A Meditation to Allow Genuine Happiness, Even In Hard Times

When we are going through a difficult season personally, or we are bearing witness to the pain of others, our relationship to genuine joy or happiness can get complicated and confusing. Happiness can feel out of reach, or it can feel like a betrayal, like it’s something we don’t “deserve” in hard times. But strengthening our ability to notice and soak in moments of beauty, tenderness, connection, and gratitude can actually have a fortifying effect on us. It can help us build resilience and fill our empty emotional tanks—which can foster our own healing and make it possible for us to show up in healing ways for others. This week, teacher Wendy O’Leary shares a guided practice to tune our attention to the reality that shimmers right alongside our genuine seasons of struggle. Wendy O’Leary, M.Ed., author and health educator, has three children’s books and an adult book on self-compassion in families. She is a certified mindfulness teacher, parent educator, and self-compassion advocate with expertise in teaching emotional resilience to children and adults. Her next publication is a card deck for children titled "Let’s Grow Happiness," created in collaboration with her colleague Helen Maffini. It is scheduled for release on April 21, 2026 and can be preordered at . The transcription of this guided meditation will be online and in our app at Mindful.org next week. Stay curious, stay inspired. Sign up for our free newsletter or download the app for free at . Show Notes Find more from Wendy O’Leary . If you are looking for an in-depth resource to help build these essential skills of resilience, join Melli O’Brien and a host of other teachers for The Seven Strengths, a FREE 7-day online course happening this May 13-19. Learn more and register at . Go Deeper To explore more about how happiness is not just something we get when things are going well, but an essential human experience, check out these resources from : To get more practice noticing and connecting with happiness, try . And more from Mindful here: Let us know what you thought of this episode of 12 Minute Meditation by leaving a review or by emailing .

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A Meditation to Allow Genuine Happiness, Even In Hard Times is an episode from The Mindful Podcast by mindful.org.

This episode is 00:14:24 long.

This episode was published on Mar 27, 2026.

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