Ten Percent Happier with Dan Harris - Try This for Stress | Bonus Meditation with Sebene Selassie

Episode Date: August 6, 2021

Being kind to ourselves in hard times bolsters our resilience, so we can learn from setbacks rather than getting stuck in rumination. Watch Ted Lasso on Apple TV+. Subscription required. Apple TV+ and/or select content may not be available in all regions. To find this meditation in the Ten Percent Happier app, you can search for “Self-Kindness for Stress,” or click here: https://10percenthappier.app.link/content?meditation=135d547d-18a1-48a6-a562-e325f74ffe40. About Sebene Selassie: Growing up, Sebene felt like a big weirdo. Born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and raised in white neighborhoods in Washington, D.C., she was a tomboy Black girl who loved Monty Python and UB40. She never believed she belonged. Thirty years ago, she began studying Buddhism as an undergraduate at McGill University where she majored in Comparative Religious Studies. Now, Sebene is a teacher, author, and speaker who teaches that meditation can help us remember our inherent sense of belonging, that our individual freedom affects absolutely everyone and everything, and that our collective freedom depends on each and every one of us. Sebene is a three-time cancer survivor of Stage III and IV cancer. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

What does it even mean to live a good life? Is it about happiness, purpose, love, health, or wealth? What really matters in the pursuit of a life well lived? These are the questions award-winning author, founder, and interviewer Jonathan Fields asks his guests on the Top Ranked Good Life Project podcast. Every week, Jonathan sits down with world renowned thinkers and doers, people like Glenn and Doyle, Adam Grant,

Young Pueblo, Jonathan Height, and hundreds more. Start listening right now. Look for the Good Life project on your favorite podcast app. From ABC, this is the 10% happier podcast. I'm Dan Harris. Hello gang, it's Friday time for a bonus meditation. And we're talking today about a counterintuitive method for handling stress. I don't know about you, but for me, often when I'm feeling stressed, I revert to self-loss

oration, self-criticism, as it turns out, in a much more effective way to handle your psyche and motivate yourself in a moment like that is the opposite of self-laceration, self-compassion, or self-kindness. In fact, this meditation is part of a special series we are launching in partnership with Apple TV's Ted Lasso, season two of Ted Lasso, launched on July 23rd. New episodes drop every Friday. I will admit that when I first started watching the show, I didn't quite understand what the fuss was all about.

And then as season one progressed, I progressively fell in love with the show. And now I really love it. And really look forward to new episodes coming every Friday on season two, which is, as I said, airing right now on Apple TV Plus. The show is really about love and kindness. That sounds a little gooey. I mean, if somebody said that to me in a vacuum, I probably wouldn't want to watch it. But it's, I don't know if you've ever seen that show,

Parks and Rec. To me, it's, I love Parks and Rec where you stay here on NBC, it's incredibly funny, and also about friendship and love. And by love, I don't mean the sort of narrow band of romantic love or the late capitalistic version of love where we talk about how much we love the new pants, we bought or whatever. I'm talking about, and many of you have heard this rap before from me, but anything north of neutral, the relationships you have with everybody in your life.

And that is really on display in a big way in Ted Lasso. So I recommend the show, and I really recommend all of the meditations that we are putting out into the world as part of this partnership with Apple TV+. The meditation you're about to hear is from the kindness meditation pack, which is available on the 10% happier app.

If you want more of these meditations, just download the 10% happier app wherever you get your apps and then tap on the singles tab to find the rest of our Kindness Meditations. Or just click on the link in the show notes for this episode. Okay, so let's get to today's meditation. It's from Seven A. Salassasi, who's really one of the most popular teachers in TPH and LAN. She's a great friend and author of a wonderful book called You Belong, which I highly recommend. Here we go now with Sebiné. Hey there, this is Sebiné. Welcome to this meditation on developing friendliness and compassion towards ourselves. Research shows that when we have self-compassion, we exhibit more resilience,

ruminate-less, and are able to learn from setbacks easier. A friendly and compassionate attitude is imbued with ease. When I'm kind to myself, it's like my whole system starts to relax. We're going to practice bringing a friendly and kind attitude to ourselves by extending compassion for our stress. Let's start. Find a comfortable posture. Take a few moments to settle into your body. Perhaps connecting with the breath as a way to gather your attention. Just feel the air coming in and out. Breathing in.

Breathing out. Can you rest awareness on the body, feelings, sensations, going inwards? Just notice how you feel in this moment. You can ask yourself what's happening right now. How does the body feel? What do you notice in the mind with your emotions, not changing or trying to fix anything, just In a moment, I'm going to invite you to say some phrases to yourself. Just remember, for the next few minutes, you'll be training your capacity for self-compassion. compassion. And let's begin that training by considering a major stress in your life right now. Allow yourself to feel it by connecting to it in the body. Notice where it is and how it feels. Now offer yourself these three simple phrases. This is stress. Stress is a part of life. May I find ease. Stay connected to the sensation in the body, continuing to bring awareness, repeating repeating these phrases silently to yourself.

This is stress. Stress is a part of life. May I find ease. You want to feel better, we all do. Even in the midst of your stress, you've chosen to engage with this meditation. Can you appreciate that about yourself? You can end this meditation by expressing gratitude for your efforts. Great job with this meditation.

You can open your eyes now and reconnect with your surroundings. Thank you for your practice and may you have ease. Thank you to 7a. Always great to meditate with her. We'll see you right back here on Monday for a brand new episode very much Along the same lines of the meditation. We just did it's all about self-love Our guest is the extremely funny and insightful sonya Renee Taylor Hey, hey prime members you can listen to 10% happier early and add 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. Hey, I'm Ares, and I'm Brooke. And we're the hosts of Wondery's podcast, Even the Rich, where we bring you absolutely true

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