Ten Percent Happier with Dan Harris - Bonus Meditation with Sharon Salzberg, Self-Compassion

Episode Date: October 5, 2019

Bonus Meditation with Sharon Salzberg, Self-Compassion Plug Zone Self-Compassion Meditation: https://10percenthappier.app.link/pRxEZhPgk0 Sharon Salzberg Courses & Meditations on the Ten Percent Happier App: https://10percenthappier.app.link/NOCqrWwik0 See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

It kind of blows my mind to consider the fact that we're up to nearly 600 episodes of this podcast, the 10% happier podcast. That's a lot of conversations. I like to think of it as a great compendium of, and I know this is a bit of a grandiose term, but wisdom. The only downside of having this vast library of audio is that it can be hard to know where to start. So we're launching a new feature here, playlists, just like you put together a playlist of your favorite songs.

Back in the day, we used to call those mix tapes. Just like you do that with music, you can do it with podcasts. So if you're looking for episodes about anxiety, we've got a playlist of all of our anxiety episodes. Or if you're looking for how to sleep better, we've got a playlist of all of our anxiety episodes, or if you're looking for how to sleep better, we've got a playlist for that. We've even put together a playlist of some of my personal favorite episodes. That was a hard list to make. Check out our playlists at 10%.com slash playlist. That's 10% all one word spelled out..com slash playlist singular.

Let us know what you think. We're always open to tweaking how we do things and maybe there's a playlist we haven't thought of. Hit me up on Twitter or submit a comment through the website. Hey y'all, it's your girl, Kiki Palmer. I'm an actress, singer, and entrepreneur. I'm a 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. Hey guys, we're posting a bonus meditation in the feed this week because we're in the middle of a self-compassion series. And we wanted to post a meditation specifically targeted at self-compassion. So we got one from Sharon Salzburg who is a meditation powerhouse and guiding teacher on the 10% happier app. This meditation that you're now getting here for free is also available on the app and if you haven't tried the app you can do so

right now or anytime and you'll get the first seven days free. This is a great meditation. Sharon talks a lot about the dis-utility of beating yourself up. I hope you get a lot out of it and I will see you on Wednesday with another episode in part two in the self-compassion series now over to Sharon. Making mistakes is a natural part of life. Our happiness depends on our ability to cope with the obstacles that come our way and to bounce back, to learn from mistakes, to make amends when necessary, and most important

of all, begin again without excess rumination or regret. Sometimes we find a repetitive negative voice. It's like our inner critic come to life. We're not trying to destroy that voice nor could we, but get some space from it. Even have a sense of humor about it. Sometimes people will recognize that inner critic, give it a name, give it a wardrobe even, personify it in some way, greet it, and let it go. This is perhaps the greatest lesson of meditation and all mindfulness practice. That no matter what the circumstances, we are always able to begin again in a new moment. In this exercise, we'll pay particular attention to the moment when we realize we've been distracted or lost or have gone far away from the feeling of the breath.

We say that the moment you realize you've been distracted is the magic moment, because that's the moment we have the chance to be really different. And not judge ourselves, not condemn ourselves, but simply let go and begin again. Let's begin the meditation. To start, you can sit comfortably. Feel your way into what seems like a balanced posture for you. You can close your eyes or not, however you feel most comfortable. Take a few deep breaths. Relax your body.

And intentionally set aside what you were just doing and whatever might be coming ahead. Then allow the breath to become natural. See if you can notice where you feel the breath most predominantly. And when you find that place, bring your attention there and just rest. 1.5% deurice 1.5% deurice 1.5% deurice 1.5% deurice 1.5% deurice 1.5% deurice 1.5% deurice 1.5% deurice 1.5% deurice

1.5% deurice 1.5% deurice 1.5% deurice 1.5% deurice If you've fallen asleep or something arises that's strong enough to take your attention away from the feeling of the breath, whether it's sensations or emotions, memories, fantasies, plans, whatever it might be, notice how you speak to yourself as you prepare to let go and begin again. see if you can soften it. 1.5% deurice 1.5% deurice 1.5% deurice 1.5% deurice

1.5% deurice 1.5% deurice 1.5% deurice It's actually with kindness toward ourselves rather than condemning ourselves that we make the most progress. 1.5% deurice 1.5% deurice 1.5% deurice 1.5% deurice 1.5% deurice 1.5% deurice

1.5% deurice 1.5% deurice It doesn't matter how many times your attention wanders or how long you may dwell in distraction. It also doesn't matter where your attention has one or two. Our goal is to let go gently with growing kindness toward ourselves and to begin again. 1.5% deurice 1.5% deurice 1.5% deurice 1.5% deurice 1.5% deurice 1.5% deurice 1.5% deurice 1.5% deurice

1.5% deurice 1.5% deurice 1.5% deurice 1.5% deurice 1.5% deurice I'm going to start with the first one. And when you feel ready, you can open your eyes and reconnect with what's happening around you. Both in our meditation practice and in our lives, self-compassion is the secret ingredient that allows us to simply let go and begin again.

The way I think about it these days is, I really think nothing in life is a straight shot. We're always needing to start over, begin again, adjust course. Maybe we fall down and we need to get up or have someone help us up and go forward again. We have a really big aspiration and we lose sight of it. We have to be reminded to start again. We make a mistake. Maybe we need to make amends where there are lessons learned, with that endless period

of just being down on ourselves is not onward leading. That's not how we get something done. That's not how we have a state of accomplishment. We have to be able to let go and have some compassion for ourselves, then move on. That's really the essential ingredient to progress. This is perhaps the greatest lesson of meditation and concentration practice. We've come to the end of today's session and we'll continue our practice tomorrow. Hey, hey, prime members. You can listen to 10% happier early and add free on Amazon Music. tomorrow. and tell us all about yourself by completing a short survey at Wondery.com slash survey.

Hey, I'm Aresha and I'm Brooke. And we're the hosts of Wondery's podcast, Even the Rich, where we bring you absolutely true and absolutely shocking stories about the most famous families and biggest celebrities the world has ever seen. Our newest series is all about drag icon RuPaul Charles. After a childhood of being ignored by his absentee father, Ru goes out searching for love and acceptance. But the road to success is a rocky one. Substance abuse and mental health struggles threaten to veer Ru off course. In our series RuPaul, Born Naked, we'll show you how RuPaul overcame his demons and carved out a place for himself as one of the world's top entertainers, opening the doors for aspiring queens everywhere.

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