Ten Percent Happier with Dan Harris - 572: A Meditation For Bleak Moments | Bonus Meditation with Jay Michaelson

Episode Date: March 17, 2023

As skeptics, we can question if our lives have meaning. Reflecting on the impact of your good actions can counteract these desolate feelings.About Jay Michaelson:Dr. Jay Michaelson is a Senior Content Strategist at Ten Percent Happier and the author of seven books on meditation, including his newest, Enlightenment by Trial and Error. In his “other career,” Jay is a columnist for The Daily Beast, and was a professional LGBTQ activist for ten years. Jay is an ordained rabbi and has taught meditation in secular, Buddhist, and Jewish context for eighteen years.To find this meditation in the Ten Percent Happier app, you can search for “When Life Feels Pointless,” or click here: https://10percenthappier.app.link/content?meditation=e752ae06-4213-4731-a92b-975108aee1d7See 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 everybody, it's Friday, time for a bonus meditation. I will admit, and I don't know why this is. Maybe it's chemical, maybe it's seasonal, maybe it's circumstantial, but I've definitely had a few moments recently

where I've felt extremely dark. One of my favorite things about my friend and meditation teacher, Jay Michelson, is that he is also very open about having his own bleak moments. And he has come up with this guided meditation to help you turn the ship around when you're getting into frigid and choppy and dark waters. A little bit more about our teacher, Dr. J. Michaelson, is the author of 10 books on topics including meditation, Jewish history, and civil rights. J. is a columnist for the daily beast. In a prior life, he was a professional LGBTQ activist. J. is also an ordained rabbi and has taught meditation in secular Buddhist and Jewish contexts

for 18 years. He's also a great dude. Here we go now with Jay Michelson. Hi, this is Jay. Every person you have ever met has felt a sense of meaninglessness at some point in their lives. Everyone, this meditation is for one of those moments. We'll begin by settling the mind, resting in the body.

Close your eyes if it feels comfortable to do so, and just put the attention on something happening in the body. The breath, rising and falling, or any other physical sensation that's predominant. You can actually give your mind and your heart a little break just by turning the attention to the body of meaninglessness. Let's begin by inviting in that feeling, that feeling that nothing matters or that you don't matter.

Usually, it's a very difficult feeling to have, so naturally, we don't want to have it. We wish we didn't feel this way. Just for now, though, let's let ourselves feel to the body. How does the body feel right now? Can you notice any particular sensation? Maybe Next, can you think of one person whom you made happy at one time in your life? Try not to get too lost in the story. We're just fishing for one person who you made happy. Now, that's meaning, right? You brought joy to someone. And chances are, you'll do so again in the future. Try to picture that visually. Feel as though you're there, giving joy to another example.

Is there someone who was hurting, really suffering, and you helped them out? Can you take a moment now and reimagine that time when you were compassionate or helpful. Take some time on your own. Just sink into it now in this meditation. So, there were times when you made an impact. It's meaningful to help someone who's suffering, to help them suffer less, and it's meaningful to spread joy, even if just for now.

And when you're ready, you can open your eyes if they've been closed. Be kind to yourself. Have a good day. Thank you, Jay Michaelson. You can find more meditations like the one we just did with Jay over on the 10% happier app. Just download the app wherever you get your apps to get started.

We'll see you right back here on Monday for a brand new episode. It's the first in a four episode series we're doing about work life and our inaugural guest is Scott Galloway, co-host of one of my personal favorite podcasts, The Pivot Podcast. Scott's very successful entrepreneur and also a professor at the NYU School of Business, the Stern School of Business.

And he has a lot of very interesting career advice for all of you. 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. about yourself by completing a short survey at Wondery.com-survey.