Ten Percent Happier with Dan Harris - How To Handle Boredom | Bonus Meditation with Joseph Goldstein

Episode Date: October 20, 2024

Co-opt the feeling of boredom and use it as feedback, instead of just wanting it to go away.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 Happier app, you can search for “When Meditating Gets Boring.”See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can listen to 10% happier early and ad free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple podcasts. It's the 10% happier podcast. I'm Dan Harris. Hello, my fellow suffering beings. How we doing? We've got a bonus meditation for you today that addresses a very common issue in meditation, boredom. Our meditation teacher du jour is Joseph Goldstein. Many of you know him, but just a little bit of information for the

uninitiated here. He co-founded the Insight Meditation Society back in the 1970s alongside Sharon Salzberg and Jack Kornfield. He's written many books, including a great book that is entitled, quite simply, Mindfulness. And he has been my meditation teacher for coming on 15 years now. Here we go now with Joseph Goldstein. Hello, this is Joseph. Today we're going to be working with boredom as an object of meditation in our practice. We often see boredom as a problem,

but really this feeling is a useful feedback because boredom is not inherent in the object itself, but in the quality of our attention to it. We'll begin again by settling into the awareness of the body, the body posture, making the soft mental note of sitting, sitting. Become aware of your body breathing, making a soft mental note of in and out or rise and fall. Be mindful of different bodily sensations as they become predominant and call your attention. vibration, heat, cold, whatever the sensation may be. And notice and note different thoughts or emotions that may become predominant.

Noting thinking, or planning, or judging. to the feeling of boredom when it might arise. Making a note, boredom, boredom, so we're acknowledging its presence. And then bringing the wisdom of understanding boredom to our practice. Understanding that boredom is coming from half-hearted attention. When you're feeling bored, after acknowledging it and opening to it, see if you can bring your attention in closer to whatever the object may be. Whether it's the breath or sensations, or different thoughts and emotions, These investigations focus our attention and lead us to a closer experience of whatever the object may be. And notice for yourselves when the attention is close, when the attention is careful, whether the mind continues to be bored or not.

This understanding of boredom is tremendously empowering, as it reminds us that the qualities of interest or disinterest are really up to us and to the quality of our attention we bring to these moments. When you're ready, you can open your eyes, become aware of seeing, as you slowly re-engage with the world. Look forward to being with you next time. Thank you, Joseph. You can find more meditations like this one over on the Happier app. Just download the app wherever you get your apps to get started. If you like 10% Happier, I hope you do, you can listen early and ad free right now by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondery app

or on Apple podcasts. Prime members can listen ad free on Amazon Music. Before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a short survey at Wondery.com slash survey.