10% Happier With Dan Harris

Welcome to Round II of the Meditation Party. The feedback we got from our first episode was overwhelmingly positive, so we’re going for it again. Meditation Party is an experiment we’re running with a chattier format – more of a morning zoo vibe, but way deeper, of course. The real agenda here is to show that meditation doesn’t have to be a solo death march; it is vastly enhanced by having friends. Dan’s co-hosts in this episode are his two close friends: the great meditation teachers Sebene Selassie and Jeff Warren. Sebene Selassie is based in Brooklyn and describes herself as a “writer, teacher, and immigrant-weirdo.” She teaches meditation on the Ten Percent Happier app and is the author of a great book called, You Belong. Jeff Warren is based in Toronto and is also a writer and meditation teacher who co-wrote the book, Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics with Dan Harris. Jeff also hosts the Consciousness Explorers podcast.In this episode, we talk to Jeff about what it’s like to be a meditation teacher wh

Historically on this show, we want guests who either have skills that they can teach us (i.e. meditation teachers or happiness researchers) or we want people who are willing to get super personal about their interior lives—and today you're gonna meet a bold-faced name who happens to have both qualifications in spades.Mayim Bialik burst onto the scene in the 1990s as the star of the TV show Blossom. Then she stepped away, got a bachelor's and a PhD in neuroscience, and became a mom. She returned to TV with another sitcom, The Big Bang Theory. And now she has a very full plate as the co-host of Jeopardy! and the host of a podcast of her own called Mayim’s Breakdown. Oh, and she’s also written four books, including Girling Up: How to Be Strong, Smart, and Spectacular and Boying Up: How to Be Brave, Bold, and Brilliant. In this episode we talk about:The pressures of being a teen starMayim’s fascination with the brainHow she squares her scientific expertise with her religious beliefsWhy she half-jokingly says

Through the protection of gratitude, the world becomes brighter and more hopeful, and the mind becomes more balanced. Gratitude: cultivate it!About Pascal Auclair:Pascal Auclair has been immersed in Buddhist practice and study since 1997, sitting retreats in Asia and America with revered monastics and lay teachers. He has been mentored by Joseph Goldstein and Jack Kornfield at the Insight Meditation Society in Massachusetts and Spirit Rock Meditation Center in California. He is a co-founder of True North Insight and one of their Guiding Teachers. To find this meditation in the Ten Percent Happier app, you can search for “Feel Good with Gratitude,” or click here: https://app.tenpercent.com/link/content?meditation=87b6a5f2-d37f-45a5-895e-c7bae73e5ac4See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

It's always a big deal when we get the maestro Joseph Goldstein on the show. He's one of the greatest living meditation teachers—and we cover a lot of ground in this conversation both related to meditation and to life.This is the third installment in a series we've been running this month on the Eightfold Path. If you missed the first two episodes, don't worry. Joseph starts our conversation with a brief description and explanation of this pivotal Buddhist list. The list is basically a recipe for living a good life.In this episode we talk about:  How to strike a balance between trying too hard and trying too little in meditationHow to handle your doubts about whether you're meditating correctlyWhat the Buddhists really mean when they say “let it go” What Joseph means when he says, don't waste your sufferingWhy he uses the word ridiculous so much to describe the way our minds workHow the eightfold path encompasses both daily life and formal meditationThe simplest possible definition of mindfulne

Today’s show features one of Dan’s personal musical heroes, Mike Diamond — “Mike D” from the Beastie Boys. Their conversation is wide ranging and covers topics from the role of failure in achieving success to Mike’s personal meditation practice. They say, “never meet your heroes”, but Mike D doesn’t disappoint in this smart and thoughtful discussion. Mike D formed the Beastie Boys with Adam Yauch, aka MCA, in the early 80’s, winning a number of Grammys and spanning a multi-decade career. In 2018, along with his bandmate, Adam Horovitz, Diamond co-authored Beastie Boys Book, which told the story of the band in its own words and reached #1 on The New York Times Best Seller list. A limited series of live shows, in which the two brought stories from the book to life, was captured in the 2020 film Beastie Boys Story. Content Warning: The content is a little mature at points so take care if you’re listening with kids. In this episode we talk about:How Mike reconciles the misogyny of the Beasties early wor

Tame your inner curmudgeon and turn up the good vibes by wishing everyone well. And we mean e v e r y o n e.About Sharon Salzberg:A towering figure in the meditation world, Sharon Salzberg is a prominent teacher & New York Times best-selling author. She has played a crucial role bringing mindfulness and lovingkindness practices to the West.Sharon co-founded the Insight Meditation Society (IMS) alongside Joseph Goldstein and Jack Kornfield and is the author of nine books, including Lovingkindness, Real Happiness, and the most recent Real Life. Sharon lives in New York City and teaches around the world.To find this meditation in the Ten Percent Happier app, you can search for “Loving-Kindness for Everyone,” or click here: https://10percenthappier.app.link/content?meditation=f076298b-88ca-4fb7-a723-941f5e61913dSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Virtue is a tricky topic. It’s often sold to us by religious leaders who are thundering judgmentally, and sometimes hypocritically, down to us from the mountaintop. But from the Buddhist perspective, there is actually a deeply self-interested case for ethics and virtue. The Buddhists are not trying to get you to follow a bunch of very specific rules: they are trying to get you to do no harm because that will make you happy.  This is part two of our series on a venerable Buddhist list called the Noble Eightfold Path. The three middle items on the list all have to do with ethical conduct. They are: right speech, right action, and right livelihood.  Our guest today, Eugene Cash, is gonna talk about this stuff in super practical, non-dogmatic and non-preachy ways. Cash has been a Buddhist teacher since 1990. He's the founding teacher of San Francisco Insight and a senior teacher on the Spirit Rock Teachers Council. His teaching is influenced by many streams of Buddhism— Theravada, Zen and Tibe

Today’s guest is the legendary astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson. Tyson is the director of the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History, the host of the Emmy nominated podcast, Star Talk, and the recipient of 21 honorary doctorates. He also has an asteroid named in his honor.Tyson’s latest book is right up our alley on the show. It's called Starry Messenger: Cosmic Perspectives on Civilization and it’s basically about how taking a scientific perspective can improve your life—and the world.  In this episode we talk about:Applying a scientific lens to our emotionsThe importance of intellectual humilityHow the knowledge of death brings meaning to life Neil’s long view of social mediaWhether we are living in a simulationNeil's personal mental health regimeAnd whether there is intelligent life in the universeFull Shownotes:https://www.tenpercent.com/podcast-episode/neil-degrasse-tyson-594 See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https

Not thinking is not the point of mindfulness. We know, shocking! Emotions and thoughts are inextricably linked: know them to know yourself.About Cara Lai:Cara Lai spent most of her life trying to figure out how to be happy, or at least avoid total misery, which landed her on a meditation cushion for the majority of her adulthood. Throughout many consciousness adventures including a few mind-bendingly long meditation retreats, she has explored the wilderness of the mind, chronic illness, the importance of pleasure, and a wide range of other things that she might get in trouble for mentioning publicly. In the past, Cara has worked as an artist, wilderness guide, social worker and psychotherapist, but at this point she’s given up on being an adult in exchange for an all-out mindfulness rampage. Her teaching is relatable, authentic, funny and sometimes crass, and is accessible for many people. She teaches teens and adults at Inward Bound Mindfulness Education, Spirit Rock, Insight Meditation Society, and UCLA; ul

This episode kicks off our series on the Eightfold Path which will continue on Wednesdays for the next two weeks with Eugene Cash and Joseph Goldstein.DaRa Williams is a trainer, meditation teacher and psychotherapist and has been a meditator for the past 25 years. She is a practitioner of both Vipassana and Ascension meditation and is a graduate of the Spirit Rock/Insight Meditation Society Teacher Training Program and is an IMS Emeritus Guiding Teacher. In this episode we talk about:The first two components of the Eightfold Path: Right View and Right ThinkingHow the Eightfold Path has played out in DaRa’s life The notions of Intuition, Clear Seeing, and Openness And the very tricky skills of renunciation and fostering non-attachment to outcomesFull Shownotes: https://www.tenpercent.com/podcast-episode/dara-williams-592See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Actor Michael Imperioli is best known for a string of memorable onscreen performances that include Goodfellas, The Sopranos, and most recently on The White Lotus. What you may not know is that he has a deep Buddhist practice and has actually grown into something of a meditation teacher. In this episode we talk about:The classic celebrity life crisis that brought Imperioli to Buddhism The importance of consistent practice as a way to get familiar with your mind so that your thoughts and emotions and urges don't own youThe specific Tibetan Buddhist tradition Imperioli practices and what his daily practice looks likeWhether meditation helps him be more creativeHow acting and meditation are similarWhether getting older affects our ability to grok impermanenceWhy Imperioli started teaching meditation onlineHow to meditate off the cushion in daily lifeFull Shownotes: https://www.tenpercent.com/podcast-episode/michael-imperioli-591 See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy

We’re bringing you a special meditation from another podcast that Dan is a fan of – and where he’s been a guest. It’s called The Science of Happiness, and it’s hosted by the great Dacher Keltner, a psychologist and author who has been on this show many times. Every other week, his show releases guided practices called Happiness Breaks. And the one we’re dropping here for you is led by Dekila Chungyalpa, founder and director of the Loka Institute at the Center for Healthy Minds. This meditation is about connecting with nature, and it’s from a series on The Science of Happiness about climate hope. About The Science of Happiness:What does it take to live a happier life? Learn research-tested strategies that you can put into practice today. Hosted by award-winning psychologist Dacher Keltner. Co-produced by PRX and UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center.For more on the upcoming climate hope series on The Science of Happiness, click here. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California

Perhaps nobody is better at helping people unlock themselves than the Buddhist meditation teacher George Mumford who taught meditation to Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant. He's also worked with inmates, police officers, and corporate executives. There’s a reason why they call him the “Performance Whisperer.”George has an incredible story: he began teaching mindfulness and meditation after kicking a serious drug habit, leaving a career as a financial analyst, and then earning a master's in counseling psychology. He's got a new book, it's called Unlock: Embrace Your Greatness. Find the Flow. Discover Success. His first book was called The Mindful Athlete: The Secret to Pure Performance. If you want to hear him talk about that book, we've put links in the show notes to his prior appearances on this podcast. In this episode we talk about:What it means to be in flow and why many of us may be achieving that state more than we thinkHow to challenge negative self-talkThe importance of gratitudeThe importance

Today’s guest is a happiness expert and devout non-meditator. In her latest book Life in Five Senses: How Exploring the Senses Got Me Out of My Head and Into the World, she describes how a routine visit to her eye doctor made her realize she’d been overlooking a key element of happiness: her five senses. Gretchen Rubin is the author of many books, including the New York Times bestsellers Outer Order, Inner Calm; The Four Tendencies; Better Than Before; and The Happiness Project. Her books have sold more than 3.5 million copies worldwide, and have been translated in more than thirty languages. She also hosts the top-ranking, award-winning podcast Happier with Gretchen Rubin. In this episode we talk about:What led Gretchen to explore the five sensesHow we often take our senses for grantedHow our senses work with the brain to impact our perception The relationship between the senses and nostalgia The surprising power of ketchup and vanilla when it comes to the sense of tasteThe sense of heari

When the world feels like a dumpster fire, it helps to remember that your contributions to improve things matter—even the small ones.About Matthew Hepburn:Matthew is a meditation and dharma teacher with more than a decade of teaching experience and a passion for getting real about what it means to live well. He emphasizes humor, technique, and authentic kindness as a means to free the mind up from unnecessary struggle and leave a healthier impact on the world. Beyond Ten Percent Happier, Matthew has taught in prisons, schools, corporate events and continues to teach across North America in buddhist centers offering intensive silent retreats and dharma for urban daily life. To find this meditation in the Ten Percent Happier app, you can search for “Celebrating Small Wins,” or click here: "https://10percenthappier.app.link/content?meditation=54fce040-7e26-4a25-a51a-fc73102db5ad".See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

There’s so much to be grateful for in modern medicine. We can all agree that we would not do as well in a world with no Advil or dentistry. And yet, our guest today, who is a renowned doctor, says modern medicine is overlooking something crucial: the pernicious impact that modern living has on our minds and bodies. In other words, we are surrounded by these hidden societal and structural sources of stress and we aren’t thinking about how to treat and prevent these factors that are degrading our happiness and our immune systems. Dr. Gabor Maté is a bestselling author with an expertise on everything from stress to addiction to ADHD. His latest book is called, The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness, and Healing in a Toxic CultureContent Warning: This episode has mentions of child abuse, sexual trauma, suicide and addictionIn this episode we talk about:What he means by “the myth of normal”How diseases, such as autoimmune conditions, are an “artifact of civilization"How to begin to tackle what Dr. Maté calls, “t

Alexander Dreymon is the star of a great show on Netflix called “The Last Kingdom.” He plays a Viking, so you're literally not going to find a guy who is more stereotypically masculine. But I've gotten to know Alexander recently and he's also incredibly thoughtful. We cover a lot of ground in this conversation: marriage, parenting, anger therapy, sleep, human connection, meditation, masculinity, and, uh, how to show your body on Netflix without developing body dysmorphia. We also talk a lot about his show, which is awesome, although it is coming to an end — just a few days ago, Netflix posted the series finale, a movie-length episode called “Seven Kings Must Die” that wraps up the whole story. In this episode we talk about:how having male friends makes his romantic relationship even betterThe importance of therapy, of silliness and of kindnessthe importance of exercise in his life and how he tries not to get overly attached to his body looking a certain waya whole discussion between the two of us on

Working through fear by anchoring in the breath and body gives you the capacity to be fully available to help when help is needed.About Sebene Selassie:Growing up, Sebene felt like a big weirdo. Born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and raised in white neighborhoods in Washington, D.C., she was a tomboy Black girl who loved Monty Python and UB40. She never believed she belonged. Thirty years ago, she began studying Buddhism as an undergraduate at McGill University where she majored in Comparative Religious Studies. Now, Sebene is a teacher, author, and speaker who teaches that meditation can help us remember our inherent sense of belonging, that our individual freedom affects absolutely everyone and everything, and that our collective freedom depends on each and every one of us. Sebene is a three-time cancer survivor of Stage III and IV cancer.To find this meditation in the Ten Percent Happier app, you can search for “Caring for Vulnerable People,” or click here: https://10percenthappier.app.link/content?meditation=b

You may have heard our interview with Sharon Salzberg earlier this week where we talked about openness, not believing the stories you tell yourself, and why the most powerful tools often seem the most stupid at first. I’m a big fan of hers and everything she does, so we wanted to give you a special preview of her new book, Real Life: The Journey from Isolation to Openness and Freedom.  In Real Life, Sharon sets a path out for us, merging the insights of inspiring voices with her own teachings to:• Uncover a deeper sense of ourselves• Expand our vision of what’s possible for ourselves• Align our words, hearts, and actions with our core values• Navigate loss without getting stuck in bitterness or disconnect• Carry a sense of community with us, even in stormy times• Recover from the emotional effects of crisis• Learn the art of letting go and beginning again• Build emotional intelligence to face times of difficulty without fear• Seek out joy in everyday life, even when things don’t go our way• Befriend

It’s likely uncontroversial to assert that Jennifer Senior is one of our finest living journalists. She’s currently a staff writer at The Atlantic and before that she spent many years at the New York Times and New York magazine. Jennifer’s written on a vast array of topics, but she has a special knack for writing articles about the human condition that go massively, massively, viral. One such hit was a lengthy and extremely moving piece for The Atlantic that won a Pulitzer Prize. It was about a young man who died on 9/11, and the wildly varying ways in which his loved ones experienced grief. That article, called “What Bobby McIlvaine Left Behind,” has now been turned into a book called, On Grief: Love, Loss, Memory.In this interview, we spend a lot of time talking about this truly fascinating yarn, but we also talk about her other articles: one about an eminent happiness researcher who died by suicide, another about why friendships often break up, and a truly delightful recent piece about the puzzling gap bet