10% Happier with Dan Harris Folgen

New episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for free, with 1-week early access for Wondery+ subscribers. --- One of the great perils and problems of our age is that we sometimes become too entrenched in our views and attached to being right.  According to guest George Saunders, the antidote is something he calls "holy befuddlement."  George Saunders is the author of eleven books, including Lincoln in the Bardo, which won the 2017 Man Booker Prize for best work of fiction in English. His most recent book, Liberation Day, is a collection of short stories that explore the ideas of power, ethics, and justice, cutting to the heart of what it means to live in community with our fellow humans.  In this episode we talk about: How George Saunders creates "holy befuddlement" in himself and in his readers How shaving down dogmatism can help us be, in his words, less of a "turd" How to deal with heightened expectations we might have of ourselves Healthy ways to enjoy praise What it looks like to cultivate a relationship with our self, to the extent that the self exists The importance of moral ambiguity in his work The impact of meditating – or not meditating – on our creative work  And forgiveness and coming up short Full Shownotes: https://www.tenpercent.com/podcast-episode/george-saunders-511

New episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for free, with 1-week early access for Wondery+ subscribers. --- It might be hard to find a more annoying cliché than self-love; it can seem empty and inactionable. And even if you could make it work, I think many of us suspect it would lead to complacent resignation or unbridled narcissism. But there is an enormous amount of evidence that self-love, or as the scientists call it, self-compassion, can make you more effective in reaching your goals as well as lead to better relationships with everybody around you.  On today's show, the great meditation teacher Sharon Salzberg will walk us through the idea that love— both self-love and other love— is a skill that can be cultivated with massively positive impacts.  Salzberg is a meditation pioneer, world-renowned teacher, and New York Times bestselling author. She is one of the first to bring mindfulness and lovingkindness meditation to mainstream American culture over 45 years ago, inspiring generations of meditation teachers and wellness influencers. Sharon is co-founder of The Insight Meditation Society in Barre, MA, and the author of twelve books, including the New York Times bestseller, Real Happiness, now in its second edition, and her seminal work, Lovingkindness. Her forthcoming release, Real Life: The Journey from Isolation to Openness and Freedom, is set for release in April of 2023 from Flatiron Books. Her podcast, The Metta Hour, has amassed five million downloads and features interviews with thought leaders from the mindfulness movement and beyond.  This episode comes out in conjunction with Dan Harris' recent TED Talk on self-love. You can watch the full talk here. In this episode we talk about: The definition of self-hatred and its predominance in the West The real practical benefits of self-compassion Whether there is a difference between self-compassion and self-love Why many people resist the idea of self-love The distinction between empathy and compassion and how they work together in Buddhism How to have lovingkindness for somebody who doesn't feel we have the right to exist Reclaiming words like love and happiness And how generosity makes us more whole Full Shownotes: www.tenpercent.com/podcast-episode/sharon-salzberg-510

New episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for free, with 1-week early access for Wondery+ subscribers. --- Are you interested in suffering less? Today's guest, Dharma teacher Pascal Auclair, is going to talk about seven very specific and practical ways to train your mind for reduced suffering by exploring a Buddhist list called the seven factors of awakening, which is a part of the fourth foundation of mindfulness. We've talked about a bunch of Buddhist lists on the show before, but this is one of the happiest of all the lists to explore.  Pascal Auclair has been immersed in Buddhist practice and study since 1997, sitting retreats in Asia and America. He has been mentored by Joseph Goldstein and Jack Kornfield, who have both been previous guests on this show. Pascal is now a core teacher at the Insight Meditation Society (IMS) in Massachusetts. He is also a co-founder of True North Insight and one of its guiding teachers.  This episode is the fifth and final installment of a series we've launched on the four foundations of mindfulness. In this episode we talk about: The movement from difficult states of mind to more beneficial and helpful states of mind How the 7 factors can help you create your "best mind" The difference between the "energizing" and "calming" factors  How to practically apply these factors to your daily life And specifically how the seven factors can improve your relationships Full Shownotes: www.tenpercent.com/podcast-episode/pascal-auclair-508