Ten Percent Happier with Dan Harris - A Great Way to Relax | Bonus Meditation with Oren Jay Sofer

Episode Date: April 2, 2021

Learn to use mindfulness of your natural breath as a way to create relaxation for yourself, any time, any place. About Oren Jay Sofer: Oren Jay Sofer teaches mindfulness, meditation and Nonviolent Communication. He has practiced meditation since 1997, beginning his studies in Bodh Gaya, India and is a long-time student of Joseph Goldstein, Michele McDonald, and Ajahn Sucitto, and is a graduate of the IMS/Spirit Rock Teacher Training program. Oren teaches retreats across the country and works as Senior Program Developer at Mindful Schools, teaching and developing curricula for one of the international leaders of mindfulness in education. 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. Hey y'all, it's your girl, Kiki Palmer. I'm an actress, singer, and entrepreneur. On my new podcast, Baby This is Kiki Palmer. I'm asking friends, family, and experts the questions that are in my head. Like, it's only fans only bad.

Where did memes come from. And where's Tom from MySpace? Listen to Baby, this is Kiki Palmer on Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcast. [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ From ABC, it's the 10% happier podcast, I'm Dan Harris. [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ Hey, hey, time for our Friday bonus.

And this week we've got a guided meditation from TPH Stahlworth and favorite, Orrin J. Sofer. In this practice, Orrin is going to teach you how to use mindfulness of your breath, your natural breath as it naturally occurs as a way to create relaxation for yourself, anytime and in any place. As a reminder, all of these meditations that we post here in the feed are available inside the 10% happier app as well. Here we go now with Orrin. Hi there, this is Orrin.

Mindfulness of breathing has many benefits. In this meditation we'll explore how to be naturally aware of your breathing in a way that helps relax the mind and body. This can be useful in and of itself, and can also be the starting point for developing a range of qualities like concentration, wisdom, and compassion. So let's get started. Find a comfortable posture, one that feels stable, balanced and upright. You can let your eyes close or just look down at the ground in front of you, letting your gaze be soft and unfocused. If you like, you can take a few slow, deep breaths, breathing in deeply through your

nose, breathing out through your mouth in a thin stream of air, long and slow. As we begin, set an intention to put down any thoughts of the past or future. For right now, all you have to do is be here and relax. The rest can wait. Feel your feet on the floor and the contact with the chair or cushion beneath you. Notice what it feels like there. Is it hard or soft? Can you sense pressure, weight or heaviness? In your own time, begin to notice the rhythm of your breathing. What lets you know that you're breathing?

Where do you feel it? As you breathe in, you might notice sensations of swelling, lifting or expanding. As you breathe out, you may feel a sense of something loosening, releasing or letting go. Let your awareness begin to synchronize with your breathing, paying a little more attention to that feeling of settling and relaxation on the out breath. Explore this on your own for a bit, tuning in to the breath is very important. If we relate to it with a sense of pressure, intensity or force, the breath carries those qualities into the body which begins to feel tight.

If we approach the breath with a sense of spaciousness, with a light and easy attention, it carries those qualities into the body which begins to feel light open or spacious. Breathing in, receiving, being nourished, Letting go. As the meditation comes to a close, you can bring your attention back to those simple, steady sensations of contact, your feet on the floor, your bottom on the chair or cushion. You can allow your eyes to open if they've been closed. Nice work. Thanks for your practice. See you next time. Thank you, Orrin. We hope you enjoyed this meditation. If you're thinking, you know, I could have kept going there for another five or ten minutes. I encourage you to check out the 10% happier app where you'll find this very same meditation

in different lengths. The cost of your subscription directly supports our many amazing teachers and allows them to dedicate their lives to teaching the life-changing skill of mindfulness. As an added incentive, we've got a special discount for anyone new to the app to claim your discount. Visit 10% dot com slash bonus. That's 10% one word all spelled out dot com slash bonus. If you're an existing subscriber, thank you.

We'll see you back here on Monday for a fresh episode with the fascinating, and I mean fascinating, Dr. Lisa Feldman Barrett. She's an emotions researcher. 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 add 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. Like the short, and it's full of a lot of interesting questions. What does happiness really mean? How do I get the most out of my time, pure honor, and earth? And what really is the best cereal? These are the questions I seek to resolve on my weekly podcast, Life is Short with Justin Long.

If you're looking for the answer to deep philosophical questions, like what is the meaning of life? I can't really help you. But I do believe that we really enrich our experience here by learning from others. And that's why in each episode, I like to talk help you, but I do believe that we really enrich our experience here by learning from others. And that's why in each episode, I like to talk with actors, musicians, artists, scientists, and many more types of people about how they get the most out of life. We explore how they felt during the highs, and sometimes more importantly, the lows of their careers.

We discuss how they've been able to stay happy during some of the harder times. But if I'm being honest, it's mostly just fun chats between friends about the important stuff. Like, if you had a sandwich named after you, what would be on it? Follow Life is Short, wherever you get your podcasts. You can also listen to Add Free on the Amazon Music or Wondering App.