Ten Percent Happier with Dan Harris - How To Roll With Big Changes | Bonus Meditation with Joseph Goldstein

Episode Date: January 10, 2025

During major life transitions your emotional and mental world can kick into overdrive. Learn how to stay in the eye of the hurricane.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 “Calm In Big Transitions.”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. Real quick, I want to let you know about an online event coming up at the end of January. It's called When the Rubber Hits the Road, Living the Dharma in Difficult Times. It is presented by the Insight Meditation Community of Washington, D.C. and it's happening on January 24th through the 26th. Amazing teachers will be taking part in this. Tara Brach, DC, and it's happening on January 24th through the 26th. Amazing teachers will be taking part in this, Tara Brock, Drs. Larry and Peggy Ward, Sharon

Salzberg, Robert Thurman, Kazoo Haga, Dhammapada, Melissa Cardenas, and Hugh Byrne. It's a weekend of conversation, community, and practice. They're going to be talking about how Buddhism and Buddhist teachings can help you examine your biases, can help you practice fierce compassion, and even generate some equanimity in times when so many people are living with so much fear. It's offered by donation, and the recordings are included. To register, go to imcw.org slash 10%.

I'm a huge fan of many, many of the folks who are involved in this event, in particular Tara Brach, who is the powerhouse behind IMCW. So I strongly recommend you check out this event. This is the 10% Happier Podcast. I'm Dan Harris. Happy Friday everybody, time for a bonus meditation. There is no doubt that transitions can be difficult, big life transitions especially, even when they're happy ones like a wedding or a new baby, but especially when they're harder ones like the loss of a loved one.

No matter what the cause though, mindfulness can help you navigate these transitions, as you're about to learn from our teacher du jour, Joseph Goldstein. A little bit more about Joseph before we dive in here. Back in the 1970s, he co-founded the Insight Meditation Society alongside Sharon Salzberg and Jack Kornfield. Joseph has been a teacher there since its founding and continues as the resident guiding teacher. It's a great place and Joseph is great. Here we go now with Joseph Goldstein. Hello, this is Joseph.

In the midst of big life transitions, it's not unusual for different and sometimes difficult mind states to arise. Maybe states like doubt or uncertainty, or we may be feeling worry or anxiety or fear. Sometimes it's obsessive planning that takes over the mind in times of these transitions. Mindfulness practice can help us work with these different mind states and emotions and help to keep the mind open and spacious in these transition times.

So, we'll begin by settling into the awareness of the body, the body posture, to sit and know you're sitting. You may feel the sensations of the body breathing, opening to different sensations in the body, and staying alert and mindful for the arising of doubt or the feeling of uncertainty that may arise. Reminding yourself that it's okay not to know. If you begin to experience feelings of worry or anxiety or fear, make them the object of the mindfulness, the object of meditation. Will we open to these feelings, even though they're unpleasant.

We open to them with mindfulness and with awareness. A worry feels like this. Anxiety feels like this. Fear feels like this. Yes. Can you stay mindful of all these different states? Not getting lost or carried away by them, but simply seeing them as different thoughts and emotions arising and passing away in the open space of mind.. Becoming mindful of these mind states and emotions helps us be with the many transitions in our lives. It helps us be with them with greater balance, with greater equanimity, with greater ease.

When you're ready, you can open your eyes, connecting again with the world around you, with the world around you. And paying attention to all of these various emotions that arise in times of big transitions. And realizing that we can practice with them both in our formal meditation and in our daily lives in the world. I look forward to seeing you next time. Thank you, Joseph. You can find more meditations like this one over on the Happier Meditation app. Just download the app wherever you get your apps to get started.

If you like 10% happier, and 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.