April 23, 2019 • 19 mins
We get to catch up with our friend, author and anchor ,Dan Harris. The 10% Happier author talked to the show about the PROS of meditation.
Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
What would you talk about on your on your podcast
Firms Morning Show, and we welcome Dan Harris. Okay, so
let me tell you Dan Harris is you've seen him
a million times giving you the real news on ABC
(00:24):
Good Morning America. And of course, uh you shall do
a nightline as well. Yeah, yeah, yeah, assuming they let
me through security today. Of course, absolutely hang out with us.
I can't believe that someone who has the prestigious job
as you have, Dan low Brow with our show. I mean,
why why do you come on our show? Um? Gandy
(00:44):
pays me. Yeah, and the truth comes out and I
introduce you to Gondy Harris. Are you I'm feeling the
spiritual vibes over here. It's not from me, it's from her.
So Dan Harris came to our show. Danielle, you remember
five years ago his new book called ten Percent Happier.
I read this book and I was I was talking
about it on our show. It's about meditation, and I'm like,
(01:07):
you know, let me let me stretch what we typically
do on our show and talk about meditation. I was
so afraid to talk about it because a lot of
people I think, I think it's kind of a weird taboo.
They don't understand it topic. But your book was fascinating.
Tell everyone why it did so well and why it's
important for us to continue to read it. Because I
got on this show. I think that's why I did
(01:28):
so well. I don't know it came out at the
right time. Meditation was starting to get hyped, and this
is about five years ago, and I think the book
just came out at the right time. Plus I think
I had the innovation of writing a book about meditation
where I used the F word a lot, and I
talked about how I had a panic attack on national
television because I had engaged in some very dumb behavior
in my personal life after covering Wars for a long time,
(01:49):
I got depressed, started self medicate with cocaine that changed
my brain chemistry, and that produced a panic attack, which
you can see on YouTube right now if you want um.
And so that was pretty inconvenient and embarrassing and set
me off toward meditation, and I think kind of talking
about it in a different way really helped. Well. That's
the point. When you read timpercent Happier from Dan Harris, Uh,
it does approach meditation from an angle that we understand
(02:16):
we not. We're not a bunch of dumbasses. I don't
mean it like that, but people who have never stop
it got me back into meditation, and I still kind
of wander off that road from time to time. That's
why I read his other book, Meditation for fidgety Skeptics.
Would you guys start in? Yes, absolutely, because I needed
(02:36):
people I need. I needed guinea pigs, like examples of
the hardest cases possible. So I focused on Danielle, So
let's talk about that. Well, she still hasn't read it,
so there, So okay, let's talk about meditation. Obviously, you know,
because you're you're in it. So five years ago meditation
(02:58):
versus five five years later now meditation, what's the difference.
I mean, who is caught on to meditation and how
is it working for them versus back then? It's really
it's amazing. I mean, I I don't think I'm the
cause of this, but I think what we've seen in
the last five years is it taking off in massive ways. Apple,
my company in temper is un happier where we work
with Apple to teach a hundred and fifty thou employees
(03:20):
there how to meditate. Chicago Cubs who I think are
pretty good. They won the World Series or something like that.
They meditate New York Knicks who sucked, but don't hold
that against meditation. Uh, we're seeing it in executive offices
around uh the world. Tim Ryan, who was running for
president right now is the Democrat, has written a book
about meditation. So we're just seeing a catch on in
all these different areas of the culture. And I think
(03:42):
that's amazing. And the military and the military, yes, and
the mild this was going on five years ago, but
it is really taken off where you see the military
spending tens of millions of dollars in the research. This
is being studied by scientists because of the military very
evidence space, and they're finding that the early evidence suggests
and makes troops who are making better decisions in the field,
and then when they come home they're more resilient against PTSD.
(04:04):
That's huge. And nowadays the way the world is, there's
so much anxiety everywhere. They were saying that kids have
more anxiety nowadays than they ever had in the past
because of what they're subjected to all the time. But
I think we needed more than ever. I think that's
exactly right. We're seeing record levels of anxiety, depression, suicide
among young people. It's horrific. And I think meditation is
(04:27):
now starting to catch on in schools, in juvenile halls
and foster homes, and I think this is a really
positive intervention. So what was the leap from all the
things we were talking about, and maybe the cocaine news
to meditation. How did you get from one to the other.
It was a it's a weird and windy story, which
takes up a big chunk of the book. But I had,
(04:49):
in a total coincidence, been assigned to cover faith in
spirituality for ABC News around the time that I was
freaking out on television, and so I didn't I was
raised in the People's Republic of Massachusetts. Both of my
parents are are left of Trotsky um Uh scientists, atheist scientists,
and so I had no I did have a bar mitzvah,
but only because there was money involved, and so I
(05:11):
was not interested in this stuff at all. But ultimately
through this beat, I found I discovered a self help
writer named Eckhart Totley who's a huge self help writer,
and I read his book and he was the first
person who ever pointed out to me that we have
a voice in our heads, meaning not schizophrenia or hearing voices,
but there's this inner narrator we have that chases you
(05:32):
out of bed in the morning and as yammering at
you all day long, as you constantly wanting stuff or
not wanting stuff, judging people, judging yourself, comparing yourself to
other people, thinking about the past or thinking about the future,
to the detriment of whatever is happening right now. And
when I read that, I thought, Okay, well that's just true,
and I realized it explained why I had a panic
attack on national television, because I went off to war
(05:54):
zones without thinking about the consequences, and I came home
and I got depressed, and I was insufficiently self aware
to know it. And then I blindly self medicated and
it blew up in my face. And I was really
intrigued by what total he was talking about. However, he
is kind of frustrating because he doesn't really give you
a lot of practical advice. And so after interviewing him
and being a little frustrated by him, I then discovered
(06:15):
that most of the stuff that he was talking about
was stolen largely, largely without attribution from somebody known as
the Buddha, and the Buddha actually had advice, which was
you should meditate. And then I found out that meditation
has actually been secularized. It's not a religious practice, it's
been studied in the labs, and then I started to
do it. That's a long answer, but you have to
read the book. It really is fascinating. It actually goes
(06:36):
into deep detail about all the different travels and different
things that experienced too. Convince him Dan Harris that meditation
is cool. Let's talk about voices in the head. How
do you describe to someone who just doesn't understand what
you're talking about? These voices in our heads that guide
us sometimes down the right path and sometimes down the
wrong path. Yeah, I mean it's I want to be clear.
(06:58):
We mean, maybe you've given more than you intended to. Await.
I'm not talking about voices like you're hearing voices of
us than you. We should get you some help. You
don't hear actual syllables, Actually sometimes you do. I mean,
everybody's mind is different than I'm teasing you, but but
we all have an inner conversation that it's if if
you were to stop somebody in the street and say
do you have a mind? And are you thinking? They
(07:19):
would say yeah, of course. But most of us are
unaware of this thunderously obvious fact, and as a consequence,
our thought processes are anxious, self referential thoughts own us,
which is why we're eating when we're not hungry, or
we say something that ruins the next forty eight hours
of our marriage or whatever. We're just yanked around by
this puppeteer inside, and that's often offering up really dumb ideas,
(07:43):
and meditation is just a way to wake up to
that where you're just like, oh, yeah, I just had
this thought. I just had this urge to uh, you know,
flip off the driver in front of me and chase him,
and with my kids in the back, thinking I've lost
my mind. But I can let that come and go
and I don't have to be owned by every neurotic
obsession that passes through my mind. Well, that's a heavy,
(08:04):
heavy thing for people to understand and to conquer. So meditation,
as I understand it, as I practice, it is catching
and releasing sitting here just trying to be mindful of nothing.
And then if I have a thought about a show
I need to watch on TV tonight, I just okay,
I need to watch that. Then I let it go.
(08:25):
That's the exercise is actually an exercise of letting go. Right,
we're describing the same thing. It's just basically so the
act of meditation. Mostly you sit with your eyes closed.
Don't do this if you're driving. You try to bring
your full attention to the feeling of your breath as
it comes in and goes out. And then every time
you get distracted, which will happen a million times, you'll
start thinking about, you know, where to gerbels run wild,
(08:45):
what kind of bird was big bird? Whatever? And then
you'll you'll notice, oh, yeah, I got distracted, And then
you start again and again and again. And that's the
catching and releasing this to see that inside your head
it's kind of a zoo, but you don't have to
let all the very animals in there. This this is
an analogy that will work with your fiance own you
and drive you blindly. And so therefore you get a
(09:07):
like kind of inner meteorologist that shows you what kind
of storms are brewing, so that you don't have to
get buffeted by the winds all the time shall give
you the easiest, the easiest act of meditation you can do. Yes, okay,
when I count to three, take a deep breath and
then let it go. Ready, one, two, three? Feel how
(09:33):
peaceful you are right now. You took in a breath,
you let it go. You're probably just thinking about taking
your breath and letting it go. It's it's quiet in
this world of loud noise. It's this, in my opinion,
the simplest act of meditation. And you're resetting your body there.
You're actually there's a lot of science that suggests you're
just sending the message to your body that okay, for
(09:56):
a second here, let's relax. Even on your Apple watch,
it will off you moments during the day where it says, okay,
take a breath, and you sit there and it counts
on a minute of you just you're breathing, just how
you're breathing. And yeah, sometimes I go dismiss, but you know,
just talking about this the conversation has relaxed me. Yeah,
it is. It's quieter in here. Is there a time
(10:18):
of the day or maybe after certain things that you
think it's this is the best time for you to
stop and meditate. It's so hard to start a habit,
you know. I think a lot of people listen to
this are thinking, Okay, this sounds attractive. I'm glad the
cubs are doing it, but like I don't have time
to do this. Danielle voice this concern to me personally,
and I have a lot of sympathy for that. We're busy,
We're really busy. A lot of us have kids in
(10:38):
a job or two, and so I think you have
to take it easier on yourself and think, how can
I fit this into my schedule in the easiest possible way,
and in everybody wants to know, by the way, what's
the least amount I can do and get all of
these scientifically advertised benefits. My little mantra is one minute counts,
and I really, I really we have on on the
(11:00):
Temper Center happier app We have a lot of little
one minute meditations, and I really believe one man is
enough to you know, calm you down, give you some
perspective on your anxiety, and not be owned by all
of these You are not your thoughts, and you don't
have to act as though they're little dictators giving you orders.
You have to follow and a minute can reset you
(11:22):
in that way, and I think a minute most days.
The other little mantra I have is daily ish um.
I think really can do the trick and you don't
have to be militant about putting it at a certain
time every day unless that works for you. Okay, have it?
You should try it. Daniel has yet to try it. Oh,
my dad swears my meditation. He thinks that it is
the cure all for every type of anxiety that you have.
(11:44):
He's just fifteen minutes a day. Ever since I was little,
he tried to get me to do it, but getting
a kid to do it is difficult. Was in your
own house and it But is it because you're it
was your father that you refused to do it? Of
course I was like, this guy knows nothing but that
Jane Harris is here at Okay, So your your dad
talks about how anxiety is a lessened because of meditation.
What are Dan, what are some of the other side
(12:04):
effects that the positives that come from meditation. Well, the
research has been a ton of research around this is
which is what allowed somebody who's skepticals me to do it.
The research show is the strongest in the areas of
anxiety and depression. And we're, as we discussed before, we're
we're seeing unprecedented levels of anxiety and depression and meditation
can really help. It's also been shown to lower your
blood pressure, boost your immune system, and lit And this
(12:25):
is the coolest part, literally rewire key parts of your brain.
This is a tiny bit glib, but when you meditate,
your kind of performing brain surgery on yourself. You're rewiring
the area of the brain associated with focus. We're all
super distracted now because of texts and tweets and all
that stuff, and you're rewiring to keep part of the
part of the brain that regulates stress. And that's incredibly powerful,
(12:48):
incredibly powerful. I would think that even putting down your
phone and refusing to text someone for an hour is
a form of meditation compared to the anxiety levels that
you reach when you're always on your phone. Absolutely sorry,
I mean with this, you see people I give talks
all the time about meditation, and you see people it's
like a zombie arm is moving towards their devices, can't stop.
(13:11):
You know, It's a massive compulsion, and so I suffer
from it too. And I'm I'm so, I'm a huge hypocrite. Um,
but and so it's okay. You don't need to beat
yourself up about this. It's just seeing that you have
this compulsion and maybe dialing it down a little bit help.
That's absolutely I'm not comfortable being that level of a hypocrite.
(13:33):
So I'm gonna be out here. Okay. So I I
do it quite a bit. I do it for an
hour a day, but I don't think that's I hesitate
to say that because I don't want people to get
the impression that they have to do that amount. I
you know, you want your trainer at the gym to
do a lot of exercise. And I'm now like a
pretty public meditation evangelist, and I think you would want
(13:57):
somebody in my position to know what he's talking about.
That's why I do that aout. If you read the book,
you'll know that he actually floated across our room. Oh yeah,
now where were you you? Okay, you went, Okay, this
is extreme, but let's get into it. Okay, this is
just like, Okay, let's do it. You actually traveled too,
and you were quiet for an amount of time. Give
me those two answers, and then you actually floated. You
(14:19):
floated across the room. I don't know if I actually levitated.
But so I went to this very what I thought
was a very strange place in sac north of San Francisco,
and I did a ten day silent meditation retreat, which,
for the first couple of days was the worst thing
I've ever done. I hated everybody there, I hated everybody
who told me I should do this thing. I hated
(14:41):
myself more than anything. And then after a couple of
days of being there, it's like all vegetarian food and
no talking, no phones, no nothing, meditating all day long.
After a couple of days there, the inner chatter, the
volume of my inner chatter, went down to a level
where I experienced a kind of happiness I had never experienced.
Is there any way to explain it. If we've never
(15:04):
been there, we'll never get it. Uh. It is so
we in our culture we often conflate or confuse happiness
and excitement. So it's not like I want a new car.
It was more like what I realized that wanting itself
is painful, and when you're not in a when everything's
okay just as it is, that is accompanied by a
(15:28):
massive dose of relaxation and peace of mind. So that's
what I got. So you had seven more days of that? No, no, no,
I had. I'd like third I had, So about four
or five days in I had this experience and then
after about a day and a half it went away
and I started hating everybody and every But so you
didn't levitate, but you'd experienced this saying that you really
(15:51):
would love to experience again, change my life, change my life.
And it gave me a sense that there's more to
this mind and to this life than we are sold
by advertisers and by our teachers and by our parents.
There's a way to to access levels of calm and
well being that most of us in our culture, but
(16:13):
they do it very well in Gandhi's culture, UH are
unaware of. And so I've gone back and done several
of these retreats and you still went through the phases
of hating and yes, yeah, I'm still It's it's hard.
Look any anything you do that if you're striving for
um and striving in and of itself as a tricky
(16:35):
thing when it comes to meditation, but if you're trying
to do anything meaningful, it's going to be difficult, and
that's true of Meditation too. So Uh, this book happier.
We're celebrating its fifth anniversary. I want everyone to read
it because it really is interesting because you watch Dan
go from I don't know to firm believer. I want
to make other people firm believers. Uh. The other book,
(16:57):
Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics, were in there because we're a
room full of fidgety skept So I got a boat
coming out. I was just gonna ask you about that.
The advice I mean, I don't. I mean, it's basically written,
but I can throw a chapter in there for you
if you want to. Are you nervous about the stuff
you're you're going to some of it. My advice to you,
(17:17):
having been through this where I went and very publicly
talked about things that I thought we're gonna kill my career,
is that it's going to be totally fine, and that
what I learned, which is truly humbling, is people aren't
that interested in you or in my case me. What
they want to know is what do you have that
can be a value to me? What in your story
is meaningful and moving for me? They're gonna get over
(17:37):
whatever titillating stuff you put in there, and you don't
have to worry about it hurting you. I think you
just have to be confident that the story you're telling
is powerful enough and meaningful enough and important enough to
be worth it. I'm not saying of any help. Do
not believe thee I do not believe that, all right,
(17:58):
So I want everyone to open your mind. I want
you to open your mind to the possibility that meditation
could be something that could change your life, because I'm
telling you, I'm telling you it changed mine. Can you
imagine what how much of a raving lunatic I'd be
if if I didn't meditate? Raving and raging That that
(18:20):
laughter is a little too real. The whole mood in
the room just changing. Ever. Alright, look again, Dan, congratulations
on five years of changing many people's lives. I know
you're you're too modest to take it and take credit
for any of it. But I know a lot of
my friends you're read temperson, happier, and you totally change
their lives. And it's you know what, even if you
(18:41):
never meditate a moment in your life, it's a great
story and it's great to see other people out there meditating.
I really appreciate it and you getting behind it has
made a huge difference for for real. So thank you.
It's a big show. Look at this living the dreaming here.
Thank you, Dad Harris, thank you guys. Great to see
its great to meet you. The fifteen minute Morning Show
(19:06):
m
What would you talk about on your on your podcast
Firms Morning Show, and we welcome Dan Harris. Okay, so
let me tell you Dan Harris is you've seen him
a million times giving you the real news on ABC
(00:24):
Good Morning America. And of course, uh you shall do
a nightline as well. Yeah, yeah, yeah, assuming they let
me through security today. Of course, absolutely hang out with us.
I can't believe that someone who has the prestigious job
as you have, Dan low Brow with our show. I mean,
why why do you come on our show? Um? Gandy
(00:44):
pays me. Yeah, and the truth comes out and I
introduce you to Gondy Harris. Are you I'm feeling the
spiritual vibes over here. It's not from me, it's from her.
So Dan Harris came to our show. Danielle, you remember
five years ago his new book called ten Percent Happier.
I read this book and I was I was talking
about it on our show. It's about meditation, and I'm like,
(01:07):
you know, let me let me stretch what we typically
do on our show and talk about meditation. I was
so afraid to talk about it because a lot of
people I think, I think it's kind of a weird taboo.
They don't understand it topic. But your book was fascinating.
Tell everyone why it did so well and why it's
important for us to continue to read it. Because I
got on this show. I think that's why I did
(01:28):
so well. I don't know it came out at the
right time. Meditation was starting to get hyped, and this
is about five years ago, and I think the book
just came out at the right time. Plus I think
I had the innovation of writing a book about meditation
where I used the F word a lot, and I
talked about how I had a panic attack on national
television because I had engaged in some very dumb behavior
in my personal life after covering Wars for a long time,
(01:49):
I got depressed, started self medicate with cocaine that changed
my brain chemistry, and that produced a panic attack, which
you can see on YouTube right now if you want um.
And so that was pretty inconvenient and embarrassing and set
me off toward meditation, and I think kind of talking
about it in a different way really helped. Well. That's
the point. When you read timpercent Happier from Dan Harris, Uh,
it does approach meditation from an angle that we understand
(02:16):
we not. We're not a bunch of dumbasses. I don't
mean it like that, but people who have never stop
it got me back into meditation, and I still kind
of wander off that road from time to time. That's
why I read his other book, Meditation for fidgety Skeptics.
Would you guys start in? Yes, absolutely, because I needed
(02:36):
people I need. I needed guinea pigs, like examples of
the hardest cases possible. So I focused on Danielle, So
let's talk about that. Well, she still hasn't read it,
so there, So okay, let's talk about meditation. Obviously, you know,
because you're you're in it. So five years ago meditation
(02:58):
versus five five years later now meditation, what's the difference.
I mean, who is caught on to meditation and how
is it working for them versus back then? It's really
it's amazing. I mean, I I don't think I'm the
cause of this, but I think what we've seen in
the last five years is it taking off in massive ways. Apple,
my company in temper is un happier where we work
with Apple to teach a hundred and fifty thou employees
(03:20):
there how to meditate. Chicago Cubs who I think are
pretty good. They won the World Series or something like that.
They meditate New York Knicks who sucked, but don't hold
that against meditation. Uh, we're seeing it in executive offices
around uh the world. Tim Ryan, who was running for
president right now is the Democrat, has written a book
about meditation. So we're just seeing a catch on in
all these different areas of the culture. And I think
(03:42):
that's amazing. And the military and the military, yes, and
the mild this was going on five years ago, but
it is really taken off where you see the military
spending tens of millions of dollars in the research. This
is being studied by scientists because of the military very
evidence space, and they're finding that the early evidence suggests
and makes troops who are making better decisions in the field,
and then when they come home they're more resilient against PTSD.
(04:04):
That's huge. And nowadays the way the world is, there's
so much anxiety everywhere. They were saying that kids have
more anxiety nowadays than they ever had in the past
because of what they're subjected to all the time. But
I think we needed more than ever. I think that's
exactly right. We're seeing record levels of anxiety, depression, suicide
among young people. It's horrific. And I think meditation is
(04:27):
now starting to catch on in schools, in juvenile halls
and foster homes, and I think this is a really
positive intervention. So what was the leap from all the
things we were talking about, and maybe the cocaine news
to meditation. How did you get from one to the other.
It was a it's a weird and windy story, which
takes up a big chunk of the book. But I had,
(04:49):
in a total coincidence, been assigned to cover faith in
spirituality for ABC News around the time that I was
freaking out on television, and so I didn't I was
raised in the People's Republic of Massachusetts. Both of my
parents are are left of Trotsky um Uh scientists, atheist scientists,
and so I had no I did have a bar mitzvah,
but only because there was money involved, and so I
(05:11):
was not interested in this stuff at all. But ultimately
through this beat, I found I discovered a self help
writer named Eckhart Totley who's a huge self help writer,
and I read his book and he was the first
person who ever pointed out to me that we have
a voice in our heads, meaning not schizophrenia or hearing voices,
but there's this inner narrator we have that chases you
(05:32):
out of bed in the morning and as yammering at
you all day long, as you constantly wanting stuff or
not wanting stuff, judging people, judging yourself, comparing yourself to
other people, thinking about the past or thinking about the future,
to the detriment of whatever is happening right now. And
when I read that, I thought, Okay, well that's just true,
and I realized it explained why I had a panic
attack on national television, because I went off to war
(05:54):
zones without thinking about the consequences, and I came home
and I got depressed, and I was insufficiently self aware
to know it. And then I blindly self medicated and
it blew up in my face. And I was really
intrigued by what total he was talking about. However, he
is kind of frustrating because he doesn't really give you
a lot of practical advice. And so after interviewing him
and being a little frustrated by him, I then discovered
(06:15):
that most of the stuff that he was talking about
was stolen largely, largely without attribution from somebody known as
the Buddha, and the Buddha actually had advice, which was
you should meditate. And then I found out that meditation
has actually been secularized. It's not a religious practice, it's
been studied in the labs, and then I started to
do it. That's a long answer, but you have to
read the book. It really is fascinating. It actually goes
(06:36):
into deep detail about all the different travels and different
things that experienced too. Convince him Dan Harris that meditation
is cool. Let's talk about voices in the head. How
do you describe to someone who just doesn't understand what
you're talking about? These voices in our heads that guide
us sometimes down the right path and sometimes down the
wrong path. Yeah, I mean it's I want to be clear.
(06:58):
We mean, maybe you've given more than you intended to. Await.
I'm not talking about voices like you're hearing voices of
us than you. We should get you some help. You
don't hear actual syllables, Actually sometimes you do. I mean,
everybody's mind is different than I'm teasing you, but but
we all have an inner conversation that it's if if
you were to stop somebody in the street and say
do you have a mind? And are you thinking? They
(07:19):
would say yeah, of course. But most of us are
unaware of this thunderously obvious fact, and as a consequence,
our thought processes are anxious, self referential thoughts own us,
which is why we're eating when we're not hungry, or
we say something that ruins the next forty eight hours
of our marriage or whatever. We're just yanked around by
this puppeteer inside, and that's often offering up really dumb ideas,
(07:43):
and meditation is just a way to wake up to
that where you're just like, oh, yeah, I just had
this thought. I just had this urge to uh, you know,
flip off the driver in front of me and chase him,
and with my kids in the back, thinking I've lost
my mind. But I can let that come and go
and I don't have to be owned by every neurotic
obsession that passes through my mind. Well, that's a heavy,
(08:04):
heavy thing for people to understand and to conquer. So meditation,
as I understand it, as I practice, it is catching
and releasing sitting here just trying to be mindful of nothing.
And then if I have a thought about a show
I need to watch on TV tonight, I just okay,
I need to watch that. Then I let it go.
(08:25):
That's the exercise is actually an exercise of letting go. Right,
we're describing the same thing. It's just basically so the
act of meditation. Mostly you sit with your eyes closed.
Don't do this if you're driving. You try to bring
your full attention to the feeling of your breath as
it comes in and goes out. And then every time
you get distracted, which will happen a million times, you'll
start thinking about, you know, where to gerbels run wild,
(08:45):
what kind of bird was big bird? Whatever? And then
you'll you'll notice, oh, yeah, I got distracted, And then
you start again and again and again. And that's the
catching and releasing this to see that inside your head
it's kind of a zoo, but you don't have to
let all the very animals in there. This this is
an analogy that will work with your fiance own you
and drive you blindly. And so therefore you get a
(09:07):
like kind of inner meteorologist that shows you what kind
of storms are brewing, so that you don't have to
get buffeted by the winds all the time shall give
you the easiest, the easiest act of meditation you can do. Yes, okay,
when I count to three, take a deep breath and
then let it go. Ready, one, two, three? Feel how
(09:33):
peaceful you are right now. You took in a breath,
you let it go. You're probably just thinking about taking
your breath and letting it go. It's it's quiet in
this world of loud noise. It's this, in my opinion,
the simplest act of meditation. And you're resetting your body there.
You're actually there's a lot of science that suggests you're
just sending the message to your body that okay, for
(09:56):
a second here, let's relax. Even on your Apple watch,
it will off you moments during the day where it says, okay,
take a breath, and you sit there and it counts
on a minute of you just you're breathing, just how
you're breathing. And yeah, sometimes I go dismiss, but you know,
just talking about this the conversation has relaxed me. Yeah,
it is. It's quieter in here. Is there a time
(10:18):
of the day or maybe after certain things that you
think it's this is the best time for you to
stop and meditate. It's so hard to start a habit,
you know. I think a lot of people listen to
this are thinking, Okay, this sounds attractive. I'm glad the
cubs are doing it, but like I don't have time
to do this. Danielle voice this concern to me personally,
and I have a lot of sympathy for that. We're busy,
We're really busy. A lot of us have kids in
(10:38):
a job or two, and so I think you have
to take it easier on yourself and think, how can
I fit this into my schedule in the easiest possible way,
and in everybody wants to know, by the way, what's
the least amount I can do and get all of
these scientifically advertised benefits. My little mantra is one minute counts,
and I really, I really we have on on the
(11:00):
Temper Center happier app We have a lot of little
one minute meditations, and I really believe one man is
enough to you know, calm you down, give you some
perspective on your anxiety, and not be owned by all
of these You are not your thoughts, and you don't
have to act as though they're little dictators giving you orders.
You have to follow and a minute can reset you
(11:22):
in that way, and I think a minute most days.
The other little mantra I have is daily ish um.
I think really can do the trick and you don't
have to be militant about putting it at a certain
time every day unless that works for you. Okay, have it?
You should try it. Daniel has yet to try it. Oh,
my dad swears my meditation. He thinks that it is
the cure all for every type of anxiety that you have.
(11:44):
He's just fifteen minutes a day. Ever since I was little,
he tried to get me to do it, but getting
a kid to do it is difficult. Was in your
own house and it But is it because you're it
was your father that you refused to do it? Of
course I was like, this guy knows nothing but that
Jane Harris is here at Okay, So your your dad
talks about how anxiety is a lessened because of meditation.
What are Dan, what are some of the other side
(12:04):
effects that the positives that come from meditation. Well, the
research has been a ton of research around this is
which is what allowed somebody who's skepticals me to do it.
The research show is the strongest in the areas of
anxiety and depression. And we're, as we discussed before, we're
we're seeing unprecedented levels of anxiety and depression and meditation
can really help. It's also been shown to lower your
blood pressure, boost your immune system, and lit And this
(12:25):
is the coolest part, literally rewire key parts of your brain.
This is a tiny bit glib, but when you meditate,
your kind of performing brain surgery on yourself. You're rewiring
the area of the brain associated with focus. We're all
super distracted now because of texts and tweets and all
that stuff, and you're rewiring to keep part of the
part of the brain that regulates stress. And that's incredibly powerful,
(12:48):
incredibly powerful. I would think that even putting down your
phone and refusing to text someone for an hour is
a form of meditation compared to the anxiety levels that
you reach when you're always on your phone. Absolutely sorry,
I mean with this, you see people I give talks
all the time about meditation, and you see people it's
like a zombie arm is moving towards their devices, can't stop.
(13:11):
You know, It's a massive compulsion, and so I suffer
from it too. And I'm I'm so, I'm a huge hypocrite. Um,
but and so it's okay. You don't need to beat
yourself up about this. It's just seeing that you have
this compulsion and maybe dialing it down a little bit help.
That's absolutely I'm not comfortable being that level of a hypocrite.
(13:33):
So I'm gonna be out here. Okay. So I I
do it quite a bit. I do it for an
hour a day, but I don't think that's I hesitate
to say that because I don't want people to get
the impression that they have to do that amount. I
you know, you want your trainer at the gym to
do a lot of exercise. And I'm now like a
pretty public meditation evangelist, and I think you would want
(13:57):
somebody in my position to know what he's talking about.
That's why I do that aout. If you read the book,
you'll know that he actually floated across our room. Oh yeah,
now where were you you? Okay, you went, Okay, this
is extreme, but let's get into it. Okay, this is
just like, Okay, let's do it. You actually traveled too,
and you were quiet for an amount of time. Give
me those two answers, and then you actually floated. You
(14:19):
floated across the room. I don't know if I actually levitated.
But so I went to this very what I thought
was a very strange place in sac north of San Francisco,
and I did a ten day silent meditation retreat, which,
for the first couple of days was the worst thing
I've ever done. I hated everybody there, I hated everybody
who told me I should do this thing. I hated
(14:41):
myself more than anything. And then after a couple of
days of being there, it's like all vegetarian food and
no talking, no phones, no nothing, meditating all day long.
After a couple of days there, the inner chatter, the
volume of my inner chatter, went down to a level
where I experienced a kind of happiness I had never experienced.
Is there any way to explain it. If we've never
(15:04):
been there, we'll never get it. Uh. It is so
we in our culture we often conflate or confuse happiness
and excitement. So it's not like I want a new car.
It was more like what I realized that wanting itself
is painful, and when you're not in a when everything's
okay just as it is, that is accompanied by a
(15:28):
massive dose of relaxation and peace of mind. So that's
what I got. So you had seven more days of that? No, no, no,
I had. I'd like third I had, So about four
or five days in I had this experience and then
after about a day and a half it went away
and I started hating everybody and every But so you
didn't levitate, but you'd experienced this saying that you really
(15:51):
would love to experience again, change my life, change my life.
And it gave me a sense that there's more to
this mind and to this life than we are sold
by advertisers and by our teachers and by our parents.
There's a way to to access levels of calm and
well being that most of us in our culture, but
(16:13):
they do it very well in Gandhi's culture, UH are
unaware of. And so I've gone back and done several
of these retreats and you still went through the phases
of hating and yes, yeah, I'm still It's it's hard.
Look any anything you do that if you're striving for
um and striving in and of itself as a tricky
(16:35):
thing when it comes to meditation, but if you're trying
to do anything meaningful, it's going to be difficult, and
that's true of Meditation too. So Uh, this book happier.
We're celebrating its fifth anniversary. I want everyone to read
it because it really is interesting because you watch Dan
go from I don't know to firm believer. I want
to make other people firm believers. Uh. The other book,
(16:57):
Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics, were in there because we're a
room full of fidgety skept So I got a boat
coming out. I was just gonna ask you about that.
The advice I mean, I don't. I mean, it's basically written,
but I can throw a chapter in there for you
if you want to. Are you nervous about the stuff
you're you're going to some of it. My advice to you,
(17:17):
having been through this where I went and very publicly
talked about things that I thought we're gonna kill my career,
is that it's going to be totally fine, and that
what I learned, which is truly humbling, is people aren't
that interested in you or in my case me. What
they want to know is what do you have that
can be a value to me? What in your story
is meaningful and moving for me? They're gonna get over
(17:37):
whatever titillating stuff you put in there, and you don't
have to worry about it hurting you. I think you
just have to be confident that the story you're telling
is powerful enough and meaningful enough and important enough to
be worth it. I'm not saying of any help. Do
not believe thee I do not believe that, all right,
(17:58):
So I want everyone to open your mind. I want
you to open your mind to the possibility that meditation
could be something that could change your life, because I'm
telling you, I'm telling you it changed mine. Can you
imagine what how much of a raving lunatic I'd be
if if I didn't meditate? Raving and raging That that
(18:20):
laughter is a little too real. The whole mood in
the room just changing. Ever. Alright, look again, Dan, congratulations
on five years of changing many people's lives. I know
you're you're too modest to take it and take credit
for any of it. But I know a lot of
my friends you're read temperson, happier, and you totally change
their lives. And it's you know what, even if you
(18:41):
never meditate a moment in your life, it's a great
story and it's great to see other people out there meditating.
I really appreciate it and you getting behind it has
made a huge difference for for real. So thank you.
It's a big show. Look at this living the dreaming here.
Thank you, Dad Harris, thank you guys. Great to see
its great to meet you. The fifteen minute Morning Show
(19:06):
m
Hosts And Creators
Elvis Duran
Garrett
Popular Podcasts
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.
40s and Free Agents: NFL Draft Season
Daniel Jeremiah of Move the Sticks and Gregg Rosenthal of NFL Daily join forces to break down every team's needs this offseason.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.