Dan Harris

What it is, how beginners can get a taste, the dangers of striving, and whether tech can make it easier.

Dr. Matthew D. Sacchet, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor and the Director of the Meditation Research Program at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital (Mass General). Since 2012, he has authored more than 120 publications, presented more than 150 times at international, national, regional and local conferences and speaker series, and been cited more than 8,000 times.

In this episode we talk about:

• What Matthew's learning about advanced states of meditation, and what they do to the brain
• What relevance advanced meditation might have for the rest of us
• How we might get a taste of these states ourselves
• Whether technology might ultimately help some of us advance more quickly
• The psychological risks of practicing deep end meditation

Related Episodes:

• Dr. Richie Davidson, Daniel Goleman – Altered Traits: Science Reveals How Meditation Changes Your Mind, Brain and Body
• Nirvana | Joseph Goldstein
• A Meditator in the Arena | Sam Harris
• Willoughby Britton, Jared Lindahl -- Does Meditation Have a Dark Side

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Additional Resources:

• Meditation Research Program at Harvard
• Matthew Sacchet on X (Twitter)
• Matthew Sacchet's LinkedIn

Featuring a meditation teacher, author, professor, and dedicated experimenter with these molecules.

Jay Michaelson is a journalist, meditation teacher, rabbi, and professor of religious studies whose work for the last several years has been focused on psychedelics, meditation, and spirituality.

Jay is a field scholar at Emory University's Center for Psychedelics and Spirituality, and a fellow at Harvard Law School's project on Psychedelic Use, Law, and Spiritual Experience. He is currently a visiting professor at Harvard Law School, teaching courses on psychedelics, law, and religion.

In this episode we talk about:

• Everything you should know about psychedelics if you're wondering whether to give them a try
• What the research shows thus far
• The differences among various compounds
• The overlap between meditation and psychedelics
• The difference between spirituality and healing
• The dizzying question of whether these medicines have a separate consciousness
• And more

Related Episodes:

• Psychedelics and Meditation | Michael Pollan - by DB - Dan Harris
• What to do About Eco-Anxiety | Jay Michaelson

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Additional Resources:

• Both/And with Jay Michaelson
• A special guided meditation from Jay to accompany this episode
• Two free upcoming events:
• Emory Science on Spiritual Health Conference (free, online)
• Harvard Symposium on Psychedelics in Monotheistic Traditions (which Jay co-chairing)

A node of sanity in these challenging times.

Bill Weir is America's leading climate reporter. His new book is a celebration of our planet and human brilliance. It is a hopeful plea for communities to rally around nature, new ideas and each other, to create the kind of resilience that lasts generations.

In this episode we talk about:

• How a hotter earth is increasingly changing our lives
• Why some experts say the climate issue is half physics, half psychology
• How to work with feelings like rage and despair
• Why so many of us look away from the climate crisis
• Why acceptance is not surrender
• And the utility of class psychological frameworks, including Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs and Elisabeth Kübler-Ross' Five Stages of Grief

Related Episodes:

• What to do About Eco-Anxiety | Jay Michaelson

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Additional Resources:

• Order Life as We Know It (Can Be)

One of my favorite episodes that we've recorded in a long while.

Joseph Goldstein is a cofounder of the Insight Meditation Society and the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies, both in Barre, Massachusetts. He is the author of Mindfulness: A Practical Guide to Awakening, A Heart Full of Peace, One Dharma: The Emerging Western Buddhism, Insight Meditation and The Experience of Insight: A Simple and Direct Guide to Buddhist Meditation. Joseph has studied and practiced meditation since 1967 under the guidance of eminent teachers from India, Burma, and Tibet and he leads Insight Meditation retreats around the world.

This year, IMS printed a collection of Joseph's poetry, titled Dreamscapes of the Mind: Poems and Reflections. The book includes 21 poems and almost a dozen short verses.

We have made copies available for a suggested donation of $12 to support IMS's Retreat Center scholarship fund (shipping to U.S. addresses only).

For a copy of Joseph's book, visit give.dharma.org/JGpoetry

In this episode we talk about:

• Impermanence, impersonality, and the vast spaciousness of the mind
• Mortality
• How we can use mindfulness to be more creative
• Joseph reads one of his favorite poems (and a couple others)
• Thoughts on how to approach death
• What Joseph means by dreamscape of the mind
• Deep Dharma topics like Nirvana, rebirth, taking refuge and more

Related Episodes:

• Joseph Goldstein + Mark Epstein On: How To Handle Unwanted Experiences, How Not To Waste Your Suffering & The Overlap Between Buddhism + Therapy
• I Just Did A 10-Day Silent Meditation Retreat With Joseph Goldstein. Here's What I Learned
• Dr. Mark Epstein On: How To Transform Your Neuroses Into "Little Shmoos"
• Nirvana | Joseph Goldstein

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Additional Resources:

• For a copy of Joseph's book, visit give.dharma.org/JGpoetry

What confidence does to your brain, why it helps with anxiety, and how to get it if you don't already have it. Plus, the problem with overconfidence.

Ian Robertson is a Professor Emeritus in Psychology at Trinity College and was the founding director of Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience. He has written five books, the latest of which is called, How Confidence Works.

In this episode we talk about:

• What confidence actually is
• How to boost confidence
• The dangers of overconfidence, and how to guard against it
• The role of anxiety and failure
• The "Oscar effect", and why winners tend to live longer
• How to reframe anxiety as excitement
• The role of gender, race, and class on confidence levels
• The importance of distancing yourself from confidence saboteurs
• And much more

Related Episodes:

• A Buddhist Recipe For Confidence | Ethan Nichtern
• Do You Feel Like an Imposter? | Dr. Valerie Young (Co-Interviewed by Dan's Wife, Bianca!)

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A candid, useful, and hilarious conversation.

Chodo Robert Campbell Sensei is a Zen teacher, bereavement specialist, grief counselor and a recognized leader for those suffering with the complexities of death & dying, aging, and sobriety. The educational non-profit he co-founded, the New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care, touches thousands of lives every year through its numerous educational programs, contemplative retreats, and Soto Zen Buddhist practices. Chodo has been featured in the New York Times, PBS, CBS Sunday Morning and other media outlets.

Koshin Paley Ellison is an author, Zen teacher, Jungian psychotherapist, leader in contemplative care, and co-founder of an educational non-profit called the New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care. His books, grounded in Buddhist wisdom and practice, have gained national attention. Through its numerous educational programs, contemplative retreats, and Soto Zen Buddhist practices, the New York Zen Center touches thousands of lives every year. Koshin has appeared on dozens of podcasts and his work has been featured in the New York Times, PBS, CBS Sunday Morning and other media outlets.

In this episode we talk about:

• We get really real on the role of early childhood trauma and how that can show up in our relationships
• The importance of understanding your partner's operating manual and how to come up with rules of the road
• The role of humor in relationships—how it can be used to successfully name the difficult parts of our partner's personality—and how that can go wrong
• Why it's important to do your own work outside of your relationship—in therapy and meditation or whatever is useful to you
• And the value of learning to be uncomfortable… together

Related Episodes:

• How (and Why) to Hug Your Inner Dragons | Richard Schwartz
• Escape From Zombieland | Koshin Paley Ellison
• The Surprising Power of "Healthy Embarrassment" | Koshin Paley Ellison
• The Art of Growing Up, Jerry Colonna
• Jerry Colonna, 'CEO Whisperer' and Reboot.io Founder - Dan Harris
• This Neurobiologist Wants You To Ask One Question To Reframe Anxiety, Depression, And Trauma | Dr. Bruce Perry (Co-Interviewed by Dan's Wife, Bianca!)
• The Anti-Diet | Evelyn Tribole

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Why self-inquiry is the first ingredient to a healthy relationship.

Jillian Turecki is a renowned relationship coach, teacher, author, and host of the podcast, Jillian On Love. Fueled by an insatiable curiosity about what makes a relationship thrive, Jillian has helped thousands over the last 20 years through her teachings, courses, and writing to revolutionize their relationship with themselves so that they transform their romantic relationships.

In this episode we talk about:

• The difference between lust and love
• How to make the idea of self love more than an empty cliché
• How to be honest with your partner
• The myth of finding "the one"
• How to be your best self even after you've exited the honeymoon stage
• And why, if you want a successful relationship, you have to make peace with your parents

Related Episodes:

• #510. Me, a Love Story: How Being OK With Yourself Makes You Better at Everything | Sharon Salzberg
• #464. How to Keep Friendships From Imploding | Esther Perel
• Esther Perel on the One Thing That Will Improve the Quality of Your Life

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Data-driven, dharma-informed, Dan-tested strategies for improving relationships of all kinds.

In this episode we talk about:

• The value of having platonic friends in addition to your spouse or partner
• A key communication skill that Dan picked up from the writer and researcher Brené Brown
• How humor can help your relationships – and how it can hurt
• A cognitive reframe from couples therapist Esther Perel
• How to manage conflict in a healthy way
• And one of Dan's favorite Saturday Night Live sketches: Man Park

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Practical strategies for managing our emotional lives.

Dr. Ethan Kross, author of the international bestseller Chatter, is one of the world's leading experts on emotion regulation. An award-winning professor in the University of Michigan's top ranked Psychology Department and its Ross School of Business, he is the Director of the Emotion and Self-Control Laboratory.

In this episode we talk about:

• What an emotion actually is
• The myth that we should only experience positive emotions
• Why sometimes avoidance is a smart strategy
• The six emotional "shifters" we can use to regulate our emotions
• The role of our senses
• How to use mental time travel to shift perspective
• And the role of our surroundings, relationships, and culture

Related Episodes:

• #365 The Voice in Your Head | Ethan Kross
• The Neuroscience Of: Emotional Regulation, Relationships, Body Image, And Intuition | Emma Seppälä

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How your reliance on being liked, being comfortable, and being perfect is blocking you from making the change you want.

Dr. Rangan Chatterjee is one of the most influential doctors in the UK with over two decades of experience. He now hosts Europe's biggest health podcast, Feel Better, Live More, he is the author of 5 Sunday Times bestsellers, he regularly appears on BBC television, national radio and his TED talk, How To Make Disease Disappear, has almost 6 million views.

In this episode we talk about:

• Why we have an overreliance on experts and perfection
• Barriers and solutions to long term change
• How to stop people pleasing (or become a "people pleaser in recovery")
• Tips for neutralizing emotional discomfort and stress
• The "life is an escalator" myth, and our relationship with complaining
• How to adapt to adversity without feeding our bad habits
• Escaping the trap of busyness
• And much more

Related Episodes:

• Why Your Bad Habits (and Addictions) May Be Getting Worse - and How Mindfulness Can Help | Dr. Jud Brewer
• How To Actually Keep Your New Year's Resolutions | Dan Solo Episode

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A Buddhist doctor/nun on how we're all addicted to something—and how to reduce craving.

Sister Dang Nghiem, MD, ("Sister D") was born in 1968 in Vietnam during the Tet Offensive, the daughter of a Vietnamese mother and an American soldier. She lost her mother at the age of twelve and immigrated to the United States at the age of seventeen with her brother. Living in various foster homes, she learned English and went on to earn a medical degree from the University of California – San Francisco. After suffering further tragedy and loss, she quit her practice as a doctor to travel to Plum Village monastery in France founded by Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh, where she was ordained a nun in 2000, and given the name Dang Nghiem, which means adornment with nondiscrimination. She is the author of a memoir, Healing: A Woman's Journey from Doctor to Nun (2010), and Mindfulness as Medicine: A Story of Healing and Spirit (2015).

This episode is part of our monthlong Do Life Better series.

We talk about:

• Sister D's Buddhist version of the 12 step program, which is a combination of two canonical buddhist lists: the 4 Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path
• How willpower doesn't fit into the Buddhist path of understanding and working with addiction
• How to change addiction at its root
• Practical applications of mindfulness
• Self-compassion
• The importance of social support
• Her thoughts on our relationships to our phones
• And more

Related Episodes:

• Do Life Better
• This Episode Will Make You Stronger | Sister Dang Nghiem
• The Science Of Manifestation | James Doty

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How to use your innate mindfulness to turn the volume down, or even uproot, your everyday addictions.

Dr. Judson Brewer is the Director of Research and Innovation at the Mindfulness Center and professor in Behavioral and Social Sciences and Psychiatry at the Schools of Public Health & Medicine at Brown University. He is the author of several books, including The Craving Mind, Unwinding Anxiety, and The Hunger Habit.

This episode is part of our monthlong Do Life Better series.

We talk about:

• Jud's definition of addiction
• The difference between the scientific view and the Buddhist view on addiction
• The buddhist concept of Dependent origination
• Dopamine and dopamine fasting
• A three gear plan for sticking to your resolutions
• Judson's disenchantment with the term "mindfulness"
• What we need to know about willpower
• The two types of stress – and its impact on our behavior
• What makes us resilient – and why it matters
• How community plays a role in making habit changes
• And finally, a friendly debate on whether there is such a thing as healthy anger?

Related Episodes:

• Do Life Better
• Get Fit Sanely
• The Anti-Diet | Evelyn Tribole
• The Science of Why You Eat When You're Not Hungry–And How to Stop | Judson Brewer
• Modern Life Is Making You Sick, but It Doesn't Have To | Gabor Maté
• Why We're All Suffering from Racial Trauma (Even White People) -- and How to Handle It | Resmaa Menakem
• I Just Went Through A Career Earthquake: This Is What's Next.
• How to Break Your Anxiety Habit | Judson Brewer

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Our favorite playlists on: Anxiety, Sleep, Relationships, Most Popular Episodes

Full Shownotes: https://www.meditatehappier.com/podcast/tph/judson-brewer-898

Additional Resources:

• MindShift Recovery

A podcast pioneer on failure, resilience, luck, work/life balance, and the power of questions.

Guy Raz has been instrumental in creating some of the most iconic podcasts in the world, including Wondery's How I Built This, Wow in the World and TED Radio Hour. The New York Times has described him as "one of the most popular podcasters in history."

This episode is part of our monthlong Do Life Better series.

We talk about:

• The challenge–and gift–of failure
• Getting comfortable with discomfort and risk
• The notion of luck
• The balance between your relationships and your work
• Why scale isn't always the answer
• Success vs. happiness
• And much more

Related Episodes:

• Do Life Better
• Sanely Ambitious
• #321 The Joy of Being Wrong | Adam Grant
• Rethinking Success | Mia Birdsong

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Our favorite playlists on: Anxiety, Sleep, Relationships, Most Popular Episodes

Full Shownotes: https://meditatehappier.com/podcast/tph/guy-raz-896

How to be less stressed and more productive.

Nolitha Tsengiwe, a Dharma teacher and board member at Dharmagiri Retreat Center, in South Africa. She is also a graduate of Insight Meditation Society teacher training.

This episode is part of our monthlong Do Life Better series.

In this episode we talk about:

• How to weave mindfulness into your day without requiring a big formal sit
• How to have healthy conflict in the workplace
• Our attempts to explain the ineffable
• And much more

Related Episodes:

• Do Life Better
• Sanely Ambitious

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Our favorite playlists on: Anxiety, Sleep, Relationships, Most Popular Episodes

Full Shownotes: https://www.meditatehappier.com/podcast/tph/nolitha-895

Additional Resources:

• Listen to Nolitha's talks on DharmaSeed

Burnout is on the rise. Two experts show us how to combat it.

Dr. Kristin Neff is an Associate Professor of Educational Psychology at the University of Texas at Austin. She is a pioneer in the field of self-compassion research, conducting the first empirical studies on self-compassion more than twenty years ago.

Christopher Germer is a clinical psychologist and lecturer on psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. He also co-developed a highly impactful program called Mindful Self-Compassion, which has been taught to over 100,000 people across the world.

This episode is part of our monthlong Do Life Better series.

We talk about:

• How to know if you are burnt out
• The three main symptoms of burnout, their causes, and their health consequences
• The three components of self-compassion and how they can help
• The inner critic and why we kick our own asses
• How to draw appropriate boundaries with your boss
• The difference between tender and fierce self-compassion
• Tools for dealing with perfectionism without letting go of high standards

Related Episodes:

• Do Life Better
• Sanely Ambitious
• Kryptonite for the Inner Critic | Kristin Neff
• #360 Self-Compassion Ain't Always Soft | Kristin Neff
• #310 The Scientific Case for Self-Compassion | Chris Germer
• For the Burned Out, Fried, and Exhausted | Emily & Amelia Nagoski

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Our favorite playlists on: Anxiety, Sleep, Relationships, Most Popular Episodes

Full Shownotes: https://meditatehappier.com/podcast/tph/neff-germer-894

Additional Resources:

• Self-compassion event with Kristin Neff & Dan Harris
• The Self-Compassion Test
• The Center for Mindful Self Compassion

A candid conversation about money: How much is enough? How to find real security?

Sebene Selassie, an author and meditation teacher. She writes the popular newsletter Ancestors to Elements and her first book is called, You Belong.

Jeff Warren is also an author and meditation teacher. He writes the popular Substack newsletter Home Base and is the coauthor, along with me, of a book called Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics. And he is the co-host of the mind/bod adventure pod.

This episode is part of our monthlong Do Life Better series.

We talk about:

• How much is enough
• The illusion of security
• The importance of being able to talk to your friends about this stuff
• The power of identifying your own money story, in other words, finding the point of origination for your own neuroses on the subject

Related Episodes:

• Do Life Better
• How to Avoid the Toilet Vortex of Anxiety | Sebene Selassie and Jeff Warren
• How to Stay Calm No Matter What's Happening | Sebene Selassie and Jeff Warren
• Meditation Party: The "Sh*t Is Fertilizer" Edition | Sebene Selassie & Jeff Warren
• Meditation Party with Sebene Selassie and Jeff Warren: Psychedelics, ADHD, Waking Up From Distraction, and Singing Without Being Self-Conscious
• Meditation Party: Magic, Mystery, Intuition, Tattoos, and Non-Efforting | Sebene Selassie and Jeff Warren

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Our favorite playlists on: Anxiety, Sleep, Relationships, Most Popular Episodes

Full Shownotes: https://www.meditatehappier.com/podcast/tph/meditation-party-892

Additional Resources:

• Register for Meditation Party at Omega, October 24 - 26, 2025
• Allison Strickland's GoFundMe

A Wharton professor shares practical tips on increasing your financial security, and eradicating the taboo around financial conversations.

Dr. Wendy De La Rosa is an Assistant Professor at The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. She focuses on behavioral science to improve consumers' financial well-being.

This episode is part of our monthlong Do Life Better series.

We talk about:

• Psychological and technological tools for taking control of your finances
• How to get a handle on small frequent purchases
• The relationship between our environment and our finances
• Financial shame
• How our parents relationship with money impacts us as adults
• The G.I. Joe Fallacy, and the misconception that "knowing is half the battle" when it comes to our financial health
• 10 financial questions to ask your romantic partner
• How to eliminate the taboo of financial conversations
• And much more

Related Episodes:

• Do Life Better
• 543. The Psychology of Money | Morgan Housel
• #402. How To Work Around Your Own Irrationality | Richard Thaler
• #345 How to Change Your Habits | Katy Milkman

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Full Shownotes: https://www.meditatehappier.com/podcast/tph/de-la-rosa-891

The science and dharma of mindful eating. How it can stop over eating—and how to actually make the habit.

Brother Pháp Lưu is an ordained monk in the Plum Village tradition started by Zen Master Thích Nhất Hạnh. He's worked with scientists at Dartmouth College and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health to develop research on the effect of Plum Village mindfulness practices on children.

This episode is part of our monthlong Do Life Better series.

We talk about:

• The health benefits of mindful eating
• The line between moderation and restriction
• The five contemplations before eating
• The basic steps of mindful eating
• How to ensure mindful eating doesn't feel like a chore or burden
• Fasting and our culture's dysregulated relationship to food
• Mindful consumption in general
• The four nutriments
• And much more

Related Episodes:

• Do Life Better
• Get Fit Sanely
• The Anti-Diet | Evelyn Tribole
• The Science of Why You Eat When You're Not Hungry–And How to Stop | Judson Brewer

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Our favorite playlists on: Anxiety, Sleep, Relationships, Most Popular Episodes

Full Shownotes: https://www.meditatehappier.com/podcast/tph/phap-luu-889

What exercise does to your brain—and how to actually do it regularly.

Wendy Suzuki is a Professor of Neural Science and Psychology at New York University, where she is also the first Asian-American Dean of the College of Arts and Science. She is the author of two books, Good Anxiety and Healthy Brain, Happy Life.

This episode is part of our monthlong Do Life Better series.

We talk about:

• How exercise not only enhances cognitive function but also protects against age-related cognitive decline and neurodegenerative diseases.
• The difference between cardio and strength training
• Whether it matters if you track your steps
• How to sustain your motivation to exercise
• And practical tips on how to start, restart or increase an exercise habit
• We also talk about the brain benefits of sleep, meditation, and healthy eating (with a detour into ways to counteract the potentially unhealthy obsession with being healthy)
• And finally, we talk about the counterintuitive benefits of anxiety

Related Episodes:

• Do Life Better
• Get Fit Sanely
• Sleep Better
• The Anti-Diet | Evelyn Tribole

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Our favorite playlists on: Anxiety, Sleep, Relationships, Most Popular Episodes

Full Shownotes: https://www.meditatehappier.com/podcast/tph/wendy-suzuki-888

Dan briefly whittles down his top 10 takeaways from the science of behavior change.

In this episode we talk about:

• How our brain's evolution for short-term survival makes long-term goals harder
• Picking the right goals
• Making it easy
• Leveraging fresh starts
• How to make goals a team sport
• The crucial role of mindfulness and self-compassion

This episode is part of our monthlong Do Life Better series.

Related Episodes:

The Science of Making – And Keeping – New Year's Resolutions | Hal Hershfield

How To Change Your Habits | Katy Milkman

Why Your Bad Habits (And Addictions) May Be Getting Worse – And How Mindfulness Can Help | Dr. Jud Brewer

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Our favorite playlists on: Anxiety, Sleep, Relationships, Most Popular Episodes

Full Shownotes: www.meditatehappier.com/podcast/tph/dan-solo-habit-formation

Additional Resources:

• Download the Happier Meditation app today.

Contemplating your own death can feel like a massive bummer at first, but there's good news: how you react to that inescapable fact really matters.

Vinny Ferraro has practiced insight meditation (vipassanā) since the mid-90s. He's the Guiding Teacher of the Big Heart City Sangha in San Francisco and has led a weekly sitting group for almost two decades.

As a fully empowered Dharma Teacher thru Spirit Rock/IMS, he has taught residential retreats at Spirit Rock, Insight Meditation Society, and the Esalen Institute. Currently, he leads Spirit Rock's Year to Live course and teaches retreats and daylongs through Big Heart City and meditation centers across the country.

He is a respected leader in developing and implementing interventions for at-risk populations. leading groups in schools, juvenile halls and prisons since 1987. He has led emotional intelligence workshops for over 100,000 youth on four continents.

In this episode we talk about:

• Why it's important to think about your own death even if you're not expecting it anytime soon
• The distinction between the actual conditions of your life and how much you suffer
• A practice called the five Daily Remembrances, which Dan started doing himself right after we recorded this — and which has made a real difference for him
• And some of other practices they do in the class, including the "life review" and "housekeeping"

Related Episodes:

Three Buddhist Practices For Getting Your Sh*t Together | Vinny Ferraro

How Thinking About Death Can Improve Your Life | Alua Arthur

Join the waiting list for A Year To Live at Spirit Rock.

Find out more about the Young Adult Retreat at Spirit Rock (taught by Vinny Ferraro, Matthew Brensilver, Cara Lai, and Hakim Tafari).

Use code TENPERCENT for 10% off these two courses at Spirit Rock:

Anxiety as Teacher: A Dharma and Yoga Daylong

Cultivating the Beautiful Factors of Mind

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Our favorite playlists on: Anxiety, Sleep, Relationships, Most Popular Episodes

Full Shownotes: www.meditatehappier.com/podcast/tph/vinny-ferraro-a-year-to-live

Additional Resources:

• Download the Happier Meditation app today.

New episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for free, with 1-week early access for Wondery+ subscribers.

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"Radical self-love" — what it is and how to do it.

It is incredibly common for many of us humans, whatever our gender, to be at war with our bodies -- trying to live up to the people we see in the movies, on social media, or even the versions of ourselves in old pictures. This never-enough-ness can lead to an ambient level of self-loathing that can be incredibly destructive. That's where "radical self-love" comes in.

Our guest today is Sonya Renee Taylor. She is the author of three books, including The Body is Not an Apology: The Power of Radical Self-Love. She is the Founder and Radical Executive Officer of The Body is Not An Apology. She has come to this work as a result of her own personal pain, as a Black woman inhabiting a body that she says does not conform to societal norms.

In this conversation, we talk about defining radical self-love (and why she believes it's our natural state), tools for cultivating radical self-love, and the connection between being OK with yourself and the larger society.

Full Shownotes: www.meditatehappier.com/podcast/tph/sonya-renee-taylor-rerun

Additional Resources:

• Download the Happier Meditation app today.

New episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for free, with 1-week early access for Wondery+ subscribers.

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Very few of us relish chaos and disruption, but they are facts of life, given the nonnegotiable nature of change. In this episode with Zenju Earthlyn Manuel, we're going to talk about how to tune into the value of disruption, and learn how to sit with the chaos.

Zenju Earthlyn Manuel is an ordained Zen priest, holds a Ph.D., and worked for decades as a social science researcher and development director for non-profit organizations. She is also a prolific author.

In this conversation we'll explore:

• what to do with the unknown and not having any answers
• the power of a "sip of silence" (her term)
• what she means by the phrase "death as a doorway to tenderness"
• how she defines tenderness - a word that can easily get bogged down in sloppy sentimentality
• and what she meant when she wrote "I'm not advocating love as an answer to all of the ills of the world. Then again, it is just that simple to be love."

Content Warning: There are brief mentions of assault; spiritual, sexual, and substance abuse; and racism, including an incident Zenju experienced herself.

Full Shownotes: www.meditatehappier.com/podcast/tph/zenju-earthlyn-manuel-rerun

This episode was originally published in October 2021.

New episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for free, with 1-week early access for Wondery+ subscribers.

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Can mindfulness really pull you out of a spiral of self-judgment? Don't you need to be judgmental sometimes? What's the difference between being discerning and judgmental?

Description:

Meditation and mindfulness doesn't uproot your capacity to be judgmental, but it can help you see the value in being judgmental by learning how to work with the judging mind.

La Sarmiento has been practicing Vipassana meditation since 1998. La is a mentor for the Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Program, a teacher with Cloud Sangha, and a contributor to the Happier Meditation app.

In this episode we talk about:

• How mindfulness can help us identify when we're being judgmental
• The difference between discernment and judgment
• How it can be so delicious to be judgmental of others – but why it's actually harmful to ourselves and others
• The four questions to ask when we notice ourselves going into judgment mode
• How to operationalize the phrase "am I suffering right now?"
• Investigating the motivations behind striving for success
• Why owning up to being a jerk is sometimes the exact right answer

Full Shownotes: www.meditatehappier.com/podcast/tph/la-sarmiento-rerun-2024

Where to find La Sarmiento online:

Website: www.lasarmiento.com

Additional Resources:

Download the Happier Meditation app today.

New episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for free, with 1-week early access for Wondery+ subscribers.

---

Equanimity: what it is, what it isn't, and how to get it.

Guest Kamala Masters was one of the teachers at Dan's first ever meditation retreat. In this episode she dives into how to develop equanimity and shares her story of learning how to practice meditation during her everyday life while raising three children on her own.

Kamala Masters has been meditating since the 1970s, first with Anagarika Munindra, who was Joseph Goldstein's first teacher, and then with the Burmese master Sayadaw U Pandita with whom she twice temporarily ordained as a Buddhist nun. More recently, she's been training with another Burmese master we've talked about here on the show, Sayadaw U Tejaniya. She is a Guiding Teacher at the Insight Meditation Society, and the co-founder of the Vipassana Metta Foundation, which developed the Maui Dharma Sanctuary.

In this conversation we talk about:

• What is equanimity?
• The most common misconception about equanimity
• The near and far enemies of equanimity
• The power and limitations of setting intentions

Full Shownotes: https://meditatehappier.com/podcast/tph/kamala-masters-rerun

Where to find Kamala Masters online:

Website: Vipassana Metta on Maui

Additional Resources:

Download the Happier Meditation app today.

New episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for free, with 1-week early access for Wondery+ subscribers.

---

Dan and Executive Producer, DJ Cashmere, pull back the curtain on what we do, how we do it—and what's coming next.

In this episode we talk about:

• An exciting New Year's series reveal and upcoming meditation challenge
• What goes into making the show–and why we do it
• The ins and outs of starting a new business
• And much more

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Our favorite playlists on: Anxiety, Sleep, Relationships, Most Popular Episodes

Full Shownotes: https://meditatehappier.com/podcast/tph/bts-878

New episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for free, with 1-week early access for Wondery+ subscribers.

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How your blindspots hurt your decision-making— and how to fix it.

Anu Gupta is an educator, lawyer, scientist, and the founder and CEO of BE MORE with Anu, an education technology benefit corporation that trains professionals across corporate, nonprofit, and government sectors to advance DEIB and wellness by breaking bias. His work has reached 300+ organizations training more than 80,000 professionals impacting over 30 million lives. Gupta holds a JD from NYU Law, MPhil in Development Studies from Cambridge University, and BA in International Relations and Middle Eastern & Islamic Studies from NYU. As a gay immigrant of color, he came to the work of breaking bias after almost ending his life due to lifelong experiences with racism, homophobia, and Islamophobia. The realization that bias can be unlearned helped lead him out of that dark point and inspired a lifelong mission to build a global movement for social healing based on principles of mindfulness and compassion. A peer-reviewed author, he has written and spoken extensively, including on the TED stage, the Oprah Conversation, Fast Company, Newsweek, and Vogue Business. He is the author of Breaking Bias: Where Stereotypes and Prejudices Come From—and the Science-Backed Method to Unravel Them.

In this episode we talk about:

• The 5 causes of bias
• The dis-utility of shame
• What has – and hasn't – been working in DEI trainings
• Contemplative practices, on and off the cushion, for breaking bias
• And his response to skeptics

Related Episodes:

• Why You're Not Seeing the World Clearly— and How to Fix It | Jessica Nordell
• The Self-Interested Case for Examining Your Biases | John Biewen
• Dolly Chugh, How Good People Fight Bias
• Rhonda Magee, Law Professor Using Mindfulness to Defeat Bias
• How to Call People In (Instead of Calling Them Out) | Loretta Ross

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Our favorite playlists on: Anxiety, Sleep, Relationships, Most Popular Episodes

Full Shownotes: https://happierapp.com/podcast/tph/anu-gupta-877

New episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for free, with 1-week early access for Wondery+ subscribers.

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The upside of the often misunderstood "tribalism".

Michael Morris is the Chavkin-Chang Professor of Leadership at Columbia Business School as well as a Professor in its Psychology Department. Outside of academia, Professor Morris has consulted with and conducted executive training workshops for hundreds of clients across the globe, including Fortune 100 firms, governments, and the Obama and Clinton campaigns. He lives in New York City. His latest book is called Tribal: How The Cultural Instincts That Divide Us Can Help Bring Us Together.

Related Episodes:

• How Turning Habits Into Rituals Can Help You At Home, At Work, And When You're Anxious | Michael Norton

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Full Shownotes: https://happierapp.com/podcast/tph/michael-morris-876

New episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for free, with 1-week early access for Wondery+ subscribers.

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A famed author and humorist takes a deep dive into grief (with Dr. Bianca Harris as co-host).

Sloane Crosley is the author of The New York Times bestselling books Grief Is for People, How Did You Get This Number, and I Was Told There'd Be Cake. She is also the author of Look Alive Out There, Cult Classic and The Clasp, both of which have been optioned for film. She served as editor of The Best American Travel Writing series and is featured in The Library of America's 50 Funniest American Writers, The Best American Nonrequired Reading, Phillip Lopate's The Contemporary American Essay and others. She was the inaugural columnist for The New York Times Op-Ed "Townies" series, a contributing editor at Interview Magazine, and a columnist for The Village Voice, Vanity Fair, The Independent, Black Book, Departures and The New York Observer. She is a contributing editor at Vanity Fair. She has taught at Columbia University and The Yale Writers' Workshop.

In this episode we talk about:

• A series of consecutive losses that Sloane endured
• The concept of cumulative grief
• Sloane's version of the five stages of grief
• Her beef with acceptance
• Bibliotherapy as a source of healing
• And much more

Related Episodes:

The Science Of Grief: What Helps, What Doesn't, And Why We Don't Talk About It Enough | Cody Delistraty

How To Talk To Yourself When Things Suck | Sam Sanders

#450. The Science of Loss and Recovery | Mary-Frances O'Connor

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Our favorite playlists on: Anxiety, Sleep, Relationships, Most Popular Episodes

Full Shownotes: https://happierapp.com/podcast/tph/sloane-crosley-874

Additional Resources:

• Download the Happier app today: https://my.happierapp.com/link/download
• Anxiety: The Missing Stage of Grief: A Revolutionary Approach to Understanding and Healing the Impact of Loss
• All My Puny Sorrows
• Otherwise: New & Selected Poems By Jane Kenyon

New episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for free, with 1-week early access for Wondery+ subscribers.

---

Smart strategies that emerged from a brutal year.

Sam Sanders is an award-winning reporter, radio host and podcaster. He co-hosts the podcast Vibe Check with Zach Stafford and Saeed Jones. He also currently hosts The Sam Sanders Show from KCRW. Check out the album he mentioned in the episode, Caroline Rose's The Art of Forgetting.

This is part 2 in a 3-part series we're running on grief.

In this episode we talk about:

• The fact that there is no right way to deal with grief
• The value of feeling your feelings — even though it sucks
• Why it can be helpful to take breaks from your grief without guilt
• The importance of joy and play
• The changing nature of grief
• What it means to be "anointed" by grief
• And what it looks like to maintain a relationship with someone even after they've died

Related Episodes:

• How (and Why) to Hug Your Inner Dragons | Richard Schwartz
• Kryptonite for the Inner Critic | Kristin Neff
• The Voice in Your Head | Ethan Kross
• Jonathan Van Ness on Shame, Shopping, Bodies, and Hope

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Our favorite playlists on: Anxiety, Sleep, Relationships, Most Popular Episodes

Full Shownotes: https://www.tenpercent.com/tph/podcast-episode/sam-sanders-873

New episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for free, with 1-week early access for Wondery+ subscribers.

---

A journalist explores one of humanity's most brutal and unavoidable experiences.

Cody Delistraty is a writer and speechwriter, most recently working as the culture editor at the Wall Street Journal Magazine. He has written for The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Atlantic, and was the European arts columnist for The Paris Review. He has degrees in politics from New York University and in history from the University of Oxford. British Vogue named him a best young writer of the year, and he has given talks about art and creativity to companies like PwC. He lives in New York City.

In this episode we talk about:

• Why our culture is so repressed when it comes to grief
• We dive into the many experiments that Cody launched to help cope with loss; from book and laughter therapy, to psilocybin and AI
• The concept of grief as an addiction
• The importance of rituals
• The scientific possibility of deleting our memories to avoid pain
• And how to live along side of grief when there is no cure

Related Episodes:

Abby Wambach On: Grief, Addiction, And Moving From External To Internal Validation

#583. Jennifer Senior On: Grief, Happiness, Friendship Breakups, and Why We Feel Younger Than Our Actual Age

Joe DiNardo, Grief and Meditation

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Our favorite playlists on: Anxiety, Sleep, Relationships, Most Popular Episodes

Full Shownotes: https://happierapp.com/podcast/tph/cody-delistraty-872

Additional Resources:

Download the Happier app today: https://my.happierapp.com/link/download

The Grief Cure: Looking for the End of Loss

New episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for free, with 1-week early access for Wondery+ subscribers.

---

This scientist says that walking is one of the best things you can do for yourself. Here are some ways you can incorporate it into your life.

Today we're going to talk about something so obvious, but so incredibly powerful. Walking. This is the third of a three part mini-series we're doing focused on the benefits of spending time outdoors.

Dr. Keltner is one of the world's foremost emotion scientists. He is a professor of psychology at UC Berkeley and the director of the Greater Good Science Center. He has over 200 scientific publications and six books, including Born to Be Good, The Compassionate Instinct, The Power Paradox, and Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life. He has written for many popular outlets, from The New York Times to Slate, and has consulted extensively for Google, Apple, and Pinterest, on issues related to emotion and well-being. He also hosts the podcast The Science of Happiness.

In this episode we talk about:

• The practice of "awe walks"
• The ritualizing of walking
• How it can help your concentration and anxiety levels
• Walking meetings
• And walking meditations

Related Episodes:

The Science Of How Nature Changes Your Brain—From Sleep To Cognition To Your Nervous System | Dacher Keltner

How To Get The Physiological And Psychological Benefits Of Nature If You Don't Live Near Nature | Dacher Keltner

#546. This Scientist Says One Emotion Might Be the Key to Happiness. Can You Guess What It Is? | Dacher Keltner

We Know Nature Is Good for Us. Here's How To Make Time for It, Scandinavian Style | Linda Åkeson McGurk

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Our favorite playlists on: Anxiety, Sleep, Relationships, Most Popular Episodes

Full Shownotes: https://happierapp.com/podcast/tph/dacher-keltner-bonus-3

Additional Resources:

• The Science of Happiness Podcast
• How to Start (Restart, or Upgrade) Your Meditation Practice: A Master Class | Jon Kabat-Zinn
• #580. Tripping Out with a Legend: Jon Kabat-Zinn on Pain vs. Suffering, Rethinking Your Anxiety, and the Buddha's Teaching in a Single Sentence
• The Extended Mind: The Power of Thinking Outside the Brain
• Download the Happier app today: https://my.happierapp.com/link/download

New episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for free, with 1-week early access for Wondery+ subscribers.

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Buddhist megastars in conversation.

Today, we're dropping a recording of a live event we held earlier this year, during which Joseph Goldstein and Dr. Mark Epstein came on stage for a fascinating set of conversations. We did this event to celebrate the tenth anniversary of Dan's first book, also called 10% Happier.

The night was structured like a late night show, so there was a monologue, and live music with the band Mates of State.

Dr. Mark Epstein is a psychiatrist in private practice in New York City, and is the author of a number of books about the interface of Buddhism and psychotherapy, including Thoughts without a Thinker, Going to Pieces without Falling Apart, Going on Being, Open to Desire, Psychotherapy without the Self, The Trauma of Everyday Life and Advice Not Given: A Guide to Getting Over Yourself, and The Zen of Therapy: Uncovering a Hidden Kindness in Life. He received his undergraduate and medical degrees from Harvard University. He has been a student of vipassana meditation since 1974.

Joseph Goldstein is a cofounder of the Insight Meditation Society and the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies, both in Barre, Massachusetts. He is the author of Mindfulness: A Practical Guide to Awakening, A Heart Full of Peace, One Dharma: The Emerging Western Buddhism, Insight Meditation and The Experience of Insight: A Simple and Direct Guide to Buddhist Meditation. Joseph has studied and practiced meditation since 1967 under the guidance of eminent teachers from India, Burma, and Tibet and he leads Insight Meditation retreats around the world.

In this episode we talk about:

• The three month solo silent meditation retreat Joseph had just finished
• How to not suffer in the face of unwanted experiences
• Three exercises for slowing down
• Pragmatic applications of retreat practice for life in the real world
• How to see outside yourself
• How Mark came to Buddhism 50 years ago
• The relationship between Buddhism and psychotherapy
• The Buddhist concept of the two levels of reality
• And a guided meditation from a surprise guest

Related Episodes:

Nirvana | Joseph Goldstein

Dr. Mark Epstein On: How To Transform Your Neuroses Into "Little Shmoos"

I Just Did A 10-Day Silent Meditation Retreat With Joseph Goldstein. Here's What I Learned

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Our favorite playlists on: Anxiety, Sleep, Relationships, Most Popular Episodes

Full Shownotes: https://happierapp.com/podcast/tph/joseph-mark-live

Additional Resources:

• The New York Insight Meditation Center
• http://markepsteinmd.com/
• Going to Pieces without Falling Apart: A Buddhist Perspective on Wholeness
• The Trauma of Everyday Life
• Mates of State
• Download the Happier app today: https://my.happierapp.com/link/download

New episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for free, with 1-week early access for Wondery+ subscribers.

---

How learning to apologize can upgrade your life.

V (formerly Eve Ensler) is the Tony award-winning playwright, author, and activist. Her play The Vagina Monologues is an Obie award-winning, Olivier-nominated theatrical phenomenon that has been translated into 48 languages and performed in 140 countries. She is the author of numerous books, including the recently released bestseller Reckoning (2023), heralded by the Washington Post as "gutting and gorgeous." Other best-selling books include The Apology (2019), translated into 20 languages, In the Body of the World, and The New York Times bestseller I Am an Emotional Creature. She starred on Broadway in The Good Body and, most recently Off-Broadway at Manhattan Theatre Club in the critically acclaimed In the Body of the World. She helped create That Kindness: Nurses in Their Own Words, presented by the Brooklyn Academy of Music in collaboration with theaters across the US, as a tribute to nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic. V is currently writing the story and co-writing lyrics for the musical Becoming (formerly WILD), which made its world premiere in December 2021 at The American Repertory Theater. She recently wrote This is Crazy, a play about mental illness commissioned by the National Alliance on Mental Illness. Her film credits include The Vagina Monologues (HBO), What I Want My Words to Do to You (Executive Producer, Winner of the Sundance Film Festival Freedom of Expression Award, PBS), Mad Max: Fury Road (Consultant), and City of Joy documentary (Netflix). She is the founder of V-Day, the 26-year-old global activist movement that has raised over 120 million dollars to end violence against women, gender-expansive people, girls, and the planet—and founder of One Billion Rising, the largest global mass action to end gender-based violence in over 200 countries, as well as a co-founder of the City of Joy, a sanctuary and revolutionary center for women in the Congo who have survived sexual assault. She writes regularly for The Guardian.

In this episode we talk about:

• V's 4-step process for making an apology
• Why she doesn't believe in forgiveness
• Her concept that the wound is the portal
• And much more.

Related Episodes: What To Do When You're Angry | Matthew Brensilver, Vinny Ferraro, Kaira Jewel Lingo

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Our favorite playlists on: Anxiety, Sleep, Relationships, Most Popular Episodes

Full Shownotes: https://happierapp.com/podcast/tph/v-868

New episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for free, with 1-week early access for Wondery+ subscribers.

---

Practical tips for accessing the healthcare of nature no matter where you live.

It's very possible that you've heard the long list of physiological and psychological benefits that one can derive from getting out into nature. Those benefits include improved mood, boosted immune system, lowered blood pressure and more. That being said, 80 percent of Americans live in urban areas. So today, we're going to talk to an expert about how to derive the many benefits of nature, no matter where you are.

Dr. Keltner is one of the world's foremost emotion scientists. He is a professor of psychology at UC Berkeley and the director of the Greater Good Science Center. He has over 200 scientific publications and six books, including Born to Be Good, The Compassionate Instinct, The Power Paradox, and Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life. He has written for many popular outlets, from The New York Times to Slate, and has consulted extensively for Google, Apple, and Pinterest, on issues related to emotion and well-being. He also hosts the podcast The Science of Happiness.

In this episode we talk about:

• The importance of opening our senses to nature
• The power of birdsong
• The science of street trees and their impact on depression
• How taking pictures of our local environment can enhance focus and productivity
• And lastly, how we can harness the power of our imagination

Related Episodes:

The Science Of How Nature Changes Your Brain—From Sleep To Cognition To Your Nervous System | Dacher Keltner

#546. This Scientist Says One Emotion Might Be the Key to Happiness. Can You Guess What It Is? | Dacher Keltner

We Know Nature Is Good for Us. Here's How To Make Time for It, Scandinavian Style | Linda Åkeson McGurk

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Follow Dan on social: Instagram, TikTok

Ten Percent Happier online bookstore

Subscribe to our YouTube Channel

Our favorite playlists on: Anxiety, Sleep, Relationships, Most Popular Episodes

Full Shownotes: https://happierapp.com/podcast/tph/dacher-keltner-bonus-2

Additional Resources:

Download the Happier app today: https://my.happierapp.com/link/download

New episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for free, with 1-week early access for Wondery+ subscribers.

A journalist-turned-Buddhist-nun shares six phrases – or mantras – to help keep your relationships on the rails.

Relationships can be tricky. Especially if you find yourself upset with someone, and instead of talking it through, you let it fester until one moment you completely lose it and end up having to apologize. If you've ever felt like you had friction with the people in your life, or that you've been taken for granted, today's episode offers you solid strategies to cope.

Sister True Dedication is a Zen Buddhist nun and teacher ordained by the great meditation teacher and author, Thich Nhat Hanh. She edited several of Thich Nhat Hanh's books, including The Art of Living and Zen and the Art of Saving the Planet. She was born in the United Kingdom, studied history and political thought at Cambridge University, and worked for BBC News before ordaining as a nun at the age of 27.

In this episode we talk about:

• The six phrases – or mantras – that Thich Nhat Hanh recommended people use in their relationships
• Keeping misunderstandings "dust free"
• Taking action to make sure anger doesn't fester
• The importance of recognizing that our understanding of the world is always partial
• Bringing mantras to work
• How Sister True Dedication went from journalism to the monastery

Full Shownotes: https://happierapp.com/podcast/tph/sister-true-dedication-rerun

Where to find Sister True Dedication online:

Website: Plum Village Teacher Page

Additional Resources:

• Download the Happier app today: https://my.happierapp.com/link/download

New episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for free, with 1-week early access for Wondery+ subscribers.

A compendium of expert advice on handling all the complications — and pleasures — that the holiday season brings.

I have whipped up a holiday survival guide for you, a series of evidence-based strategies for navigating what can be a tricky time of year.

During the course of this episode, I'm going to talk about nine pain points, including navigating political differences around the dinner table, overeating, overwhelm, travel indignities, social anxiety, difficult family members, etc. I'm going to share with you a bunch of strategies pulled from ancient wisdom and modern science.

In this episode we talk about practical strategies for dealing with nine pain points of the holiday season:

• The expectation of perfection
• Overwhelm
• Difficult family dynamics
• Grief
• Loneliness
• Social anxiety
• Overeating
• Holiday travel
• Financial worries

Related Episodes:

How to Feel Less Enraged And Hopeless When You Consume The News | Sharon McMahon

Science-Based Tools For When You're Stressed, Obsessed, Or Overthinking | Dr. Jenny Taitz

How to Speak Clearly, Calmly, and Without Alienating People | Dan Clurman and Mudita Nisker

The Science of Loss and Recovery | Mary-Frances O'Connor

Strategies for Social Anxiety | Ellen Hendriksen

The Anti-Diet | Evelyn Tribole

Can Anxiety Be a Gift? | Dr. David Rosmarin

Your Craving Mind | Kevin Griffin

Why Your Bad Habits (and Addictions) May Be Getting Worse - and How Mindfulness Can Help | Dr. Jud Brewer

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Our favorite playlists on: Anxiety, Sleep, Relationships, Most Popular Episodes

Full Shownotes: https://happierapp.com/podcast/tph/holiday-survival-guide

Additional Resources:

• Download the Happier app today: https://my.happierapp.com/link/download

New episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for free, with 1-week early access for Wondery+ subscribers.

---

Scientific evidence that spending time in nature has profound impacts on your physical, mental, and emotional well-being.

We've got something special planned for you today. We're talking about the massive psychological and physiological benefits of being in nature.

Nature impacts your mood. It has a whole long list of positive benefits for your nervous system, and even changes how you are with other people. In fact, as you'll hear today's guest say, "nature is healthcare".

Dr. Dacher Keltner is one of the world's foremost emotion scientists. He is a professor of psychology at UC Berkeley and the director of the Greater Good Science Center. He has over 200 scientific publications and six books, including Born to Be Good, The Compassionate Instinct, The Power Paradox, and Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life. He has written for many popular outlets, from The New York Times to Slate, and has consulted extensively for Google, Apple, and Pinterest, on issues related to emotion and well-being. He also hosts the podcast The Science of Happiness.

This is the first of a three-part series we're doing focused on the benefits of spending time outside. Today we talk about how it impacts sleep, cognition, memory, your nervous system, and your relationships. Next week, we address the 80% of Americans who live in urban areas—how do you derive these benefits? And in week three, we take a deep dive on the science of walking.

Related Episodes:

#546. This Scientist Says One Emotion Might Be the Key to Happiness. Can You Guess What It Is? | Dacher Keltner

We Know Nature Is Good for Us. Here's How To Make Time for It, Scandinavian Style | Linda Åkeson McGurk

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Follow Dan on social: Instagram, TikTok

Ten Percent Happier online bookstore

Subscribe to our YouTube Channel

Our favorite playlists on: Anxiety, Sleep, Relationships, Most Popular Episodes

Full Shownotes: https://happierapp.com/podcast/tph/dacher-keltner-bonus-1

Additional Resources:

Download the Happier app today: https://my.happierapp.com/link/download

New episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for free, with 1-week early access for Wondery+ subscribers.

---

Radical strategies for the scarcity mindset.

Robin Wall Kimmerer is a mother, scientist, decorated professor, and enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. She is the author of Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants, which has earned Kimmerer wide acclaim. Her first book, Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses, was awarded the John Burroughs Medal for outstanding nature writing, and her other work has appeared in Orion, Whole Terrain, and numerous scientific journals.

Her new book, The Serviceberry, is about a plant whose behavior is a model not only for our individual lives, but potentially for rethinking the global economy.

In this episode we talk about:

• Nature as a model for the economy
• How to reclaim our stolen attention
• Practices of gratitude
• Counterintuitive advice on wealth and security
• How to change your relationship to the living world
• The science of biomimicry
• Plants as persons, and the study of plant cognition
• And the importance of recognizing both Western science and the indigenous worldview

Related Episodes:

#546. This Scientist Says One Emotion Might Be the Key to Happiness. Can You Guess What It Is? | Dacher Keltner

We Know Nature Is Good for Us. Here's How To Make Time for It, Scandinavian Style | Linda Åkeson McGurk

#505. The 5 Things That Are Ruining Your Meditation (and Your Life) – And How to Handle Them | Bonnie Duran

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Our favorite playlists on: Anxiety, Sleep, Relationships, Most Popular Episodes

Full Shownotes: https://happierapp.com/podcast/tph/robin-wall-kimmerer-861

Additional Resources:

Download the Happier app today: https://my.happierapp.com/link/download

New episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for free, with 1-week early access for Wondery+ subscribers.

---

Evidence from the guy who pioneered the science.

James Pennebaker is Professor Emeritus of Psychology at the University of Texas at Austin. He is known for his early research on expressive writing and health. More recently, he has pioneered ways to study people's personalities and behaviors through the analysis of their language use. His text analysis program LIWC is used across disciplines. Author of over 300 scientific articles and 8 books, his research has affected our understanding and treatment of mental and physical health of people dealing with upheavals in their lives.

In this episode we talk about:

• The specific form of journaling, called expressive writing or therapeutic journaling, that he invented and studied.
• Other kinds of journaling such as to-do lists and gratitude lists.
• Why writing things down helps shift our perspective on our stress or trauma.
• How that can lead to a cascade of benefits, from improved sleep to improved working memory
• And why Pennebaker, who's a very laid-back dude, is so laid-back about how often we need to journal in order to derive its benefits

Dump It Here journal is available now. https://shop.danharris.com/

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A crucial (and often misunderstood) concept in Buddhism: letting go.

For this episode, Executive Producer DJ Cashmere interviewed a trio of brilliant Dharma teachers to get their advice about how to handle surrendering or letting go. This is the fourth in a series of 'correspondent' episodes, in which DJ identifies a pain point in his life and meditation practice, then goes out into the world to report on the best ways to address it.

Kaira Jewel Lingo is a former nun in the Plum Village tradition started by Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh. Vinny Ferraro teaches at the Insight Meditation Society and Spirit Rock, and also in prisons. Matthew Brensilver teaches at many of the same retreat centers, and spent many years working in the field of addiction pharmacotherapy.

*Find the Soft Belly Meditation here

*Check out Sebene Selassie's website and newsletter, Ancestor to Elements. Plus, her 'Let It Be' guided meditation on DanHarris.com

****

Want to study and practice with today's guests? Please check out these Spirit Rock offerings:

Matthew Brensilver, Buddhist Psychology Training (Begins in January)

Vinny Ferraro: A Year to Live; Discovering What Death Can Teach Us About Living Fully (Begins in January)

Kaira Jewel Lingo: Healing Our Way Home (Oct. 20); Insight Meditation Retreat (April 9-16; opens Dec. 11)

All 10% Happier listeners receive a discount code for our December Insight Retreat (Dec. 8-18) with the code TENPERCENT

Vinny and Kaira Jewel will also teach at the Insight Meditation Society:

Kaira Jewel Lingo, Strength to Love: Honoring Dr. Martin Luther King: Jr. (Jan 17 - Jan 20), and Return to Wholeness: Opening to Wisdom & Love (online) (Mar 23 - Mar 29)

Vinny Ferraro, Peace in Presence: A Four-Night Retreat for All (Jan 31 - Feb 4)

Related Episodes:

• Listen to all of DJ's correspondence episodes here
• 3 Buddhist Strategies for When the News is Overwhelming | Kaira Jewel Lingo
• How to Keep Your Relationships On the Rails | Kaira Jewel Lingo
• Three Buddhist Practices For Getting Your Sh*t Together | Vinny Ferraro
• Why Self-Hatred Makes No Sense | Matthew Brensilver
• How to Actually Be Present | Matthew Brensilver

Also, the teachers' sites:

https://vinnyferraro.org/

Vinny Ferraro's Course, A Year To Live

https://www.kairajewel.com/

https://www.matthewbrensilver.org/

Feedback form: Let us know what you think!

https://www.happierapp.com/contact

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Our favorite playlists on: Anxiety, Sleep, Relationships, Most Popular Episodes

Full Shownotes: https://happierapp.com/podcast/tph/dj-surrender-4

New episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for free, with 1-week early access for Wondery+ subscribers.

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What ancient Greeks and Romans figured out about stress reduction.

You may have heard about stoicism, in the common parlance, as having a stiff upper lip, sucking it up, grinning and bearing it, suppressing your emotions, etcetera. Or you may have heard of Stoicism, the ancient Greco/Roman philosophy, that has become the de rigeur set of life hacks among millennial self-optimizers.

In this episode, guest Nancy Sherman argues that Stoicism is way deeper than any of that. She will argue that, in fact, Stoicism is kind of the opposite of all the above. It's a way to truly know your patterns of thought and emotion.

Nancy Sherman is a Professor of Philosophy at Georgetown University. She is an expert in ethics, the history of moral philosophy, moral psychology, military ethics, and emotions. Her most recent book is called Stoic Wisdom: Ancient Lessons for Modern Resilience.

This episode is a rebroadcast from 2021: it's one of our most-listened episodes, and we thought it might be particularly useful in this time of election-related stress.

In this conversation, we:

• cover the basics of Stoicism,
• how and why capital "S" Stoicism is often misinterpreted,
• a meditation practice called "premeditation of evils," which is far more practical than it may sound,
• and another practice designed to make you feel "at home in the world".

Content Warning: There is a brief reference to suicide.

Related Episodes:

Ancient Strategies for Managing Stress & Anxiety | Ryan Holiday

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Full Shownotes: https://www.happierapp.com/podcast/tph/nancy-sherman-rerun

Additional Resources:

• Download the Happier app today: https://my.happierapp.com/link/download

New episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for free, with 1-week early access for Wondery+ subscribers.

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How to get the practice into your molecules—not in some militaristic way, but in a way that feels easy and natural.

Alexis Santos has been in the field of mindfulness and meditation since 2001. After graduating from Harvard University in 1995, he spent several years in medical school before leaving his chosen career as a doctor to seek out a different path. It was while traveling in India that he was introduced to insight meditation.

Since that time, Alexis has practiced in many meditative styles and traditions, including with Sayadaw U Tejaniya, the Thai Forest tradition with Ajahn Sumedho, the Tibetan tradition with Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche and within the lay Western insight community where he continues to learn from the growing diversity of voices.

Alexis's primary teacher has been Sayadaw U Tejaniya, from the Burmese Theravada tradition, and with whom he ordained as a Buddhist monk from 2003 - 2005. Sayadaw encouraged Alexis to teach in 2012. Alexis also completed the Spirit Rock/IMS four-year teacher training program with Jack Kornfield and others, including mentors Joseph Goldstein and Carol Wilson.

​

Alexis teaches meditation at retreat centers around the world. He is featured on the Ten Percent Happier meditation app and is co-founder of Open Door Meditation Community in Portland, Maine where he is a guest teacher.

Alexis's teaching style is natural and uncrafted. He brings a practical, intuitive and compassionate approach to the development of wisdom.

***

Want to study and practice with Alexis? Visit his website at alexissantos.io where you can join his freely offered online practice sessions.

He will also be teaching at the Insight Meditation Society from March 5 - 12. When Awareness Becomes Natural: An U Tejaniya-style Insight Meditation Retreat

Related Episodes:

A More Relaxed Way to Meditate | Alexis Santos

I Just Did A 10-Day Silent Meditation Retreat With Joseph Goldstein. Here's What I Learned

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Full Shownotes: https://happierapp.com/podcast/tph/alexis-santos-855

New episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for free, with 1-week early access for Wondery+ subscribers.

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How optimizing this skill can change your life – and the world.

Rabbi Sharon Brous has some extremely practical tips for how to improve what psychologists call your social health. She is the senior and founding rabbi of IKAR, a Jewish community in LA. Her new book, a bestseller, is called The Amen Effect: Ancient Wisdom to Heal Our Hearts and Mend Our Broken World.

Related Episodes:

• This Neurobiologist Wants You To Ask One Question To Reframe Anxiety, Depression, And Trauma | Dr. Bruce Perry (Co-Interviewed by Dan's Wife, Bianca!)

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Our favorite playlists on: Anxiety, Sleep, Relationships, Most Popular Episodes

Full Shownotes: https://happierapp.com/podcast/tph/rabbi-sharon-brous-852

New episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for free, with 1-week early access for Wondery+ subscribers.

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The Buddhist case — and toolkit — for "don't-know mind."

For this episode, Executive Producer DJ Cashmere interviewed a trio of brilliant Dharma teachers to get their advice about how to handle being wrong. This is the third in a series of 'correspondent' episodes, in which DJ identifies a pain point in his life and meditation practice, then goes out into the world to report on the best ways to address it.

Kaira Jewel Lingo is a former nun in the Plum Village tradition started by Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh. Vinny Ferraro teaches at the Insight Meditation Society and Spirit Rock, and also in prisons. Matthew Brensilver teaches at many of the same retreat centers, and spent many years working in the field of addiction pharmacotherapy.

*Matthew's Dharma talk on Knowing And Not-Knowing

****

Want to study and practice with today's guests? Please check out these Spirit Rock offerings:

Matthew Brensilver, Buddhist Psychology Training (Begins in January)

Vinny Ferraro: A Year to Live; Discovering What Death Can Teach Us About Living Fully (Begins in January)

Kaira Jewel Lingo: Healing Our Way Home (Oct. 20); Insight Meditation Retreat (April 9-16; opens Dec. 11)

All 10% Happier listeners receive a discount code for our December Insight Retreat (Dec. 8-18) with the code TENPERCENT

& if you'd like to study with these guests on the East Coast, check out these retreats at the Insight Meditation Society:

Kaira Jewel Lingo, Strength to Love: Honoring Dr. Martin Luther King: Jr. (Jan 17 - Jan 20), and Return to Wholeness: Opening to Wisdom & Love (Mar 23 - Mar 29)

Vinny Ferraro, Peace in Presence: A Four-Night Retreat for All (Jan 31 - Feb 4)

Related Episodes:

• Listen to all of DJ's correspondence episodes here
• 3 Buddhist Strategies for When the News is Overwhelming | Kaira Jewel Lingo
• How to Keep Your Relationships On the Rails | Kaira Jewel Lingo
• Three Buddhist Practices For Getting Your Sh*t Together | Vinny Ferraro
• Why Self-Hatred Makes No Sense | Matthew Brensilver
• How to Actually Be Present | Matthew Brensilver

Also, the teachers' sites:

https://vinnyferraro.org/

Vinny Ferraro's Course, A Year To Live

https://www.kairajewel.com/

https://www.matthewbrensilver.org/

Feedback form: Let us know what you think!

https://www.happierapp.com/contact

Sign up for Dan's weekly newsletter here

Follow Dan on social: Instagram, TikTok

Ten Percent Happier online bookstore

Subscribe to our YouTube Channel

Our favorite playlists on: Anxiety, Sleep, Relationships, Most Popular Episodes

Full Shownotes: https://happierapp.com/podcast/tph/dj-being-wrong-3

New episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for free, with 1-week early access for Wondery+ subscribers.

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A Stanford innovation expert shares practical tips on future-proofing your mind.

Frederik Pferdt was Google's first Chief Innovation Evangelist, where founded Google's Innovation Lab. He's also taught classes on innovation and creativity at Stanford University for more than a decade. His new book is called What's Next Is Now: How to Live Future Ready.

In this episode we talk about:

• Why we are so resistant to change
• How to embrace the unknown
• Why and how to develop compulsive curiosity
• The value of experiments and why we shouldn't fear failure
• What it means to have expansive empathy, and why that can help you develop a future-ready mindset
• And how to identify what he calls your Dimension X—your own unique capacities

Related Episodes:

Dua Lipa On: Radical Optimism, Falling On Stage, And "Writing Yourself Into A Good Idea"

#516. Robin Roberts on the Skill of Optimism

#274 The Case for Optimism | Dr. Jonathan Salk

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Our favorite playlists on: Anxiety, Sleep, Relationships, Most Popular Episodes

More from Frederik Pferdt:

Book: What's Next Is Now: How to Live Future Ready

NextLetter (newsletter signup): https://www.frederikgpferdt.com/#nextletter

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/frederikgpferdt/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fgpferdt/?locale=en_US

Full Shownotes: https://happierapp.com/podcast/tph/frederik-pferdt-851

Additional Resources:

• Download the Happier app today: https://my.happierapp.com/link/download

Last month, Dan appeared on Impolitic With John Heilemann — the two guys are old friends — to talk through Dan's strategies for staying sane in the homestretch of this anxiety-fueled, agitation-inducing, existentially unnerving election; why failure is often more productive and profitable (mentally, emotionally, spiritually) than success; how to maintain a sense of calm, balance, and serenity while working harder than, in Dan's phrase, a "six-peckered goat;" and the career earthquake that's led to the big recent changes you've all heard about in the 10% Happier empire. Dan thought that the conversation was terrific, so he asked John if he could offer it to his followers—et voila, here it is! If this taste of John whets your appetite for more, please follow Impolitic With John Heilemann for a twice-weekly all-you-can-eat buffet of fresh, candid, no-holds-barred conversations with the people who shape our politics and culture. Thanks for listening, hope you enjoy, and namaste.

New episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for free, with 1-week early access for Wondery+ subscribers.

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Why the man behind "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" is a self-help junkie.

Judd Apatow is one of the most prolific comedic minds in the industry. Recently, Apatow produced Peacock's buddy comedy Please Don't Destroy: The Treasure of Foggy Mountain and Universal's romcom, Bros, starring and co-written by Billy Eichner. Apatow also directed, produced, and co-wrote with Pam Brady, the Netflix comedy The Bubble and produced and co-directed HBO Films' Emmy®-winning documentary George Carlin's American Dream with Michael Bonfiglio. His Netflix comedy special, Judd Apatow: The Return, released in 2017 and premiered to critical acclaim. Previous director credits include the Emmy®-award-winning documentary, The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up and The King of Staten Island. He produced Academy Award®-nominated The Big Sick and Bridesmaids, as well as Superbad, Pineapple Express and Anchorman. For television, he executive produced Crashing, Girls, and Freaks and Geeks. Off screen, Apatow authored Sicker in the Head, a follow-up to his New York Times best-seller Sick in the Head.

In this episode we talk about:

• The role of his parents' bitter divorce in his life and work
• The balance between creativity and ambition
• Why so many comedians are so neurotic
• His creative process, including some gems from the TV writer David Milch
• His relationship to panic, and a hilarious story about freaking out on weed
• The way he's started to understand the different voices inside of him
• His recent experiment with ayahuasca, and what he learned
• And the role of comedy when it feels like the world is on fire

Related Episodes:

Bill Hader on Anxiety, Imposter Syndrome, and Leaning into Discomfort

Duncan Trussell on: Being a Spiritual Omnivore, Whether Psychedelics Are a Bridge to the Divine, and How the Gates of Hell Are Locked From the Inside

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Our favorite playlists on: Anxiety, Sleep, Relationships, Most Popular Episodes

Full Shownotes: http://www.happierapp.com/podcast/tph/judd-apatow

Additional Resources:

• Download the Happier app today: https://www.happierapp.com/

New episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for free, with 1-week early access for Wondery+ subscribers.

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What you resist persists. Buddhist strategies for acceptance and equanimity.

Ofosu Jones-Quartey, a meditation teacher, author, and musician hailing from the Washington DC area brings over 17 years of experience in sharing mindfulness, meditation and self-compassion practices with the world. Holding a bachelor's degree from American University and certified by the Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Program, Ofosu is a graduate of the Teleos Coaching Institute and is the male voice on the Balance meditation app, reaching over 10 million subscribers.

Ofosu leads meditation classes and retreats nationwide, having taught and led retreats at the Insight Meditation Community of Washington, The Insight Meditation Society, Spirit Rock, Brooklyn Zen Center, Cleveland Insight, Inward Bound Mindfulness and more.

As an accomplished hip hop artist under the name "Born I," Ofosu released the mindfulness-themed album "In This Moment" in 2021. His most recent album is "AMIDA", a spiritual, Lo-Fi Hip Hop album exploring life, death and his Buddhist faith.

Beyond music, Ofosu is an author. His self-published children's book "You Are Enough" debuted in 2020 and his next work "Love Your Amazing Self" via Storey Publishing in 2022. Ofosu's latest book: "Lyrical Dharma: Hip Hop as Mindfulness" will be released in 2025 via Parallax Press.

Ofosu lives in Rockville, Maryland, with his wife and four children.

Cara Lai has worked as an artist, wilderness guide, social worker, and therapist before becoming a full time meditation teacher. She teaches teens and adults at Spirit Rock, Insight Meditation Society, and Ten Percent Happier.

To find out more about what Cara does, you can go to her website, www.caralai.org – where she's got some online meditation classes, including one called Meditate Your Face Off. She also has a monthly class for parents, co-led by Ofosu Jones-Quartey.

Speaking of podcasts, Cara also co-hosts a podcast called Adventures in Meditating (For Parents), along with Jess Morey and Jon Roberts.

Cara lives in Vermont with her husband and their 2-year-old son.

***

Want to study and practice with today's guests? Please check out these Spirit Rock offerings:

Cara Lai: Steadying the Heart (April 1-8; opens Dec 3)

Ofosu Jones-Quartey: BIPOC Voices: Weekly Sunday Sangha (Nov. 24)

All 10% Happier listeners receive a discount code for our December Insight Retreat (Dec. 8-18) with the code TENPERCENT

Related Episodes:

The Upside of Desire | Cara Lai

Can You Get Fit Without Self-Loathing? | Cara Lai

Rewire How You Talk To Yourself | Ofosu Jones-Quartey

What It's Like To Do A Year-Long Silent Meditation Retreat—By Yourself | Cara Lai

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Ten Percent Happier online bookstore

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Our favorite playlists on: Anxiety, Sleep, Relationships, Most Popular Episodes

Full Shownotes: https://happierapp.com/podcast/tph/cara-ofosu-848

New episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for free, with 1-week early access for Wondery+ subscribers.

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"America's Government Teacher" has smart tips for staying calm in turbulent times.

After years of serving as a high school government and law teacher, Sharon McMahon took her passion for education to Instagram, where more than a million people (who affectionately call themselves "Governerds") rely on her for non-partisan, fact-based information.

Sharon is also the host of the award-winning podcast, Here's Where It Gets Interesting, where, each week, she provides entertaining yet factual accounts of America's most fascinating moments and people. In addition, she is the author of The Preamble, a Substack newsletter about politics and history.

In this episode we talk about:

• How to avoid being 'confidently wrong'
• How we often get confused between our opinions and our identity—which makes it very hard to change our opinions
• The importance of having a diverse media diet
• Tips for consuming the news without driving yourself nuts
• How to have compassion for people who we completely disagree with
• How history can be a balm for hopelessness—an antidote for when we're tempted to conclude that things have never been worse
• How everyday people have way more power than we think
• And why hope is a choice.

Related Episodes:

Eight Things I'm Doing To Stay Sane During Election Season | Dan Harris

#405. How You Help End Polarization and Inequality – and Get Happier, Too | Robert Putnam & Shaylyn Romney Garrett

3 Buddhist Strategies for When the News is Overwhelming | Kaira Jewel Lingo

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Our favorite playlists on: Anxiety, Sleep, Relationships, Most Popular Episodes

Full Shownotes: https://happierapp.com/podcast/tph/sharon-mcmahon-847

Additional Resources:

Download the Ten Percent Happier app today: https://app.tenpercent.com/link/download