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. --- Is it possible to be happy no matter what happens? Today we're going right to the source of what makes us unhappy to learn how to disarm and disable potential suffering before it owns us.  Everything that comes up in our mind is either pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral. In other words, with everything we experience, we either want it, don't want it, or we don't care. In Buddhism, this is called "feeling tones" or "vedana" and it is known as the second foundation of mindfulness in the Buddha's comprehensive list. So why does this matter? Because if you are unaware of the pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral tones, then you are being controlled by them. Similarly, if you are unaware that certain people or things provoke aversion, then you can unthinkingly avoid or even be aggressive towards them. In this way, we can be like puppets on a string— just yanked around by greed, hatred, and numbness.  Today's guest, dharma teacher Christina Feldman, is going to drill down on this embarkation point for our suffering, zap it with mindfulness and help us understand how we don't have to live like puppets on a string.  Feldman began teaching in the west in the seventies after spending years in Asia studying Buddhist meditation. She is a co-founder of Gaia House, a retreat center in the UK, and has also served as a guiding teacher at Insight Meditation Society beginning in its early days. More recently, she is a co-founder of Bodhi College, which is dedicated to the study and practice of the early teachings of the Buddha. She is the author of a book called, Boundless Heart: The Buddha's Path of Kindness, Compassion, Joy, and Equanimity, and co-author of Mindfulness: Ancient Wisdom Meets Modern Psychology. This episode is the second installment of a series we've launched on the four foundations of mindfulness. In this episode we talk about: Why vedana is often called, "the ruler of consciousness" or "the king, or the queen of consciousness" How to practice with vedana, and the benefits thereof Her lovely description of the Buddha as being very focused on understanding "the architecture of distress and unhappiness"  Her contention that unhappiness is not a life sentence.  Her definition of genuine happiness What she means by the power of "giving greater authority to intentionality, rather than to mood or story" And her personal practice of setting life intentions every year Full Shownotes: https://www.tenpercent.com/podcast-episode/christina-feldman-500

New episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for free, with 1-week early access for Wondery+ subscribers. --- Jessica Nordell is a science and culture journalist who has written for the Atlantic and the New York Times. She earned a B.A. in physics from Harvard and an M.F.A. in poetry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her new book is called The End of Bias, A Beginning: The Science and Practice of Overcoming Unconscious Bias.  Photo Credit: Leslie Plesser In this episode we talk about:  Why humans have biases What happens physiologically when biases are challenged Why some of the most popular personal and institutional strategies for confronting biases do not work  The role that mindfulness and loving-kindness can play in reducing bias Full Shownotes: https://www.tenpercent.com/podcast-episode/jessica-nordell-rerun

New episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for free, with 1-week early access for Wondery+ subscribers. --- It's such a common desire to get out of our heads — to escape the nonstop, mostly self-referential chatter, the habitual storylines, the ancient resentments and the compulsive self-criticism. Many of us take elaborate and even drastic measures in this regard like self-medication, shopping, tech addiction, and so on. But there's a much healthier option that is readily and perpetually available. In fact, we're dragging it around with us all the time, the body.  The Buddha is said to have laid out four ways to be mindful. In other words, to be awake to whatever is happening right now. The first of these four foundations of mindfulness is mindfulness of the body and todays' guest, meditation teacher Dawn Mauricio, will walk us through the practical applications of this foundation.  Mauricio has been meditating since 2005 and is a graduate of Spirit Rock's four-year teacher training program. She is also the author of the book, Mindfulness Meditation for Beginners: 50 Meditations to Practice Awareness, Acceptance, and Peace. Dawn's been on the show before to talk about how to handle difficult people. This episode is the first installment of a series we've launched on the four foundations of mindfulness. In this episode we talk about: What it actually means to get out of your head and into your body and all of the practical ways to get there  How strong emotions and seductive technology can work against us And what to do when being aware of your body might actually not be the best thing for you Full Shownotes: https://www.tenpercent.com/podcast-episode/dawn-mauricio-498