Ten Percent Happier with Dan Harris - Guided Meditation: 'A Reflection On the Important Things' by The Minimalists

Episode Date: November 23, 2017

With the holidays (and shopping season) upon us, we asked our friends The Minimalists (Ep. #32) for a short meditation to help us focus on what's truly important. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Before we jump into today's show, many of us want to live healthier lives, but keep bumping our heads up against the same obstacles over and over again. But what if there was a different way to relate to this gap between what you want to do and what you actually do? What if you could find intrinsic motivation for habit change that will make you happier instead of sending you into a shame spiral? Learn how to form healthy habits without kicking your own ass unnecessarily by taking our healthy habits course over on the 10% happier app. It's taught by the Stanford psychologist Kelly McGonical and the Great Meditation Teacher Alexis

Santos to access the course. Just download the 10% happier app wherever you get your apps or by visiting 10% calm. All one word spelled out. Okay on with the show. to baby this is Kiki Palmer on Amazon Music or wherever you get your podcast. Hey people I'm coming to you from the streets of Manhattan right now which is not the most meditative milieu but the day got away from me and I wanted to post this meditation today and I didn't have time to get into the studio anyway long story. Getting to the point, this is a meditation for my friends, Josh and Ryan, otherwise known as the minimalists. Sorry, there's a truck passing right now.

Roll with it. It's all part of meditation. Josh and Ryan are the minimalists. They have a great podcast and also a great documentary up on Netflix. And they talk a lot about not getting so sucked into consumerism, which does have a link to mindfulness, where you can focus on the important things. And we had them do this guided meditation just in time for Black Friday.

So here it is. Ody, this is Joshua Willfields Millburn. And I'm Ryan Nicodemus, and together we are the minimalists. Minimalism is the thing that gets us past the things so we can make room for life's most important things, which actually aren't things, at all. Minimalism is a great way to clear the external clutter from our lives, so we can focus on what's going on inside ourselves.

And much like how minimalism helps us address our physical clutter, meditation allows us to deal with our internal clutter. And with a less cluttered mind, we're able to focus on life's most important things. And while we're releasing this meditation just in time for one of the most chaotic days of the year, Black Friday, it's appropriate for any time of year. Let's get started. The first thing we want to do is close our eyes and relax. Maybe you're seated. Maybe you're lying on your back.

However, your position, start to bring your attention to your breath. As you breathe, notice the space around you. How does the air feel at you in hell? Every day, we are bombarded with endless inputs, advertisements, emails, social media. All these interruptions are vying for our attention. But just as we let them in, we can let them go, and we can refocus our attention on more important questions. Why have I given so much meaning to all this stuff? What is truly important in my life?

Why have I been so discontented? and so discontented. Who is the person I want to become? How will I define my own success? When you're ready, you can go ahead and open your eyes. We have time for one final reflection before we finish this meditation. It's a simple question worth considering. How might your life be better with less? When we answer this question, letting go gets a whole lot easier.

Good luck out there. We'll see you next time. Big thanks to Josh and Ryan for that meditation. And if you want to hear more from them, we did a podcast with them several months back so you can find it in the podcast fee. Have a great Thanksgiving everybody. 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 1dory.com slash survey. Life is 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. 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.