10% Happier with Dan Harris

New episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for free, with 1-week early access for Wondery+ subscribers.

A crucial (and often misunderstood) concept in Buddhism: letting go.

For this episode, Executive Producer DJ Cashmere interviewed a trio of brilliant Dharma teachers to get their advice about how to handle surrendering or letting go. This is the fourth in a series of 'correspondent' episodes, in which DJ identifies a pain point in his life and meditation practice, then goes out into the world to report on the best ways to address it.

Kaira Jewel Lingo is a former nun in the Plum Village tradition started by Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh. Vinny Ferraro teaches at the Insight Meditation Society and Spirit Rock, and also in prisons. Matthew Brensilver teaches at many of the same retreat centers, and spent many years working in the field of addiction pharmacotherapy.

*Find the Soft Belly Meditation here

*Check out Sebene Selassie's website and newsletter, Ancestor to Elements. Plus, her 'Let It Be' guided meditation on DanHarris.com

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Want to study and practice with today's guests? Please check out these Spirit Rock offerings:

Matthew Brensilver, Buddhist Psychology Training (Begins in January)

Vinny Ferraro: A Year to Live; Discovering What Death Can Teach Us About Living Fully (Begins in January)

Kaira Jewel Lingo: Healing Our Way Home (Oct. 20); Insight Meditation Retreat (April 9-16; opens Dec. 11)

All 10% Happier listeners receive a discount code for our December Insight Retreat (Dec. 8-18) with the code TENPERCENT

Vinny and Kaira Jewel will also teach at the Insight Meditation Society:

Kaira Jewel Lingo, Strength to Love: Honoring Dr. Martin Luther King: Jr. (Jan 17 - Jan 20), and Return to Wholeness: Opening to Wisdom & Love (online) (Mar 23 - Mar 29)

Vinny Ferraro, Peace in Presence: A Four-Night Retreat for All (Jan 31 - Feb 4)

Related Episodes:

• Listen to all of DJ's correspondence episodes here
• 3 Buddhist Strategies for When the News is Overwhelming | Kaira Jewel Lingo
• How to Keep Your Relationships On the Rails | Kaira Jewel Lingo
• Three Buddhist Practices For Getting Your Sh*t Together | Vinny Ferraro
• Why Self-Hatred Makes No Sense | Matthew Brensilver
• How to Actually Be Present | Matthew Brensilver

Also, the teachers' sites:

https://vinnyferraro.org/

Vinny Ferraro's Course, A Year To Live

https://www.kairajewel.com/

https://www.matthewbrensilver.org/

Feedback form: Let us know what you think!

https://www.happierapp.com/contact

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Our favorite playlists on: Anxiety, Sleep, Relationships, Most Popular Episodes

Full Shownotes: https://happierapp.com/podcast/tph/dj-surrender-4

New episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for free, with 1-week early access for Wondery+ subscribers.

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What ancient Greeks and Romans figured out about stress reduction.

You may have heard about stoicism, in the common parlance, as having a stiff upper lip, sucking it up, grinning and bearing it, suppressing your emotions, etcetera. Or you may have heard of Stoicism, the ancient Greco/Roman philosophy, that has become the de rigeur set of life hacks among millennial self-optimizers.

In this episode, guest Nancy Sherman argues that Stoicism is way deeper than any of that. She will argue that, in fact, Stoicism is kind of the opposite of all the above. It's a way to truly know your patterns of thought and emotion.

Nancy Sherman is a Professor of Philosophy at Georgetown University. She is an expert in ethics, the history of moral philosophy, moral psychology, military ethics, and emotions. Her most recent book is called Stoic Wisdom: Ancient Lessons for Modern Resilience.

This episode is a rebroadcast from 2021: it's one of our most-listened episodes, and we thought it might be particularly useful in this time of election-related stress.

In this conversation, we:

• cover the basics of Stoicism,
• how and why capital "S" Stoicism is often misinterpreted,
• a meditation practice called "premeditation of evils," which is far more practical than it may sound,
• and another practice designed to make you feel "at home in the world".

Content Warning: There is a brief reference to suicide.

Related Episodes:

Ancient Strategies for Managing Stress & Anxiety | Ryan Holiday

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Our favorite playlists on: Anxiety, Sleep, Relationships, Most Popular Episodes

Full Shownotes: https://www.happierapp.com/podcast/tph/nancy-sherman-rerun

Additional Resources:

• Download the Happier app today: https://my.happierapp.com/link/download

New episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for free, with 1-week early access for Wondery+ subscribers.

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How to get the practice into your molecules—not in some militaristic way, but in a way that feels easy and natural.

Alexis Santos has been in the field of mindfulness and meditation since 2001. After graduating from Harvard University in 1995, he spent several years in medical school before leaving his chosen career as a doctor to seek out a different path. It was while traveling in India that he was introduced to insight meditation.

Since that time, Alexis has practiced in many meditative styles and traditions, including with Sayadaw U Tejaniya, the Thai Forest tradition with Ajahn Sumedho, the Tibetan tradition with Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche and within the lay Western insight community where he continues to learn from the growing diversity of voices.

Alexis's primary teacher has been Sayadaw U Tejaniya, from the Burmese Theravada tradition, and with whom he ordained as a Buddhist monk from 2003 - 2005. Sayadaw encouraged Alexis to teach in 2012. Alexis also completed the Spirit Rock/IMS four-year teacher training program with Jack Kornfield and others, including mentors Joseph Goldstein and Carol Wilson.

​

Alexis teaches meditation at retreat centers around the world. He is featured on the Ten Percent Happier meditation app and is co-founder of Open Door Meditation Community in Portland, Maine where he is a guest teacher.

Alexis's teaching style is natural and uncrafted. He brings a practical, intuitive and compassionate approach to the development of wisdom.

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Want to study and practice with Alexis? Visit his website at alexissantos.io where you can join his freely offered online practice sessions.

He will also be teaching at the Insight Meditation Society from March 5 - 12. When Awareness Becomes Natural: An U Tejaniya-style Insight Meditation Retreat

Related Episodes:

A More Relaxed Way to Meditate | Alexis Santos

I Just Did A 10-Day Silent Meditation Retreat With Joseph Goldstein. Here's What I Learned

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Our favorite playlists on: Anxiety, Sleep, Relationships, Most Popular Episodes

Full Shownotes: https://happierapp.com/podcast/tph/alexis-santos-855

New episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for free, with 1-week early access for Wondery+ subscribers.

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How optimizing this skill can change your life – and the world.

Rabbi Sharon Brous has some extremely practical tips for how to improve what psychologists call your social health. She is the senior and founding rabbi of IKAR, a Jewish community in LA. Her new book, a bestseller, is called The Amen Effect: Ancient Wisdom to Heal Our Hearts and Mend Our Broken World.

Related Episodes:

• This Neurobiologist Wants You To Ask One Question To Reframe Anxiety, Depression, And Trauma | Dr. Bruce Perry (Co-Interviewed by Dan's Wife, Bianca!)

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Follow Dan on social: Instagram, TikTok

Ten Percent Happier online bookstore

Subscribe to our YouTube Channel

Our favorite playlists on: Anxiety, Sleep, Relationships, Most Popular Episodes

Full Shownotes: https://happierapp.com/podcast/tph/rabbi-sharon-brous-852

New episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for free, with 1-week early access for Wondery+ subscribers.

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The Buddhist case — and toolkit — for "don't-know mind."

For this episode, Executive Producer DJ Cashmere interviewed a trio of brilliant Dharma teachers to get their advice about how to handle being wrong. This is the third in a series of 'correspondent' episodes, in which DJ identifies a pain point in his life and meditation practice, then goes out into the world to report on the best ways to address it.

Kaira Jewel Lingo is a former nun in the Plum Village tradition started by Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh. Vinny Ferraro teaches at the Insight Meditation Society and Spirit Rock, and also in prisons. Matthew Brensilver teaches at many of the same retreat centers, and spent many years working in the field of addiction pharmacotherapy.

*Matthew's Dharma talk on Knowing And Not-Knowing

****

Want to study and practice with today's guests? Please check out these Spirit Rock offerings:

Matthew Brensilver, Buddhist Psychology Training (Begins in January)

Vinny Ferraro: A Year to Live; Discovering What Death Can Teach Us About Living Fully (Begins in January)

Kaira Jewel Lingo: Healing Our Way Home (Oct. 20); Insight Meditation Retreat (April 9-16; opens Dec. 11)

All 10% Happier listeners receive a discount code for our December Insight Retreat (Dec. 8-18) with the code TENPERCENT

& if you'd like to study with these guests on the East Coast, check out these retreats at the Insight Meditation Society:

Kaira Jewel Lingo, Strength to Love: Honoring Dr. Martin Luther King: Jr. (Jan 17 - Jan 20), and Return to Wholeness: Opening to Wisdom & Love (Mar 23 - Mar 29)

Vinny Ferraro, Peace in Presence: A Four-Night Retreat for All (Jan 31 - Feb 4)

Related Episodes:

• Listen to all of DJ's correspondence episodes here
• 3 Buddhist Strategies for When the News is Overwhelming | Kaira Jewel Lingo
• How to Keep Your Relationships On the Rails | Kaira Jewel Lingo
• Three Buddhist Practices For Getting Your Sh*t Together | Vinny Ferraro
• Why Self-Hatred Makes No Sense | Matthew Brensilver
• How to Actually Be Present | Matthew Brensilver

Also, the teachers' sites:

https://vinnyferraro.org/

Vinny Ferraro's Course, A Year To Live

https://www.kairajewel.com/

https://www.matthewbrensilver.org/

Feedback form: Let us know what you think!

https://www.happierapp.com/contact

Sign up for Dan's weekly newsletter here

Follow Dan on social: Instagram, TikTok

Ten Percent Happier online bookstore

Subscribe to our YouTube Channel

Our favorite playlists on: Anxiety, Sleep, Relationships, Most Popular Episodes

Full Shownotes: https://happierapp.com/podcast/tph/dj-being-wrong-3

New episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for free, with 1-week early access for Wondery+ subscribers.

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A Stanford innovation expert shares practical tips on future-proofing your mind.

Frederik Pferdt was Google's first Chief Innovation Evangelist, where founded Google's Innovation Lab. He's also taught classes on innovation and creativity at Stanford University for more than a decade. His new book is called What's Next Is Now: How to Live Future Ready.

In this episode we talk about:

• Why we are so resistant to change
• How to embrace the unknown
• Why and how to develop compulsive curiosity
• The value of experiments and why we shouldn't fear failure
• What it means to have expansive empathy, and why that can help you develop a future-ready mindset
• And how to identify what he calls your Dimension X—your own unique capacities

Related Episodes:

Dua Lipa On: Radical Optimism, Falling On Stage, And "Writing Yourself Into A Good Idea"

#516. Robin Roberts on the Skill of Optimism

#274 The Case for Optimism | Dr. Jonathan Salk

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Follow Dan on social: Instagram, TikTok

Ten Percent Happier online bookstore

Subscribe to our YouTube Channel

Our favorite playlists on: Anxiety, Sleep, Relationships, Most Popular Episodes

More from Frederik Pferdt:

Book: What's Next Is Now: How to Live Future Ready

NextLetter (newsletter signup): https://www.frederikgpferdt.com/#nextletter

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/frederikgpferdt/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fgpferdt/?locale=en_US

Full Shownotes: https://happierapp.com/podcast/tph/frederik-pferdt-851

Additional Resources:

• Download the Happier app today: https://my.happierapp.com/link/download

New episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for free, with 1-week early access for Wondery+ subscribers.

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Why the man behind "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" is a self-help junkie.

Judd Apatow is one of the most prolific comedic minds in the industry. Recently, Apatow produced Peacock's buddy comedy Please Don't Destroy: The Treasure of Foggy Mountain and Universal's romcom, Bros, starring and co-written by Billy Eichner. Apatow also directed, produced, and co-wrote with Pam Brady, the Netflix comedy The Bubble and produced and co-directed HBO Films' Emmy®-winning documentary George Carlin's American Dream with Michael Bonfiglio. His Netflix comedy special, Judd Apatow: The Return, released in 2017 and premiered to critical acclaim. Previous director credits include the Emmy®-award-winning documentary, The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up and The King of Staten Island. He produced Academy Award®-nominated The Big Sick and Bridesmaids, as well as Superbad, Pineapple Express and Anchorman. For television, he executive produced Crashing, Girls, and Freaks and Geeks. Off screen, Apatow authored Sicker in the Head, a follow-up to his New York Times best-seller Sick in the Head.

In this episode we talk about:

• The role of his parents' bitter divorce in his life and work
• The balance between creativity and ambition
• Why so many comedians are so neurotic
• His creative process, including some gems from the TV writer David Milch
• His relationship to panic, and a hilarious story about freaking out on weed
• The way he's started to understand the different voices inside of him
• His recent experiment with ayahuasca, and what he learned
• And the role of comedy when it feels like the world is on fire

Related Episodes:

Bill Hader on Anxiety, Imposter Syndrome, and Leaning into Discomfort

Duncan Trussell on: Being a Spiritual Omnivore, Whether Psychedelics Are a Bridge to the Divine, and How the Gates of Hell Are Locked From the Inside

Sign up for Dan's weekly newsletter here

Follow Dan on social: Instagram, TikTok

Ten Percent Happier online bookstore

Subscribe to our YouTube Channel

Our favorite playlists on: Anxiety, Sleep, Relationships, Most Popular Episodes

Full Shownotes: http://www.happierapp.com/podcast/tph/judd-apatow

Additional Resources:

• Download the Happier app today: https://www.happierapp.com/

Last month, Dan appeared on Impolitic With John Heilemann — the two guys are old friends — to talk through Dan's strategies for staying sane in the homestretch of this anxiety-fueled, agitation-inducing, existentially unnerving election; why failure is often more productive and profitable (mentally, emotionally, spiritually) than success; how to maintain a sense of calm, balance, and serenity while working harder than, in Dan's phrase, a "six-peckered goat;" and the career earthquake that's led to the big recent changes you've all heard about in the 10% Happier empire. Dan thought that the conversation was terrific, so he asked John if he could offer it to his followers—et voila, here it is! If this taste of John whets your appetite for more, please follow Impolitic With John Heilemann for a twice-weekly all-you-can-eat buffet of fresh, candid, no-holds-barred conversations with the people who shape our politics and culture. Thanks for listening, hope you enjoy, and namaste.

New episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for free, with 1-week early access for Wondery+ subscribers.

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What you resist persists. Buddhist strategies for acceptance and equanimity.

Ofosu Jones-Quartey, a meditation teacher, author, and musician hailing from the Washington DC area brings over 17 years of experience in sharing mindfulness, meditation and self-compassion practices with the world. Holding a bachelor's degree from American University and certified by the Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Program, Ofosu is a graduate of the Teleos Coaching Institute and is the male voice on the Balance meditation app, reaching over 10 million subscribers.

Ofosu leads meditation classes and retreats nationwide, having taught and led retreats at the Insight Meditation Community of Washington, The Insight Meditation Society, Spirit Rock, Brooklyn Zen Center, Cleveland Insight, Inward Bound Mindfulness and more.

As an accomplished hip hop artist under the name "Born I," Ofosu released the mindfulness-themed album "In This Moment" in 2021. His most recent album is "AMIDA", a spiritual, Lo-Fi Hip Hop album exploring life, death and his Buddhist faith.

Beyond music, Ofosu is an author. His self-published children's book "You Are Enough" debuted in 2020 and his next work "Love Your Amazing Self" via Storey Publishing in 2022. Ofosu's latest book: "Lyrical Dharma: Hip Hop as Mindfulness" will be released in 2025 via Parallax Press.

Ofosu lives in Rockville, Maryland, with his wife and four children.

Cara Lai has worked as an artist, wilderness guide, social worker, and therapist before becoming a full time meditation teacher. She teaches teens and adults at Spirit Rock, Insight Meditation Society, and Ten Percent Happier.

To find out more about what Cara does, you can go to her website, www.caralai.org – where she's got some online meditation classes, including one called Meditate Your Face Off. She also has a monthly class for parents, co-led by Ofosu Jones-Quartey.

Speaking of podcasts, Cara also co-hosts a podcast called Adventures in Meditating (For Parents), along with Jess Morey and Jon Roberts.

Cara lives in Vermont with her husband and their 2-year-old son.

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Want to study and practice with today's guests? Please check out these Spirit Rock offerings:

Cara Lai: Steadying the Heart (April 1-8; opens Dec 3)

Ofosu Jones-Quartey: BIPOC Voices: Weekly Sunday Sangha (Nov. 24)

All 10% Happier listeners receive a discount code for our December Insight Retreat (Dec. 8-18) with the code TENPERCENT

Related Episodes:

The Upside of Desire | Cara Lai

Can You Get Fit Without Self-Loathing? | Cara Lai

Rewire How You Talk To Yourself | Ofosu Jones-Quartey

What It's Like To Do A Year-Long Silent Meditation Retreat—By Yourself | Cara Lai

Sign up for Dan's weekly newsletter here

Follow Dan on social: Instagram, TikTok

Ten Percent Happier online bookstore

Subscribe to our YouTube Channel

Our favorite playlists on: Anxiety, Sleep, Relationships, Most Popular Episodes

Full Shownotes: https://happierapp.com/podcast/tph/cara-ofosu-848

New episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for free, with 1-week early access for Wondery+ subscribers.

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"America's Government Teacher" has smart tips for staying calm in turbulent times.

After years of serving as a high school government and law teacher, Sharon McMahon took her passion for education to Instagram, where more than a million people (who affectionately call themselves "Governerds") rely on her for non-partisan, fact-based information.

Sharon is also the host of the award-winning podcast, Here's Where It Gets Interesting, where, each week, she provides entertaining yet factual accounts of America's most fascinating moments and people. In addition, she is the author of The Preamble, a Substack newsletter about politics and history.

In this episode we talk about:

• How to avoid being 'confidently wrong'
• How we often get confused between our opinions and our identity—which makes it very hard to change our opinions
• The importance of having a diverse media diet
• Tips for consuming the news without driving yourself nuts
• How to have compassion for people who we completely disagree with
• How history can be a balm for hopelessness—an antidote for when we're tempted to conclude that things have never been worse
• How everyday people have way more power than we think
• And why hope is a choice.

Related Episodes:

Eight Things I'm Doing To Stay Sane During Election Season | Dan Harris

#405. How You Help End Polarization and Inequality – and Get Happier, Too | Robert Putnam & Shaylyn Romney Garrett

3 Buddhist Strategies for When the News is Overwhelming | Kaira Jewel Lingo

Sign up for Dan's newsletter here

Follow Dan on social: Instagram, TikTok

Ten Percent Happier online bookstore

Subscribe to our YouTube Channel

Our favorite playlists on: Anxiety, Sleep, Relationships, Most Popular Episodes

Full Shownotes: https://happierapp.com/podcast/tph/sharon-mcmahon-847

Additional Resources:

Download the Ten Percent Happier app today: https://app.tenpercent.com/link/download