Ten Percent Happier with Dan Harris - Open Awareness | Bonus Meditation with Dan Harris

Episode Date: March 22, 2024

Dan leads an “open awareness” meditation that’s also available as part of the 10th anniversary audiobook of Ten Percent Happier.Related Episodes:Click here to listen to the previous episodes in our tenth anniversary series. To order the revised tenth anniversary edition of 10% Happier: click here For tickets to Dan Harris: Celebrating 10 Years of 10% Happier at Symphony Space: click hereSee 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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And we're the hosts of British Scandal. In our latest series, we're visiting one of the rockiest sibling relationships ever. Okay so I'm thinking Danny and Kylie no no no I'm thinking Anne Boleyn and the other Boleyn. No no Barry and Paul Chuckle. No it's Noel and Liam Gallagher. Now these two couldn't be more different but they're tied to each other in musical dependency. Despite their music catching the attention of people around the world, Liam's behaviour could destroy their chances. However, their manager saw an opportunity to build a brand around their rebellious nature.

It's got fights on boats, fights on planes, fights on land. They just fight everywhere. If you like fights, you'll love this. To find out the full story, follow British Scandal wherever you listen to podcasts. Or listen early and ad-free on Wondry+, on Apple Podcasts or on the Wondry app. This is the 10% Happier Podcast. I'm Dan Harris. Hey, everybody.

It's Friday. Time for a bonus meditation. As you may know, for the past couple of weeks, we've been celebrating the 10th anniversary of the book that started this whole thing, 10% Happier. On the show, we've been interviewing a bunch of people who were featured in that book and are still huge features of my current life, including my meditation teacher, Joseph Goldstein, the great Buddhist therapist, Dr. Mark Epstein, and my little brother, Matt, a recent convert to meditation.

Today, we're bringing you a special bonus meditation led by me for the revised audio edition of the book for the 10th anniversary audio edition of the book. I actually recorded a bunch of short meditations that you can use any time. So this is just one of the meditations included in the audio version of the book. It's known as an open awareness meditation. So you start by focusing on the breath and then you open up to whatever's popping up in your mind. If you don't understand it yet, don't worry. I will walk you through it.

By the way, if you're listening to this before March 28th, 2024, come join us for a special celebration of the 10th anniversary of the book. We're doing it at Symphony Space in New York City. It's gonna be a live taping of the podcast. Joseph Goldstein and Mark Epstein will both be there, interviewed on stage. There will be a band, mates of state, who were actually featured in the book. It's going to be a lot of fun. Go to symphonyspace.org to get your tickets. Okay, settle in. Let's

meditate. Meditate. This is an open awareness meditation. It'll last about 10 minutes. First step is to sit comfortably. Let's do a deep breath while we're here. It's a good way to reset the nervous system, help you arrive. Before we move into the open awareness part, let's settle the mind a little bit further by doing some directed awareness, either on our breath or the feeling of our body sitting in a chair,

or the sounds in the environment. or the sounds in the environment. So if you're focusing on your breath, you can pick one spot like the belly or the chest or the nose and just feel, as I like to say, the raw data of the physical sensations. Similarly with feeling the full body or sounds in the environment. Trying to be aware of what's happening naturally

without interfering or judging. And every time you get distracted, which will happen millions of times, if you're anything like me, just start over.. No matter how many times you get distracted, it's all good. Just start again. It's like a golf game with a million mulligans. Back to the breath, back to the sensations of the body... Okay, now that we've let the mind settle just a little bit by focusing on the breath, or the sensations in our body, or the sounds in the environment in a directed way. Let's drop all of that. Just let it rip and be aware of whatever comes up.

So it's much easier to get distracted for many of us when we open our awareness in this way, which is why noting can be very helpful. Every once in a while when something prominent arises, just apply a soft mental note like a whisper in your mind. Thinking. Itching. Tightness. You don't have to control what's going on. Just let the mind go where it wants. But just try to be mindful of whatever's happening. And again, those notes can be a great way to avoid getting too caught up in whatever arises. If you notice boredom, slap that label on it. Maybe you have the habit of focusing on the breath. That's fine.

If that's where the mind goes in a choiceless way, feel that. My teacher Joseph Goldstein has a great line, the mind has no pride. It can be pretty embarrassing to see where it takes us. Where do gerbils run wild? What's the definition of if? Do I need a haircut? What's for lunch? Why am I listening to a washed up anchorman

give me meditation instructions? Whatever, whatever comes up, it's all good.. No matter how many times you get distracted, it's not a problem. In fact, waking up from the distraction is evidence that you're meditating correctly. It's impossible to clear your mind. That's not the goal here. We're just trying to focus the mind for a few nanoseconds on whatever, whatever's happening. And then when we get whipped away, just start again.. Okay, when you're ready, you can open your eyes, blink back into the room. Good job. to get started.