Ten Percent Happier with Dan Harris - A Meditation You Can Do Literally Anywhere, Anytime | Bonus Meditation with Jay Michaelson

Episode Date: September 22, 2023

You don’t have to slow down and sit to be mindful. You can be busy and get things done while still growing your mindfulness muscles.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 “Meditate While You’re Busy.” See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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advisor free of charge. BedMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with eye gaming on Tariot. This is the 10% happier podcast. I'm Dan Harris. Hello, everybody. It's Friday, time for a guided meditation. Many of us believe that in order to meditate, we need to be in a perfect, pristine environment. And sure, yes, that can be great. But you can actually meditate or be mindful anywhere at any time. And that's what we're going to do today with my very good friend, Jay Michelson. This guy is a dynamo. He's the author of seven books on meditation, including his latest enlightenment by trial and error.

He's also got a novel coming out soon that is called The Secret, that is not a secret. To boot the dude is a journalist, a lawyer, an LGBTQ activist, and an ordained rabbi. So an incredible person. And here we go now with Jay Michelson. Hi, this is Jay. So this guided meditation will be a little different from most other ones. We're not going to settle into a cushion or a chair. We're not going to stop what we're doing going to settle into a cushion or a chair. We're not going to stop what we're doing because we're too busy to do that. But you can be totally busy and still connected to who you are,

to what matters to you, and to the bigger picture. Let's do it. Wherever you are right now, first thing, let's bring your attention to what you're seeing, hearing, and feeling. We're not going deep. We're scanning our experience. So, seeing. Your eyes are open. What do you see right now? What's in front of you? See if you can notice various objects with an attitude of mindfulness. Open, non-judgmental. Just witnessing, noticing, not commenting, not going down little rabbit holes of stories, just this thing, then this thing, then this thing. Now, hearing. Same thing.

Just noticing what you hear. You can name the source of the sound if you want, or just let the sound be a sound. But just notice it, then move on to the next one, and the next one, and the next one. And now feeling, if you're standing, feel the weight of your body on your feet. If you're sitting, the the contact of your feet with the ground. Notice these physical sensations, then move on to the next one, and the one after that. Notice one thing at a time like this does a few things. First, it takes you out of whatever stories are buzzing around in your head. For example, say you're running late for something. Your brain might be cycling around and around with concern. Just give your brain a break from that by noticing what's happening right now.

What is happening right now? Seeing what's in front of you. Feeling, what are you touching or feeling in your body? Second, there's something intrinsically calming about noticing things in this non-reactive way. What's really happening? This and this and this. It may seem like a flood of perceptions, but if you can go one at a time, non-judgmentally, just noticing, can feel more like a calm bath. Try it out again now.

Seeing. Hearing. Feeling. Keep doing your thing. See you next time. Thank you, Jay. 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 talking about Delight with the, and I'm sorry for this delightful Ross Gay.

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