Ten Percent Happier with Dan Harris - 584: This Is the Antidote to Self-Centered Suffering | Bonus Meditation with Sebene Selassie

Episode Date: April 14, 2023

Working through fear by anchoring in the breath and body gives you the capacity to be fully available to help when help is needed.About Sebene Selassie:Growing up, Sebene felt like a big weirdo. Born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and raised in white neighborhoods in Washington, D.C., she was a tomboy Black girl who loved Monty Python and UB40. She never believed she belonged. Thirty years ago, she began studying Buddhism as an undergraduate at McGill University where she majored in Comparative Religious Studies. Now, Sebene is a teacher, author, and speaker who teaches that meditation can help us remember our inherent sense of belonging, that our individual freedom affects absolutely everyone and everything, and that our collective freedom depends on each and every one of us. Sebene is a three-time cancer survivor of Stage III and IV cancer.To find this meditation in the Ten Percent Happier app, you can search for “Caring for Vulnerable People,” or click here: https://10percenthappier.app.link/content?meditation=bc7cb7bc-6883-466f-8626-cad27be2a5e6See 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. Before we dive in just a little story I had an interesting conversation this week with somebody named Dr. Mark Heimann He's actually gonna be on this show in the coming weeks But in the conversation I was having with him and that I'm gonna tell you about he's actually going to be on this show in the coming weeks, but in the conversation I was having with him and that I'm going to tell you about, I was actually talking to him for his podcast, which is called the doctor's pharmacy, pharmacy with an F. And when we were chatting on his show, he told me a story about one of the happiest times

of his life. Somewhat counterintuitively, it was during the aftermath of a massive and massively lethal earthquake in Haiti when dr. Heiman joined a team of volunteers who went down there to treat the survivors. He said the experience was really hard wrenching in fact but also thrilling and deeply meaningful in large part because during this time of intense service dr. Mark wasn't thinking much about himself and his petty concerns. These are my words, not his, but I would describe it this way. He had his head pulled out of his ass. And this is possible for all of us every day, tuning into being helpful in ways both

large and small. You don't have to go to Haiti. You can just hold the door open for somebody. You don't have to go to Haiti. You can just hold the door open for somebody. Tuning in to being helpful in that way is a great antidote to our default mode of self-centered suffering. What's even cooler is that you can use meditation to train your brain to be better at doing this, to be more inclined to do this, which brings us to today's meditation. Our teacher, Dujour, is my friend, Seven A. Celassie. She's a meditation teacher based in New York City. She's the author of a great book called You Belong. She's also a three time cancer survivor, so she knows a thing or two about vulnerability.

She's been on this show many times, including as part of our new meditation party series with our third Amigo Jeff Warren, another meditation teacher and friend heads up. We've got a new episode of Meditation Party coming up pretty soon. Anyway, here we go now with Sabine Selassie. Hi, this is Sabine. We are living in a time of significant global challenges. When there's so much uncertainty around us,

we may experience fear. For many of us, fear is connected to our concern for vulnerable people. In this meditation, we'll practice reconnecting to the present moment. The only moment we can offer real support. Then we'll spend some time cultivating our care for those we know are vulnerable right now. Let's get started. Find a comfortable position wherever you are. You can close your eyes if you'd like or keep them open with a relaxed gaze. Bring a general awareness to what's happening in this moment. What's going on for you right now in your body and mind and around you. Now, see if you can just be with the breath, breathing in and out through the nose, and noticing the belly contracts.

Inhale, the belly rises. Exhale, the belly falls. Continue on your own for a moment. Now staying connected to the body and breath, let's transition into cultivating care for vulnerable people. Taking a deep breath in, bring to mind someone or a group or community of people for whom you have affection and concern right now. Don't overthink it. You can do this practice again and again and include different people every time. Once you've chosen, try to really picture or get a feel for this person or people. Now, grounded and breathing in and out, let them know you care about them. I'll offer some phrases you can repeat silently or you can create your own or simply continue

feeling your care without words. I care about your well-being. May you be free from fear and anxiety. May you be well taken care of. Choose one or two of these phrases and continue on your own for a bit. You can open your eyes now. Let yourself reconnect to your surroundings. Thank you for cultivating care for others. It's so needed. And may you be well taken care of. Thank you to Seb. You can find many more meditations like this one over on the 10% happier app. Just download the app wherever you get your apps to get started. Oh, by the way, if you're interested in hanging out with me and Seb and our third friend,

Jeff Warren, in person, we're hosting a three-day retreat at the Omega Institute in New York in October. We've put a link in the show notes with more information on that you can come in person, or you can just attend digitally, lots of options, also some scholarships. We'll see you right back here on Monday for a brand new episode of the pod. We've got a great guest for you, Alexander Dreyman, who's the star of a great Netflix show called The Last Kingdom, The Dude plays a Viking, hard to find somebody more stereotypically masculine than him, but

you're going to hear a fascinating and really thought-provoking interview with him. I loved it, so that's coming up on Monday. 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 1-3-plus in Apple Podcasts. Before you go, do us a solid and tell us all about yourself by completing a short survey at 1dory.com slash survey.

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