940 episodes
Ten Percent Happier with Dan Harris Wondery
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- Health & Fitness
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4.6 • 11.2K Ratings
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Dan Harris is a fidgety, skeptical journalist who had a panic attack on live national television, which led him to try something he otherwise never would have considered: meditation. He went on to write the bestselling book, 10% Happier. On this show, Dan talks with eminent meditation teachers, top scientists, and even the odd celebrity. Guests include everyone from His Holiness the Dalai Lama to Brené Brown to Karamo from Queer Eye. On some episodes, Dan ventures into the deep end of the pool, covering subjects such as enlightenment and psychedelics. On other episodes, it’s science-based techniques for issues such as anxiety, productivity, and relationships. Dan's approach is seemingly modest, but secretly radical: happiness is a skill you can train, just like working your bicep in the gym. Your progress may be incremental at first, but like any good investment, it compounds over time.
New episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for free. Listen 1-week early and to all episodes ad-free with Wondery+ or Amazon Music with a Prime membership or Amazon Music Unlimited subscription.
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The Science Of Getting Out Of Your Head | Annie Murphy Paul
This episode comes out for free on May 20th, and is available early and ad-free for Wondery+ subscribers.
An acclaimed science writer on how to upgrade your mind by using more than your head.
When you think about thinking, most of us think of it as a supremely solo pursuit. You’re in your head, concentrating and cogitating, all by yourself. But the science shows that if you want to improve your thinking, you need to get out of your head. Today we’re going to talk about a concept called “the extended mind.” Your mind isn’t just in your skull: it’s in your body, it’s in the people around you, it’s in your surroundings. The best thinking requires that you break out of what the writer David Foster Wallace called “the skull sized kingdom” and access these other resources.
This may sound abstract, but our guest today makes it very practical. Annie Murphy Paul is an acclaimed science writer whose work has appeared in the New York Times, the Boston Globe, Scientific American, Slate, Time, and The Best American Science Writing, among many other publications. She is the author of Origins and The Cult of Personality, hailed by Malcolm Gladwell as a “fascinating new book.” Currently a fellow at New America, Paul has spoken to audiences around the world about learning and cognition; her TED talk has been viewed by more than 2.6 million people. A graduate of Yale University and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, she has served as a lecturer at Yale University and as a senior advisor at their Poorvu Center for Teaching and Learning. Her latest book is The Extended Mind: The Power of Thinking Outside the Brain
In this episode, we also talk about:
How to use your surroundings to think better
My favorite of the three areas of this book – thinking with our relationships
Why “groupthink” isn’t always a bad thing (OR you can say, the benefits of thinking in groups)
What she called “extension inequality” – that this benefit of the extended mind isn’t available to all people
Related Episodes: Ancient Secrets to Modern Happiness | Tamar Gendler
Full Shownotes: https://www.tenpercent.com/tph/podcast-episode/anniemurphypaul
Additional Resources:
Download the Ten Percent Happier app today: https://10percenthappier.app.link/install
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Three Buddhist Practices For Getting Your Sh*t Together | Vinny Ferraro
This episode comes out for free on May 15th, and is available early and ad-free for Wondery+ subscribers.
Practical advice from a straight-talking, formerly incarcerated, occasionally profane dharma teacher.
Vinny Ferraro is 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:
Alignment
- Vinny‘s concept of “flashing your basic goodness”
- Noting practice
- The deep satisfaction in not seeking satisfaction
- Redirecting awareness
- Being an “empathetic witness” for yourself
- When to opt for distraction
- Not taking what’s not yours
- Vinny’s ancestor practice
- What is the connection between seeing our family patterns and not taking what is not ours?
- How loyal have we been to our suffering?
Related Episodes:
Get Happier Without Losing Your Edge | Kamala Masters
Vitamin E: How To Cultivate Equanimity Amidst Political Chaos | Election Sanity Series | Roshi Joan Halifax
Non-Preachy Ethics | Jozen Tamori Gibson
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Our favorite playlists on: Anxiety, Sleep, Relationships, Most Popular Episodes
Full Shownotes: https://www.tenpercent.com/tph/podcast-episode/vinny-ferraro
Additional Resources:
Download the Ten Percent Happier app today: https://10percenthappier.app.link/install
Sign up on wonderyplus.com/applepodcasts and stay up-to-date on the latest new podcasts and more from Wondery. -
The Science Of Overcoming Perfectionism | Thomas Curran
Actionable advice on working with one of the few socially acceptable vices.
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What Is Happiness Anyway? | Bonus Meditation with Jay Michaelson
What is happiness? Investigate how happiness is created, what it’s really like, and learn to access the simple happiness of right now.
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Dua Lipa On: Radical Optimism, Falling On Stage, And “Writing Yourself Into A Good Idea”
Talking creativity and sanity with one of the world’s biggest pop stars.
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The Neuroscience Of: Emotional Regulation, Relationships, Body Image, And Intuition | Emma Seppälä
A research-backed plan for getting your sh*t together in every possible sphere.
Customer Reviews
Wonderful Program
Dan Harris and his team are doing great work. Opening the doors to the world of meditation from a more journalistic approach gives listeners an opportunity to hear for themselves the value of meditation from both the practitioner’s view but also the science and data that supports their understandings. Bring your float robe and sound bath or just bring yourself and an open mind, lots to learn here.
Dua Lipa, really?
Loved this podcast until Dua Lipa?? But Dan Harris… shes trash? Let’s get back to people who aren’t part of mainstream pop media garbage that infects our minds.
Interview Robert Sapolsky
I am a fan b/c I think Dan is an incredibly skilled interviewer. I am often impressed and much to the chagrin of my family, often raving about how most interviewers could take some lessons from him. The subject matter or interviewee matters less to me, although I have my favorites.
I think a fascinating interview would be with Robert Sapolski- I am reading his new book, DETERMINED, on free will. It is an amazingly light hearted but deeply researched combination of philosophy, psychology, and biology and how it combines to make us human. I am completely unaffiliated with Dr. Sapolski. But he sounds hilarious.
Separate note- I read your first book way back when it first came out. And some 10 years later finally convinced my husband to read it too. He’s on page 35…we will see if he finishes, but has made it further than I imagined:)
Regards,
Karla Bailey