Ten Percent Happier with Dan Harris - 575: Stop Working So Hard | Bonus Meditation with Anushka Fernandopulle

Episode Date: March 24, 2023

You can refresh your energy in just a few moments. If you do it mindfully, you'll boost your presence and attention for the rest of the day.About Anushka :Anushka Fernandopulle teaches Insight meditation in the San Francisco Bay Area and other parts of the world. Anushka is a member of the Spirit Rock Teacher's Council and has trained in the Theravada Buddhist tradition for 30 years in monasteries in Sri Lanka & India as well as urban US settings. Anushka has an MBA from Yale and works with organizations as a consultant and with individuals as a leadership coach. More about her teaching and work can be found at www.anushkaf.orgTo find this meditation in the Ten Percent Happier app, you can search for “Take a Work Break,” or click here.See 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. This week on the podcast, as you may know, we've been talking a lot about work life balance. If there is such a thing, how much of ourselves we should bring to work and what to do about imposter syndrome. It's all been part of our work life series. So today, fittingly, we've got a bonus meditation

designed to convince you to take a break. Paradoxically, sometimes if you stop working so hard, you end up working smarter and better. This is a lesson that I personally have to learn over and over again. Our teacher, DuJour, is Anushka Fernandipoli, who teaches insight meditation in the San Francisco Bay area and other parts of the world. She's a member of the Spirit Rock Teachers Council and has trained in the Teravata Buddhist tradition for 30 years in monasteries in Sri Lanka and India as well as US urban settings. Anushka has an MBA from Yale and works with organizations as a consultant and with individuals as a leadership coach, which makes her perfect as a contributor for this work life series.

Here we go now with UNESCO for Naita Puli. Hi, this is UNESCO. This is a meditation you can use during a break from any kind of work or school or any time you need a break in your day. People sometimes take a break when they have to drink coffee, but it's also possible to take a break to refresh your ability to be present. Instead of a coffee break, think of it as a mindfulness break. We can use this break to connect with mindfulness of the body and mind in a way that can help us be present for the rest of the day. So let's get started.

Try to find a place you can feel relaxed and at ease. Notice the posture you're in and try to feel the body in whatever posture it's in. Notice the posture you're in and try to feel the body in whatever posture it's in. Feel the sense of your feet touching the ground or your contact with the chair if you're sitting. Feel your hands wherever they're touching. Try to notice if the body is tense in some areas. If so, see if you can relax them. You can try this using the breath, paying particular attention to the out breath. Letting go of tension as you breathe out. You can also see if you can

relax the body by allowing the weight of the body to rest. Notice how it is in the face including around the jaw and the eyes. If there's tension there, breathe in, and then as you exhale, try to relax. Do this a couple of times. Check how it is in the neck and the shoulders. If there's tension there, breathe in and as you exhale, try to relax. Do this a couple of times on your own. See how it feels in your torso and belly? How is it in the lower body? Your legs and feet. If you feel some gripping or tension, try to relax in on the mind.

Are there a lot of thoughts going on? Or is the mind pretty quiet right now? Take some time to investigate with awareness. Now let's check in on what mood or emotion might be present. How are you feeling right now? Feel into what is here. As if you are sampling water. Dipping into the experience of the body to find out what is present in this realm of mood or emotion. When you're ready, you can let go of paying attention to emotions and go back to resting with the breath and the body again. You can end by opening your eyes if they've been closed and bring attention to the fact

that you're seeing. Allow yourself to relax and be present, wishing you well for the rest of your day. Thank you Anushka. You can find more meditations like this one 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. We're going to talk to Andy Gallo, who's a writer for the Harvard Business Review and an expert on managing conflict at work. Hey, hey, prime members.

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