word Pirina is the idea of interconnectedness, which I like to think of as a “we” force. So, hopefully, when you put some things together, you create something that’s bigger than the two separate parts.
First, you can sit in a comfortable position or lie down. And you can close your eyes if you want. If you don’t like closing your eyes, you can try closing your eyelids a little heavier to focus your gaze.
And we begin to draw our consciousness from the outer world to the inner world. Give yourself space to calm down and ground your consciousness. First, notice your breathing through your nostrils, the back of your throat, your chest, ribcage, and belly.
Notice how your breath moves your body, then focus on your body itself where you are sitting, the weight of your bones, or where you are.
And then as you inhale, you begin to notice the connection with the breath, the pirina. Inhale connections and exhale connections. Perhaps you have noticed that the line between self and breath is not so clear.
Now shift your focus and think about someone with whom you already feel a deep connection. Someone with whom you have a deep, perhaps mutually supportive, or emotional or spiritual connection.
Now, with this person in mind, perhaps visualizing them here with you, feeling their presence, noticing your experience of connection, your pirina. You might say, “We are connected.” Or the phrase that comes to mind just recognizing this special Pirina between two people.
Notice everything that happens to your body. As you create space for this connection and acknowledge it, notice the thoughts that arise.
You are probably aware of the emotional tone, this sense of connection. Then, take a moment to think about what connects the two of you. It could be a shared mental space or a shared mission. implicit connection.
Give yourself the space to really recognize how this connection exists and perhaps how this connection is impacting your life and well-being.
And maybe even for this person sitting in meditation with you, how it’s nourishing their life. Then open up a space to this person with Pirina to express whatever is on your mind and heart.
Notice how it feels to express your gratitude to this Pirina. And feel free to thank this person for joining you in your meditation. You begin to allow their images to fade away and you return your awareness to the breath, which is always there, waiting for you.
Then, when you are ready, slowly open your eyes and begin to welcome your surroundings.
And once you start returning to the physical space and time that you’re in, you’ll know if your body has what it needs right now, if you need to move or stretch, and if your body is there. Be aware of your emotional space. .
And if it touched you, what kind of things did you say to this person who is feeling Pirina, if that person was lucky enough to get in touch with you, you can always write in an email. text, make calls, and send texts. If not, just rest knowing it was received on the other side.
Mahara-san, thank you for joining us today. Have a wonderful day!
