Ten Percent Happier with Dan Harris - 526: A Meditation to Help You Not Lose Track of What You Actually Care About | Bonus Meditation with Dawn Mauricio

Episode Date: November 25, 2022

Setting intentions regularly can be an incredibly effective and deeply satisfying tool to map out how you want to live your life.About Dawn Mauricio:Dawn Mauricio discovered the practices of Buddhist meditation in 2005, and from then on, did what any well-intentioned perfectionist would do — plunge in head first! Since then, she's graduated from several teaching programs, including Spirit Rock's four-year Teacher Training. Her teaching style is playful, dynamic, and heartfelt, and she teaches extensively in her home-country of Canada, as well as the US, to teens, people of color, and folks of all backgrounds.To find this meditation in the Ten Percent Happier app, you can search for “Daily Intention Setting,” or click here: https://10percenthappier.app.link/content?meditation=deaecaa8-6b71-43cd-b2f7-a406c93fafd4See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

What does it even mean to live a good life? Is it about happiness, purpose, love, health, or wealth? What really matters in the pursuit of a life well lived? These are the questions award-winning author, founder, and interviewer Jonathan Fields asks his guests on the Top Ranked Good Life Project podcast. Every week, Jonathan sits down with world renowned thinkers and doers, people like Glenn and Doyle, Adam Grant,

Young Pueblo, Jonathan Height, and hundreds more. Start listening right now. Look for the Good Life project on your favorite podcast app. This is the 10% happier podcast. I'm Dan Harris. Hey gang, happy Friday. It's bonus meditation time. Like many good ideas I have personally encountered over the years, intention setting is one that

I long dismissed as treacle or new agey, but having now engaged in this practice for many years, I am a convert. Setting intentions is like having a North Star or a compass to guide your actions, given how diabolically easy it is to go off track and get distracted from what you actually care about. In fact, I just got back from India where I was spending some time with the Dalai Lama, who talks ceaselessly, and in my view,

compellingly about setting the intention to be altruistic or compassionate, which he says gets you out of your head, out of your selfish concerns, and imbues you with a sense of purpose, power, and fearlessness. So let's do an intention setting meditation right now with Don Mauricio. She's been a guest on this show before. So if you haven't yet, check out her past episodes on dealing with difficult people and also working with self-criticism to resonant issues. A little bit about Don before we dive in, she discovered meditation in 2005, and from then on, she did what any well-intentioned perfectionist would do.

She plunged in head first. She went on to graduate from Spirit Rocks, four-year teacher training program, and she now teaches in her home country of Canada, as well as in the United States. Okay, over to Don. Hi, this is Don. You might have an idea of what qualities you'd like to live your life by,

but you may not deliberately choose them in advance. This meditation uses visualization to help you map out how you want to live, even if just for today, to give you agency over how you act and react. Let's begin. Set yourself up in a supportive practice posture, whether that's seated, standing, or lying down. If you like, you can close your eyes. Otherwise, keep them slightly open with your gaze downward. Take some time to notice how you are settling into this moment. Starting with mindful intention can impact the whole flow of your day. Now drop in the following question.

What quality do I most want to engage in today? Some examples include patience, generosity, kindness, strength, take some time on your own and choosing the quality. What quality do I most saying to yourself, today I am going to be in fill in your intention. This simple inner statement can act like an anchor, helping you remember your intention throughout the day. Today, I am going to be... Now, think through what you have to do today. Visualize or imagine how the quality that you want to cultivate today would look or feel

like as you complete your tasksing this quality throughout your day. Now identify what might be the most challenging part of your day, a difficult conversation, an unpleasant task, this time embodying today's special quality. How does it feel to embody your intention? Once again, feel into your body sitting, standing or laying here. You don't need to wait for the beginning of the year to choose how you'd like to live. live, you can do so daily even a few times throughout the day. Gently open your eyes or lift your gaze, slowly taking shapes in light. Thank you for your practice. Until next time. Thanks again to Don.

We'll be right back here on Monday with a fresh episode. Hey, hey, prime members. You can listen to 10% happier early and ad free on Amazon Music. Download the Amazon Music app today. Or you can listen early and ad free with Wondery Plus in Apple Podcasts. Before you go, do us a solid and tell us all about yourself by completing a short survey at Wondery.com slash survey. yourself by completing a short survey at Wondery.com-survey.