Ten Percent Happier with Dan Harris - Counteracting Your Negativity Bias | Bonus Meditation with Anushka Fernandopulle

Episode Date: July 30, 2021

Often we forget to acknowledge the good in our lives. Happiness and well-being can be as accessible as simply recalling moments of kindness. Watch Ted Lasso on Apple TV+. Subscription required. Apple TV+ and/or select content may not be available in all regions. To find this meditation in the Ten Percent Happier app, you can search for “Recalling Kind Moments,” or click the link for the ‘Kindness: Ted Lasso Style’ singles meditation pack: https://10percenthappier.app.link/KindnessTedLassoStyle About Anushka Fernandopulle: Anushka teaches meditation, works as an organizational consultant, and does leadership coaching with individuals and teams. She has practiced meditation for over 25 years, including four years in full-time intensive training in monasteries and retreat centers in the US, India and Sri Lanka. Her work is informed by a BA in anthropology/religion from Harvard University, an MBA from Yale focused on leadership and organizational behavior, and certification in coaching from the Coaches Training Institute. 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 gang, it's Friday, time for a bonus meditation. We're going to be talking about the negativity bias today.

This is something that's been wired into us by evolution. It made sense on the savanna because our forebears needed to be on the lookout for threats of all manner. And being on the lookout out for threats still makes sense to a certain extent today. But we tend to take it too far and view the world through garbage colored glasses. And that's why it's so important to counteract the negativity bias. And we're going to talk about that today in a guided meditation in just a second I do want to say before we dive in that

This Friday bonus is a part of our special series that we're doing in partnership with the hit show on Apple TV plus Ted Lasso season two of the show launched on July 23rd and new episodes drop every Friday I like it a lot and folks on my team are also really, really big fans. If you haven't seen it, it starts Jason Sadekis as a guy named Ted Lasso who's a football coach based in the US. But the conceit of the show is that he gets called over to the UK to coach a soccer team even though he knows nothing about soccer. And the reason he's really able to keep his head above water and actually succeed is that

he deploys the tried and true tactic of being a high quality human being. In other words, he's very, very nice. So the question for all of us is how can Ted and how can you remember to be kind when you're under a lot of pressure? Just as in sports, the answer is, of course, practice. And to that end, 10% happier has created a free pack of meditations to help you cultivate kindness in your everyday life. In fact, the meditation you're about to hear is from the Kindness Meditation Pack, which is available on the 10% happier app. If you

want more of these meditations, just download the 10% happier app wherever you get your apps, and then tap on the singles tab to find the rest of the aforementioned kindness meditations. Or you can just click the link in the show notes here. Let's get to today's practice. It's from the meditation teacher, Anushka Fernandipoli, and she offers us some guidance on how to recall moments of kindness in our own lives over now to Anushka. Hi, this is Anushka. Welcome to this meditation on noticing different moments of kindness you've received. This helps us to grow in appreciation and to have a more positive outlook on our life. It also makes it easier for us to continue the chain of kindness by being

kind to others and ourselves. So let's get started. Come to a comfortable position for this meditation. You could be lying down or sitting. You could even be standing somewhere while you listen to this meditation. Where you do wanna be in a comfortable position. Let yourself relax your body. If you're comfortable, you can close your eyes. Or if you're standing, you can keep them open.

Take a few deep breaths in and out. Take a few deep breaths in and out. As you try to let go, the thoughts of the day. See if there's any tension in your face, your shoulders, or any other part of the body. Breathe deeply in and out a few times, relaxing the tension on the out breath. And then allow the breath to come to its natural rhythm. You can begin by bringing to mind someone who's been kind to you quite recently. This could be someone who's shown you some generosity, some care, some goodwill, or love. It could be someone you're close to.

Or even some small kindness that came from a stranger, including someone who held a door open for you, who genuinely smiled at you, or who did their job with kindness. Allow yourself to remember this act of kindness, and feel the impact of it. Allow your attention to go to your heart area or anywhere in your body where you can notice this. Allow yourself to feel it fully. Try not to judge how it's supposed to feel, or how strong the feeling is. it showing up. Next you can bring to mind another act of kindness that you may not have thought of for some time. Maybe from your work life, someone who has been helpful to you through mentoring you, or who is kind in some way, or could be a long-lost friend that you haven't thought of for a while.

Allow yourself to remember the act of kindness, the relationship of goodwill. Let your attention settle in your chest or your heart area or any place in your body where you feel the impact of this kindness. We can allow this kindness to inspire us to also be a benefit to others in the way they may have been kind to us, or in other ways as opportunities present themselves. When you're ready, you can open your eyes if your eyes have been closed. Allow yourself to go on with your day enourished by this kindness. See if you can be open to receiving kindness and to giving it as you move around in the world.

Until the next time. Thank you to Anushka. We'll see you right back here on Monday for a freshy a new 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 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 this 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 here on 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 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.