Ten Percent Happier with Dan Harris - Antidote to Overwhelm | Bonus Meditation with Oren Jay Sofer

Episode Date: November 13, 2020

Take the edge off out-of-control overwhelm and gain some agency in how you respond when everything feels like it’s crashing down. About Oren 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. He holds a degree in Comparative Religion from Columbia University and is the author of Say What You Mean: A Mindful Approach to Nonviolent Communication. We hope you enjoyed this meditation. If you're thinking, "You know, I could've kept going for another five or ten minutes," I encourage you to check out the Ten Percent Happier app, where you'll find this same meditation in different lengths to suit your practice. Your subscription cost directly supports our wonderful teachers and allows them to dedicate their time 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 tenpercent.com/bonus. If you're an existing subscriber, we thank you for your support. 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. From ABC, this is the 10% happier podcast. I'm Dan Harris. Hey guys, it's Friday, so it's time for a bonus meditation. And this one comes from Orrin Sofr, who's one of the core teachers in the 10% happier app. And you can think about this practice that Orrin is serving up today as a kind of antidote to overwhelm these, or I don't need to tell you these are, or can be at least overwhelming times.

So, Orrin to the rescue. Hey, this is Orrin. If you're listening to this, I'm guessing you're in a hard place right now. So before I say anything else, I want to honor the fact that you're here taking a concrete step to seek support with what's happening instead of trying to go it alone. For this practice, find a position that feels as comfortable and easeful as possible. You can gently close your eyes or keep them open if you prefer. Begin by taking a few slow, deep breaths. Breathe in through your nose. And then breathe out through your mouth. As you breathe out, let yourself exhale in a thin, slow stream of air. And feel any sense of settling or ease on the exhalation.

Then let your breathing return to normal and begin to feel the weight of your body resting. Bring your attention to the simplicity of feeling this steady, solid support beneath you. Stay with these sensations, feeling your body. We all need stability in life. When things feel out of control, it's as if our fundamental sense of stability gets stripped away. The irony, of course, is that we're actually seeing life more clearly in these times. We were never in control in the first place. Recognizing this is a kind of insight, but if we feel overwhelmed, it's important to

reestablish some stability. Another way to find some balance is to root our attention in our senses. Let's try practicing mindfulness of seeing. If you like, go ahead and open your eyes and begin to look around the space where you are. Notice where your eyes are drawn and begin to describe the actual colors and shapes that you see. You can do this out loud or just silently in your mind. Another thing we can learn to do when we're overwhelmed is to step back and get some perspective to find some space around the emotions. find some space around the emotions. Imagine a wide, open, unobstructed space all around you, stretching out in all directions. Remember, whatever your feeling feeling is completely natural. It's the energy of your nervous system, preparing to meet a challenge.

It's also temporary. However uncomfortable it feels right now, however crushing or overwhelming this two will pass. I hope this has been helpful. When you're ready, go ahead and open your eyes. Thanks, and take care. Big thanks to 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. That does it for today. We'll see you're here on Monday with a fresh episode. 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 1-3.com slash survey.

Celebrity feuds are high stakes. You never know if you're just gonna end up on page six or Du Moir or in court. I'm Matt Bellesai. And I'm Sydney Battle, and we're the host of Wondery's new podcast, Dis and Tell, where each episode we unpack a different iconic celebrity feud from the buildup, why it happened, and the repercussions.

What does our obsession with these feuds say about us? The first season is packed with some pretty messy pop culture drama, but none is drawn out in personal as Brittany and Jamie Lynn Spears. When Brittany's fans form the free Brittany movement dedicated to fraying her from the infamous conservatorship, Jamie Lynn's lack of public support, it angered some fans, a lot of them.

It's a story of two young women who had their choices taken away from them by their controlling parents, but took their anger out on each other. And it's about a movement to save a superstar, which set its sights upon anyone who failed to fight for Brittany. wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen ad-free on Amazon Music or the Wondering app.