Ten Percent Happier with Dan Harris - Don’t Overcomplicate Your Meditation | Bonus Meditation with Joseph Goldstein

Episode Date: July 21, 2023

Life is already complicated enough. Meditation doesn’t have to be, if we learn to be simple and easy.About Joseph Goldstein :Joseph is one of the most respected meditation teachers in the world -- a key architect of the rise of mindfulness in our modern society -- with a sense of humor to boot. In the 1970's, he co-founded the Insight Meditation Society (IMS) alongside Sharon Salzberg and Jack Kornfield. Since its founding, thousands of people from around the world have come to IMS to learn mindfulness from leaders in the field. Joseph has been a teacher there since its founding and continues as the resident guiding teacher.To find this meditation in the Ten Percent Happier app, you can search for “Be Simple and Easy.” 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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It's the 10% happier podcast. I'm Dan Harris. Hey everybody, it's time for a bonus meditation. All week on the show, we've been talking to the great Joseph Goldstein and we thought therefore it would be wise to post a guided meditation today from Joseph himself. A little bit of information on Joseph if you're new to him. Back in the 1970s, he co-founded the Great Insight Meditation Society alongside Sharon Salisbury and Jack Cornfield. Since IMS was founded, thousands of people from all around the world have come there to practice meditation, myself included. Joseph has been a teacher

there since its founding and continues to be the resident guiding teacher. He's also one of the founding teachers of the 10% happier meditation app. So here we go now with Joseph. Hello, this is Joseph. A phrase that I learned from my teacher and an injury can help remind us to settle back and just be with whatever is arising. can help remind us to settle back and just be with whatever is arising. The phrase he used so often was be simple and easy. Be simple and easy about things. This reminds us to settle back and just be with whatever is arising, no matter what it is.

Wanting discomfort, judgmental thoughts, we are into everything the same way. Be simple and easy. Simply be with things as they are. Let's explore this inner practice. Let the eyes close gently, relax the muscles around the eyes, relax the shoulders, relax the belly. And in this space of relaxation, become aware of the body's sitting. Sit and know your sitting. It can be that simple. a whole body. Become aware of the body breathing. Know you breathing in. Breathing out. Know you breathing out. We allow experiences to arise and pass away without interfering with them, without getting caught up in them. For example, we might notice that the mind has started thinking, for liforating.

At this moment, we can remember the remember, be simple and easy. As the body breathes out, whatever it is that's arising. Aware of sounds, aware of the body sitting, aware of breathing, be simple and easy. When the thought settles, you can come back to the breath, to the eyes open and take in the room or the space around you. Good luck with your practice. See you next time. Thank you to Joseph. 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. And we'll see you right back here on Monday for a brand new episode.

We're doing a full week on sleep. Episode number one is with Diane Misedo, friend and former colleague of mine from ABC News, who wrote a great book about her experiences in the land of sleeplessness and how to get out of there. 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.